Northern Council

[Batavië]

Northern Council​

The Northern Council (NC) is a regional economic and cultural integration bloc. Its primary goals are to pave the way for a more prosperous and united Northern Europe by encouraging governments to work together on multiple fronts and in multiple capacities. The organisation is not one of military nature. It is headquartered in Hilversum, Batavië with other offices located in various member states. Northern European countries with aspirations of a more orderly and integrated democratic society are encouraged to apply for membership, which involves a series of processes from government commitments and economic implementations.


Founding Member States

De Republiek van Batavië
Republik Tyskreich
Königeriket Arendäl
Skånskige Statsunionen
Rioghacht Éireann


Headquarters in Hilversum

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The Treaty of Götköping

CHARTER OF THE NORTHERN COUNCIL

Signed this day 8. July 2010​

The governments of the undersigned countries agree to form an organisation dedicated to the gradual integration and cooperation of their region on the economic, social, cultural, educational and governmental levels. They understand that the key to a prosperous future for their citizens and subjects is better serviced and preserved when high levels of cooperation between their international neighbours is vigorously sought after. The governments of: De Republiek van Batavië, Republik Tyskreich, Königeriket Arendäl, Skånskige Statsunionen and Rioghacht Éireann are the founding members of this organisation.


Article I: Membership

i. Membership includes the four founding members and any country that is either invited to join the Northern Council (hereby known as 'NC') or applies and is accepted.

ii. Membership grants full voting rights in NC affairs and full access to agreements passed by the council. In order to be considered for full membership, prospective members must have significant tracts of sovereign territory north of the Belmontien city of Paris, west of the Wieser city of Augsburg and east of the maritime boundary between the Great and Green Seas.

iii. Membership is deliberated by the Great Council.


Article II: Structure

i. The Great Council acts as the chief non-legislative decision making body of the NC. Member countries choose their own methods to appoint a member of the Great Council. Each permanent member country is afforded one (1) permanent representative to the Great Council, officially referred to as a High Representative. The Great Council's primary actions are deliberations of membership applications and invitations and running the daily administrative business of the NC in an orderly and internationally cooperative manner. The Great Council also meets during times of emergency to discuss collective actions concerning the NC, if any at all are to be taken.

ii. The chief legislative body of the NC is the Northern Parliament. The Northern Parliament is composed of elected officials that represent constituents from their home countries and branches of their local political parties. These officials are referred to officially as Members of Northern Parliament or MNPs. Each permanent member country is afforded a certain number of MNPs based on their population size, but the total number of MNPs shall not exceed two hundred and twenty five (225).

iii. Acts of the Council are documents (bills) drafted and passed by the Northern Parliament. Once passed by Northern Parliament they are sent to the Great Council for assent. In order for the Great Council to bar passage of an Act of the Council, a unanimous decision must be made. Acts are primarily drafted to bring forth the principle goals of the Northern Council.

iv. Acts of the Council, once passed by the Northern Parliament and after receiving assent from the Great Council, must be ratified by the legislatures of permanent members in order to take affect.

v. The guiding leader of the NC is the Secretary-General, who is nominated by the parties of the Northern Parliament and elected by the MNPs in a simple majority vote. The Secretary-General does not represent any government or country, only the interests of the Northern Council. The Secretary-General's term is three (3) months with no term limitations.


Article III: Headquarters

i. The headquarters of the Northern Council will be located in the city of Hilversum, Batavië.

ii. The primary building is located on the outskirts of the city and within walking distance of city bus and tram lines. As part of its commitment to hosting the Northern Council, the federal government of Batavië will invest in constructing a state of the art high-speed rail link to the international airport outside Vlaanderen to service diplomats and bureaucrats. Similar investments will also be made to provide city services in the form of housing, groceries etcetera.

iii. Other buildings and offices of the Northern Council may be located elsewhere in other permanent member countries. The Great Council primarily sits at headquarters in Hilversum but may convene elsewhere in times of emergency. The Northern Parliament must always meet in its chambers in Hilversum in order to conduct official parliamentary business and pass Acts of the Council.

iv. An independent security force, funded through the annual Northern Council budget, will consist of an internationally composed group of highly trained security officials whose primary goal is to protect the facilities of the Northern Council globally and the employees and guests of said facilities. The working language of this Northern Council Guard will be German as a widely spoken and influential language.


Article IV: Official Languages

i. In order to control costs of interpreting and translations the Northern Council will have a set number of official languages. All documents must be reproduced in all of these official languages and all committees, sessions of the Northern Parliament and the Great Council and video and webcasts must have live interpretation services for all of these official languages.

ii. The official languages are listed henceforth: Dutch (Vlaams), English, Gaelic, German, Norsk (Aren & Tysk), and Swedish (Skånsk).

iii. To control costs of interpretations and translations, further additions to the list of official languages is strongly discouraged even with further expansion of permanent member states.

iv. The Northern Council offers services in six official languages, which may be chosen by any future member states to act as their mode of operation. Expansion states are, however, allowed to maintain their own privately financed and maintained translation services that are accepted as legitimate bodies housed at the Northern Council. Translations produced will not be officially approved translations for the Northern Council until they achieve official status with the stamp of approval of the Great Council.


Article V: Finances

i. The Northern Council is funded by an annual budget drafted and passed by the Northern Parliament every fiscal year.

ii. The annual budget approved by the Northern Parliament is funded from the governments of the permanent and partial member countries.

iii. A tax drafted by the Northern Parliament to help fund all or part of the annual budget may be introduced if so desired but cannot appear in the form of an income based tax, but rather a sales or other type of tax.


Article VI: Amendments

i. Any amendments made to this charter must be approved by a two thirds majority of the Northern Parliament and the Great Council.

 

[Serenierre]

Foreign Office

The initiative undertaken by the various governments of Scania is highly commendable and Belmont wishes this organization the best.

 

[Confederal Republics]

Chancellery of the Commonwealth President
Commonwealth of Cornavia

It is my wish to submit a formal application of membership on behalf of the Commonwealth of Cornavia to the Northern Council.

Regards,
Mr. Charles Breckenridge,
President of the Commonwealth

 

[Batavië]

Northern Council

The application from Cornavia has been received. Please note that because the NC is so young, organisational procedures are still taking place. The application process is long in itself and includes economic inquiries and examinations, studies and more. This process will not be able to begin for a few weeks, although we will do our very best to get the application process up and running as soon as we can.

Your government will be kept well informed regarding any changes in the process.

 

[Danmark]

Foreign Office

The Kingdom of Danmark hereby wishes to become a member of the Northern Council.

At this preliminary stage, we seek assurances that Danish, a member of the Nordic family of languages, will be treated as one of the official languages on equal terms with the other existing official languages of the Northern Council.

 

[Batavië]

Northern Council

The application has been noted and processing will begin (once I get my forum ).

We cannot guarantee that Danish will be added as an official language. The charter is constructed in a manner that discourages new official languages even with the addition of new member states. All options will be considered and there is no final decision either way. We hope that the Danish Foreign Office understands this.

We will be in touch.

 

[Danmark]

Foreign Office

We understand the points raised.

Needless to say, Danes place a great importance upon their language and their Nordic heritage. Danmark has a strong affinity with the Nordic and German worlds and membership of the Council would affirm and symbolise this. But for Danish to go unrecognised when Dutch, German, Swedish, Aren Norsk, and English are, may be perceived as dishonouring fellow Nordics in the south.

 

[Batavië]

Northern Council

The offices of the Northern Council have just recently opened. While initial organisation tasks are attended to we would like to inform the public that application from governments to join the Northern Council will shortly be reviewed and processed. Interested parties that have already submitted their applications will be contacted with further information shortly.

 

[Vistrasia]

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Commonwealth of Vistrasia hereby applies to join the Northern Council.

Sincerely,
Laurens Pieters van Raesfelt
Foreign Minister

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

Northern Council

A Northern Council representative will schedule a meeting with Vistrasian representatives for a conference question and answer period, prior to the Council subjecting the Vistrasian application to a vote. Thank you for your interest, we hope to see your representatives within the week.

 

[Gunnland]

The Oelarian State

An exploratory committee in Olmolungring has been formed by the order of Prime Minister N. N. Roerich to investigate the benefits of Northern Council membership. As part of the process, representatives will be sent to Hilversum to begin a dialogue with NC member nations. An application file is being prepared and will be submitted pending the Lord Rigpa's approval.

M.H. Alvitr
Foreign Minister

 

[Batavië]

Secretariat of the Northern Council

The Oelarian delegation will be warmly received in Hilversum. While the application materials are being prepared the Great Council will need to take some time to review information and the current admissions and expansions system, which is undergoing reforms. We wish to inform the exploratory committee that future expansion of the Northern Council will be taken seriously and be done with the utmost care. This will mean that certain requirements for the process of joining the Council will have to be met. We are sure that once an official document is prepared for this committee, everything will be well understood.

We are always available for questions, comments and concerns during the process.

 

[Batavië]

Calendar of Summits


Northern Council Member Summits
Primarily held in Hilversum at headquarters

Northern Council Member Summits are held monthly at headquarters in Hilversum, Batavië. At these summits the foreign ministers, heads of state and/or government and large delegations travel to Hilversum for four days of talks with the agenda spanning a wide range of issues. The High Representatives are present, but serve as a team members of their home delegations visiting. The NC Secretary-General acts as moderator and chief organiser.

Middle January 2011

Agenda: Northern Dollar, Implementation of Inner-NC border, NC Neighbourhood Policy
​

Middle February 2011

Agenda: Regional Security; Moving Forward, Progress Report; Northern Dollar ​

Great Council Summits

Great Council Summits are also held monthly, at the end of the month in different NC member state cities. Instead of the foreign ministers and heads of state or government attending the meetings, they are slightly smaller affairs with the delegations lead by the High Representatives. The host country's High Representative acts as moderator and chief organiser.


End December 2010 : Whitehaven, Cornavia

End January 2011: Threveburg, Vistrasia

Agenda: Membership enlargement process; Oelar, Free Union [discussion]​

End February 2011: Emyr Arnen, Arendaal

End March 2011: Hilversum, Batavië

End April 2011: Drottninggården, Suionia

End May: Áth Cliath, Éireann


Summit agendas subject to change as per determination of Northern Council Secretariat

 

[Batavië]

Naar/To: Oelar Ministry of Foreign Affairs
[Add CC][Add BCC]
Onderwerp/SUBJ: Preparatory Measures for NC Accession Process
[STATUS: Vepo-approved security classification: Level C2-unclassified]
[Attach file][Verwijderen/Delete]

Warm Greetings,

We in the Northern Council have been very busy the last few days as we begin to organise the process of discussing Oelar's aspirations with the Northern Council. It should be made clear from the beginning that enlargement of the NC is taken very seriously and every application is rigorously examined by a variety of institutions, including the Secretariat, the Bureau of Member Affairs, the Northern Parliament (in committee form) and the Great Council of High Representatives.

With Oelar's expressed desire to become a full member of the NC the process has begun. We are pleased to announce that the Great Council has been notified of Oelar's intent and the subject has been placed at a high priority on the Great Council's January Summit agenda. In addition the Northern Parliament will set up and vote on the composition of a special committee when it reconvenes after the holiday and New Year's break. The Secretariat and the Bureau of Member Affairs has also begun its own workings and preparations.

All various institutions involved with this process will require detailed and at times quite specific information about Oelar including its economic data, political information and social information. Northern Parliament and the Bureau of Member Affairs may, if so decided, wish to send investigative teams to conduct tours of the country, both with Oelar officials and without.

This process can take anywhere from two months or less or quite longer, depending on the findings of the involved parties. During this time the Oelar delegation charged with overseeing Oelar's application to the NC will be required to appear before the parliamentary special committee and the Great Council in Hilversum at the seat of the NC. The appropriate travel information, such as train connections from Vlaanderen-Vaanta International Airport to Hilversum, suggested hotel accommodation and so forth have been forwarded in a separate document. A detailed list of the members of the Oelarian delegation should be sent to the Bureau for Member Affairs in Hilversum at the earliest convenience per post so that the appropriate visas and visitor passes can be issued. For meetings in Hilversum we ask that your delegates speak one of the following official NC languages: Dutch, Swedish, English, Gaelic, Aren Norsk, German or provide Tagzig interpreters.

We at the NC look forward to the next few months as we learn more about your country and meet with your delegates and diplomats. Any questions, concerns and further contact should be forwarded through this channel to the Bureau of Member Affairs.

With warm regards,

NC Bureau of Member Affairs
Approved by His Excellency Secretary-General Hans-Erik Rasmus

 

[Batavië]

Naar/To: Oelar Ministry of Foreign Affairs
[Add CC][Add BCC]
Onderwerp/SUBJ: Preparatory Measures for NC Accession Process
[STATUS: Vepo-approved security classification: Level C2-unclassified]
[Attach file][Verwijderen/Delete]

Warm Greetings,

The Northern Parliament of the NC is organising a committee to be called the 'Oelar Information Gathering Committee'. This committee will be conducting its work in Hilversum at NC headquarters and has requested the presence of the Oelarian NC Accession Delegation. Specifically the committee would appreciate it if the Oelarian delegation could please come with prepared reports on the following points of interest:

Infrastructure in Oelar: roads, rail, electricity/energy, communications/wireless telephoning, air travel, airports, docks/shipping terminals, immigration checkpoints and system

Status of Democracy in Oelar: briefing of democratic system, voting procedures/rights, briefing/explanation of most recent elections

Economy of Oelar: Briefing on economic activity, major sectors/industries, currency usage/monetary transactions and status of free market activity

The Oelar delegation is kindly asked to present to the committee these requested items in as much detail as possible. Accommodation for the delegation will be reserved at the Scanian Occidental Hotel in Hilversum for the committee proceedings, which are expected to last at least three days, possibly more. Please inform the NC Bureau of Member Affairs of the delegation's flight information as an escort service will accompany the delegates from Vlaanderen-Vaanta International Airport to Hilversum via high-speed train.

We look forward to beginning the process.

With heartfelt regards,

NC Bureau of Member Affairs
Approved by His Excellency Secretary-General Hans-Erik Rasmus

OOC: I'll open a thread and from there it's yours!

 

[Batavië]

NCPressCentre

Secretariat of the Northern Council

A peace conference for the South-Gallia Conflict hosted by the Northern Council will soon take place at the NC's headquarters in Hilversum, Batavia. Directly involved parties of the conflict as well as mediation partners will be present at this conference. Incoming delegations will be met at Vlaanderen-Vaanta International Airport before being escorted via train to Hilversum. Accommodation at hotels in Hilversum will also be arranged.

 

[Serenierre]

Secrétariat des Relations Internationales

The Republic of Sereniérre wishes to make a membership bid into the Northern Council.

Sincerely,
Mme. Elisabeth Mercelierre
Secretary of International Relations​

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

NCPressCentre

In response to the embargo upon Batavian goods and services by the Kingdom of Warre and the Republic of Bantyr, the Northern Council has decided to effectively raise tariffs on trade coming from and going to the Kingdom of Warre and the Republic of Bantyr by 1000%. This policy is effective immediately and is subject to change depending on the subject's policies in the upcoming future.​

Madelene Liljegärd (MNCP: Miljöpartiet de Gröna, Suionia),
High Representative of the Northern Council for Foreign Affairs

 

[Republic of the Malheur]

The Office of Crown Commerce

The Kingdom of Magna Cambriae and Armorica seeks membership to the Northern Council in a good faith effort to mend relations between the honorable organization and the Celtic world. HM King Owain V hopes to lead his brothers back from the brink of economic ruin and war.

Regards,
George Stanton, Baron Stanton of Aberavon
Lord Commissioner of the Exchequer

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

NCPressCentre

The Northern Council has begun the admissions process for Kingdom of Magna Cambriae and Armorica. A formal meeting between Kingdom of Magna Cambriae and Armorica and the Northern Council may be scheduled in the upcoming month to formalize the admissions process with a questioning period should it be asked for by the Council.​

Madelene Liljegärd (MNCP: Miljöpartiet de Gröna, Suionia),
High Representative of the Northern Council for Foreign Affairs