Communities of Interest in the Nordic Management of International Watercourses

Abstract

This article takes a closer look at water cooperation among Nordic countries, and in particular the newly established Finnish-Norwegian River Basin District. It addresses the effectiveness of water governance within the structure chosen for managing the River Basin District and compares this with the main features of the community of interest approach in international water law. Serving as backdrop for this comparison is the earlier Finnish-Swedish Frontier Rivers Commission, which was considered a pioneer project of common water management, and the common values that unite the Nordic countries. Cooperation over shared water resources challenges the principle of territorial sovereignty in international law, and requires engaged cooperative regimes. While Norway and Finland have excellent opportunities to create a progressive water management regime, their current solution has some significant shortcomings.