On Friday, November 7, 2014 the Standing Committee of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference met in the Landtag Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel.
Participants of the event were representatives of national and regional parliaments of Åland, Baltic Assembly, Federal Republic of Germany, Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Nordic Council, Norway, Schleswig-Holstein and Sweden. Other invited guests and experts were representatives of the Baltic Sea Youth Secretariat (BSYS) in Kiel as well as a representative from the Ministry of Justice, Culture and Europe Schleswig-Holstein who is responsible for the North and Baltic Affairs.
The Vice President of the Landtag Bernd Heinemann opened the meeting. The meeting was chaired by the Vice-President Janis Vucans.
The representatives from the BSYS reported on the current status of the Secretariat and its plans for the future. The BSYS has submitted an application for the Erasmus+ Programme, “Strategic Partnership”. The major goal of the project is to settle a Baltic Sea Youth Forum on a regular basis which guarantees that youth is involved in the decision-making process of the region. The Secretariat for Youth of the West Pomeranian Region, the youth organization from the Norden Association (FNUF) and the Ungdomsskolen Kolding have joined this project. The speakers expressed their wish to arrange a BSYF back-to-back with the annual conference in Rostock-Warnemünde. This could test the concept. The Vice-President Janis Vucans suggested to think about ways to support the BSYS until the next Standing Committee Meeting in January 2015.
The representative from the Ministry of Justice, Culture and Europe gave an introduction about the cultural dialogue in the Baltic Sea Region. Co-coordinators of the new Priority Area on Culture in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) are Poland and Schleswig-Holstein. The aims are the promotion and presentation of culture in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR), preservation of cultural heritage, a common cultural identity and efficient framework for BSR cultural cooperation. The importance of a strong parliamentary support and involvement in the Baltic Sea Region Cultural Dialogue was emphasized.
Furthermore, the Standing Committee Meeting inter alia agreed on the draft Work Program 2014-2015. The ambition of the Work Program is it to focus on a few priorities, with innovation in social and health care at the top. This will also be the main topic at the 24th BSPC in Rostock-Warnemünde, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern from 30 August – 1 September 2015. The meeting resolved to restrict the number of rapporteurs on the next BSPC to give the audience enough time for political discussions. It is planned to divide the subject health care into two sessions, details will be clarified at the next SC meeting in January.