The Northern Dimension as an important topic for EU policy was first recognized at the Luxembourg European Council in December 1997. In the years which followed, the concept became more concrete. The Vienna European Council in December 1998 adopted a Commission Communication on a "Northern Dimension for the policies of the Union". Six months later, in Cologne, the European Council adopted "Guidelines for the Implementation of the Northern Dimension". In November 1999, the Finnish EU Presidency held a Ministerial Conference on the Northern Dimension, where an Inventory of current activities under the Northern Dimension was adopted. The Helsinki European Council in December 1999 invited the Commission to prepare a Northern Dimension Action Plan, and the Feira European Council in June 2000 subsequently adopted this first "Action Plan for the Northern Dimension in the external and cross-border policies of the European Union, 2001-2003".