Brussels, 16/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - The member states are trying to remedy any shortcomings in the strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. They adopted conclusions on the revision of the macro-regional strategy at the General Affairs Council of Tuesday 15 November. Eight European countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden) have a Baltic Sea shoreline.
Since June 2009, the European strategy for the region encourages these countries to act in a more coordinated way to respond to the main characteristic issues of the region, which cannot be resolved at national level. These are, principally, the environment, accessibility, security and prosperity. The European Commission was awaiting political discussions under the Polish Presidency for the revision of the strategy and so the Council made its recommendations recently, on the basis of a Commission report published in June of this year, analysing the application of the strategy thus far.
The Council sent out clear signals to the Commission to improve its orientation of the revision of the strategy, and to the member states to step up their actions as part of the strategy. However, the Council is sticking to its guns over the initial principle of the strategy: “no new EU funds, no additional EU formal structures and no new EU legislation”. However, the Council is counting on the programming period 2014-2020 to facilitate the funding of the strategy, by taking it more into account in programme design. The Council also recommends looking into the possibility of getting the private sector involved with access to financing solutions.
Another innovative point raised by the Council is the creation of a system of realistic and achievable targets and indicators. The Council is hoping for proposals from the Commission in early 2012 on this system, allowing a better evaluation and greater focus on achieving results. The Council also wishes to consolidate the Commission's responsibility as coordinator, notably by means of the high-level group set up for this purpose. The strategy should also be extended across the local and regional authorities. As regards actors related to the strategy, the Council stresses that greater emphasis should be laid on defining the roles and responsibilities of the main stakeholders, and reinforcing the roles of the national contact points.
These recommendations should be fully integrated by the member states and the Commission in the implementation of the strategy over the coming year. The Commission should take stock of the strategy “in light of these recommendations” early next year. (MD/transl.fl)