diff --git a/nomenclature/__init__.py b/nomenclature/__init__.py
index 4733c50d..94d8f68d 100644
--- a/nomenclature/__init__.py
+++ b/nomenclature/__init__.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from nomenclature.codelist import CodeList  # noqa
 from nomenclature.core import process  # noqa
 from nomenclature.countries import countries  # noqa
+from nomenclature.nuts import nuts  # noqa
 from nomenclature.definition import SPECIAL_CODELIST, DataStructureDefinition  # noqa
 from nomenclature.processor import RegionAggregationMapping  # noqa
 from nomenclature.processor import RegionProcessor, RequiredDataValidator  # noqa
diff --git a/nomenclature/codelist.py b/nomenclature/codelist.py
index d1db586b..7b1bd4f3 100644
--- a/nomenclature/codelist.py
+++ b/nomenclature/codelist.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 from nomenclature.code import Code, MetaCode, RegionCode, VariableCode
 from nomenclature.config import CodeListConfig, NomenclatureConfig
 from nomenclature.error import ErrorCollector, custom_pydantic_errors, log_error
+from nomenclature.nuts import nuts
+
 
 here = Path(__file__).parent.absolute()
 
@@ -726,6 +728,16 @@ def from_directory(
                 except AttributeError:
                     code_list.append(RegionCode(name=c.name, hierarchy="Country"))
 
+        # adding nuts regions
+        if config.definitions.region.nuts:
+            for level, countries in config.definitions.region.nuts.items():
+                for nuts_region in nuts.get(
+                    level=int(level[-1]), country_code=countries
+                ):
+                    code_list.append(
+                        RegionCode(name=nuts_region.code, hierarchy="NUTS 2021-2024")
+                    )
+
         # importing from an external repository
         for repo in config.definitions.region.repositories:
             repo_path = config.repositories[repo].local_path / "definitions" / "region"
diff --git a/nomenclature/config.py b/nomenclature/config.py
index 487101bd..4d20d32e 100644
--- a/nomenclature/config.py
+++ b/nomenclature/config.py
@@ -41,6 +41,19 @@ def repository_dimension_path(self) -> str:
 
 class RegionCodeListConfig(CodeListConfig):
     country: bool = False
+    nuts: dict[str, str | list[str]] | None = None
+
+    @field_validator("nuts")
+    @classmethod
+    def check_nuts(
+        cls, v: dict[str, str | list[str]] | None
+    ) -> dict[str, str | list[str]] | None:
+        if v and not all(k in ["nuts-1", "nuts-2", "nuts-3"] for k in v.keys()):
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Invalid fields for `nuts` in configuration. "
+                "Allowed values are: 'nuts-1', 'nuts-2' and 'nuts-3'."
+            )
+        return v
 
 
 class Repository(BaseModel):
diff --git a/nomenclature/definition.py b/nomenclature/definition.py
index f72fa597..8a93d1ea 100644
--- a/nomenclature/definition.py
+++ b/nomenclature/definition.py
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ def __init__(self, path, dimensions=None):
             self.repo = None
 
         if not path.is_dir() and not (
-            self.config.repositories or self.config.definitions.region.country
+            self.config.repositories
+            or self.config.definitions.region.country
+            or self.config.definitions.region.nuts
         ):
             raise NotADirectoryError(f"Definitions directory not found: {path}")
 
diff --git a/nomenclature/nuts.py b/nomenclature/nuts.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b3b62219
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nomenclature/nuts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import logging
+
+import pysquirrel
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+nuts = pysquirrel.nuts
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 41867537..3fb5fbfb 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -1544,6 +1544,22 @@ testbase = ["pytest", "pytest-benchmark", "pytest-cov", "pytest-subtests"]
 uncertainties = ["uncertainties (>=3.1.6)"]
 xarray = ["xarray"]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "platformdirs"
+version = "4.3.6"
+description = "A small Python package for determining appropriate platform-specific dirs, e.g. a `user data dir`."
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.8"
+files = [
+    {file = "platformdirs-4.3.6-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:73e575e1408ab8103900836b97580d5307456908a03e92031bab39e4554cc3fb"},
+    {file = "platformdirs-4.3.6.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:357fb2acbc885b0419afd3ce3ed34564c13c9b95c89360cd9563f73aa5e2b907"},
+]
+
+[package.extras]
+docs = ["furo (>=2024.8.6)", "proselint (>=0.14)", "sphinx (>=8.0.2)", "sphinx-autodoc-typehints (>=2.4)"]
+test = ["appdirs (==1.4.4)", "covdefaults (>=2.3)", "pytest (>=8.3.2)", "pytest-cov (>=5)", "pytest-mock (>=3.14)"]
+type = ["mypy (>=1.11.2)"]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pluggy"
 version = "1.5.0"
@@ -1559,6 +1575,27 @@ files = [
 dev = ["pre-commit", "tox"]
 testing = ["pytest", "pytest-benchmark"]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pooch"
+version = "1.8.2"
+description = "A friend to fetch your data files"
+optional = false
+python-versions = ">=3.7"
+files = [
+    {file = "pooch-1.8.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:3529a57096f7198778a5ceefd5ac3ef0e4d06a6ddaf9fc2d609b806f25302c47"},
+    {file = "pooch-1.8.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:76561f0de68a01da4df6af38e9955c4c9d1a5c90da73f7e40276a5728ec83d10"},
+]
+
+[package.dependencies]
+packaging = ">=20.0"
+platformdirs = ">=2.5.0"
+requests = ">=2.19.0"
+
+[package.extras]
+progress = ["tqdm (>=4.41.0,<5.0.0)"]
+sftp = ["paramiko (>=2.7.0)"]
+xxhash = ["xxhash (>=1.4.3)"]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "psycopg"
 version = "3.2.1"
@@ -1889,6 +1926,22 @@ files = [
 [package.extras]
 diagrams = ["jinja2", "railroad-diagrams"]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pysquirrel"
+version = "1.0"
+description = "Python package designed to fetch NUTS administrative divisions"
+optional = false
+python-versions = "<4.0,>=3.10"
+files = [
+    {file = "pysquirrel-1.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:d82759a31733ecda1fb045a0a2219fba02b37ac799b836c00aa95bf66f91a400"},
+    {file = "pysquirrel-1.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:ee79915a7140d159a010752dd1ddb7657ad2cc33f0ae53f8c875f3b7c1dfc273"},
+]
+
+[package.dependencies]
+openpyxl = ">=3.1.5,<4.0.0"
+pooch = ">=1.8.2,<2.0.0"
+pydantic = ">=2.8.2,<3.0.0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pytest"
 version = "7.4.4"
@@ -2706,4 +2759,4 @@ files = [
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.0"
 python-versions = ">=3.10, <3.13"
-content-hash = "41bc60ab52c053b074e05975182531371bb3c5cc9d29ee44b89358395e463636"
+content-hash = "ae78b6f629819ffc09f590cf5478fb749c40a94d8ea5e1f9f1b0823cf6902145"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6ef61c21..745dd99d 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ pydantic = "^2"
 PyYAML = "^6.0.1"
 pandas = ">=1.5.2"
 pycountry = "23.12.11"  # pin to guard against "silent" changes in country names
+pysquirrel = "1.0"
 gitpython = "^3.1.40"
 numpy = "^1.23.0"
 
diff --git a/tests/data/general-config-only-nuts/nomenclature.yaml b/tests/data/general-config-only-nuts/nomenclature.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..46751346
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/general-config-only-nuts/nomenclature.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+dimensions:
+  - region
+definitions:
+  region:
+    nuts:
+      nuts-1: [ AT ]
+      nuts-2: BE
+      nuts-3: [ CZ ]
diff --git a/tests/test_definition.py b/tests/test_definition.py
index 0f1d8cc1..5dfc1e27 100644
--- a/tests/test_definition.py
+++ b/tests/test_definition.py
@@ -65,6 +65,17 @@ def test_definition_general_config_country_only():
     assert all(region in obs.region for region in ("Austria", "Bolivia", "Kosovo"))
 
 
+def test_definition_general_config_nuts_only():
+    """Check that DataStructureDefinition is properly initialised with NUTS region config only"""
+    obs = DataStructureDefinition(
+        TEST_DATA_DIR / "general-config-only-nuts" / "definitions"
+    )
+    assert all(region[:2] in ("AT", "BE", "CZ") for region in obs.region)
+    assert len([region for region in obs.region if region.startswith("AT")]) == 4
+    assert len([region for region in obs.region if region.startswith("BE")]) == 12
+    assert len([region for region in obs.region if region.startswith("CZ")]) == 15
+
+
 def test_to_excel(simple_definition, tmpdir):
     """Check writing a DataStructureDefinition to file"""
     file = tmpdir / "testing_export.xlsx"