Four years after its launch as the EU’s first macro region, representatives from the 8 EU countries involved, are gathering in Vilnius today alongside Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn for the Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). Also joining them will be representatives from Russia and Norway.
Key players will discuss how to take the strategy forward and build on what has already been. In particular the focus will be on how tackling the environmental challenges in the region can deliver benefits in terms of growth and jobs.
The achievements of the Baltic Strategy and of the macro regional approach were recently confirmed by EU countries at their General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels in October. More than 100 flagship projects, dealing with issues like pollution of the Baltic Sea, missing transport links and sustainable farming methods, have been set up in the context of the strategy.
But confirming the Commission’s own evaluation of the macro regional strategies, member states also consider more can be done through better governance. They have called for a review of how the Baltic and the Danube Strategy are managed with a view to improving on their successes. This review, spearheaded in the Council by the Lithuanian presidency, will be launched in the Baltic region at this week’s Forum and delivered by the end of next year.
The participants in the gathering will also discuss how to make sure that the strategy is firmly entrenched in 2014-2020 EU programming so resources are there to fund future projects.
Speaking ahead of the event, Commissioner Hahn said, “The Baltic Strategy has pioneered an approach to cooperation as Europe’s first macro region which others are watching closely both in and out of Europe. We are already achieving a great deal through countries and regions working together to identify common interests, problems and solutions that cannot be so effectively dealt with purely at national or local level.”
He added, “But we need to speed up the tempo of our cooperation. It is time for members of the Strategy to act more like captains not passengers of this strategy - and for the countries and regions bordering the Baltic Sea to step up and mobilise available European Funds as well as national, regional, and private resources to influence the direction of the macro region. ”
The event, which is hosted jointly by the European Commission with the Lithuanian Presidency in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and “INTERACT” Point Turku, brings together over 700 people from all the countries around the Baltic Sea. These represent the governmental sector, business, civil society and regional organisations.
Source: European Commission