Financial and contractual terms

MR-U has delegated the responsibility of the budget to EK-U. NLL has its own budget line under MR-U. The distribution of MR-U’s budget is outlined in the Secretary-General's overall budget proposal for the upcoming budget year. NLL contributes with input to this proposal.

The budget proposal is finally adopted by the Ministers for Nordic Cooperation (MR-SAM) after budget negotiations with the Nordic Council in during the autumn session of the Nordic Council.

Budget Framework

The allocation of NLL funds must be implemented within the following framework:

Personnel Costs (Salary)

Main coordinator: 1 full-time equivalent
Administrative coordinator: 1 full-time equivalent
Web editor: 0.5 full-time equivalent
5 national coordinators: 0.5 full-time equivalent (x5)
3 contact persons: 0.25 full-time equivalent (x3)

Other costs, such as

Travel
Conference and meeting costs
Development work
Maintenance of the website and information and communication activities.

The budget must be based on state salary levels. The funds should generally cover actual salary costs and take into account national developments in salaries. However, the total expenditure on personnel costs must not exceed 50% of the total budget.

In case of budget cuts, the overall budget framework should be reviewed. In the revision, agreement should be reached with the management body and host organizations to adjust personnel costs to ensure that network operations are maintained within the financial constraints.

Regarding other operations, the management body must strive to choose environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable alternatives when procuring and using products and services. Meetings and other events should be planned to be accessible to all participants regardless of disabilities.

The management body can reallocate funds from personnel costs (salary) to other costs but cannot move funds from other costs to personnel costs (salary) without EK-U's approval. Any administrative overhead should be financed within the framework of personnel costs and should be indicated as a separate budget line in the annual accounts.

Job titles and full-time equivalents should always be clearly stated in the budget notes. The management body must follow national state rules regarding fees, employment, remuneration, termination, mandatory health expenses, insurance, etc. It is also recommended to include salary increases/adjustments during the programme period.

Business plan and budget

NLL discusses the business plan for the upcoming year with the Advisory Programme Committee.

Subsequently, NLL’s business plan and budget are presented to EK-U. After EK-U's approval, NLL finalizes the business plan and publishes it on NLL's website.

Annual reporting and accounting

The annual reporting must comply with the applicable rules and guidelines from the Secretariat of the Nordic Council of Ministers. NLL submits a draft of the annual report and financial accounts to the Secretariat at the beginning of the year.

The annual report must document the extent to which the results described in the operational plan have been achieved, and any deviations from the budget must be explained.

In addition to the annual report, NLL prepares an annual review each year that summarises the most important results of the year, based on contributions from the host organisations. For this purpose, Appendix 1 can be used, which outlines a range of indicators that may be used to assess goal fulfilment.