On 24–25 February 2026, the steering committee of the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA) visited Brussels with representatives from northern Sweden, northern Norway, and northern and eastern Finland. The delegation of 15 regional representatives from the 14 NSPA regions took part in two intensive days of meetings and roundtable discussions from morning to evening with key stakeholders, at a time when the EU is preparing negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework, including regional support to the NSPA, as well as the ongoing review of the EU’s Arctic policy.
On February 18, the launch of the report by the OECD, with funding from the European Commission, on the regions of the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA) network took place. With around 100 participants, including stakeholders from the OECD, regional, and national EU representatives took part to reflect on the study and future developments for the NSPA regions.
