Brussels, 08/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 June, Danuta Hübner, the commissioner for regional policy, will present the European Union's strategy for the Baltic Sea region. To help this macro-region, which has a population of around 100 million, the Commission intends to optimise its development potential by proposing a strategy that coordinates action between member states, regions, financial and other interest groups. This new strategy, which is also a first step to the regional implementation of the Union's maritime integration policy, is contained in a communication and action plan outlining 80 pilot projects, some of which have already been launched. This strategy will be included in the Swedish Presidency of the EU's priorities. Member states and the Parliament are called on to endorse it before the end of the year.
The EU is in a key position to facilitate greater cooperation between countries in the region. Eight EU member states (Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) and Russia have Baltic Sea coastline. Most challenges the region has to confront have been brought to light by European policies but cannot be overcome without Russia, notes the Commission in its press release. Other reasons, such as the fact that the Union is an independent authority and has already launched regional development programmes through structural funds, which are essentially the basis of strengthened cooperation, make the Union an indispensable facilitator of cooperation for this area. The Commission recommends the development of this cooperation through existing initiatives, particularly the “Nordic dimension” (Common EU/Russia/Norway and Iceland) or the Danube or Mediterranean basins.
The Commission's action plan defines four priority areas of intervention: 1) environmentally sustainable: reduce food waste thrown into the sea to an acceptable level; protect zones of natural beauty and biodiversity, including fishing zones; reduce use and impact of dangerous substances; become a model region for own navigation: mitigate climate change; 2) enhance prosperity; exploit the region's full potential in research and innovation; implement the Small Business Act: promote the spirit of enterprise, strengthen SMEs and increase the efficiency and use of human resources; strengthen agriculture, sustainable forests and fisheries; 3) an accessible and attractive region: improve energy market access but also their efficiency and security; improve links between internal and external transport; maintain and enhance the attractiveness of the Baltic sea region, particularly through education, tourism and health; 4) a safe region free from danger: to become a regional model in maritime security; increase protection in emergencies at sea and on land, reduce the number of cross-border crimes.
This region faces ecological threats (pollution and depletion of fish stocks, maritime disasters such as the Erika), slow pace of development, excessive dependency on energy imports, uneven economic development between the North (rich and very innovative) and the South/West (developing region) where there are shortfalls in transport and long distances are a sizable obstacle - for example, it takes 36 hours to get from Warsaw to Tallin! Another cause of concern is Lithuania's isolation from Latvia and Estonia in terms of energy supply.
In December 2007, the Commission asked member states to prepare a European strategy for the Baltic Sea region. The proposal will be presented on Wednesday and is the result of a public online consultation launched in November 2008 by the Commission, together with many public debates in the eight countries involved. The main messages from the consultation were: no new institutions, not just a strategy and a commitment from the European Commission.
The Baltic Sea region will receive more than €50bn for 2007-13 in cohesion policy investment and other European funds, including €27bn for improving accessibility, around €10bn for the environment, €6.7bn for competitiveness and €697 million for security and risk prevention. (G.B./transl.rh)