News

On 16 February, the European Parliament Environment Committee will debate a proposal for a European directive aiming at adapting a European legislation on sulphur emissions to the stronger IMP regulations concerning the reduction of sulphur limits in marine fuels as from 1 January 2015 in SECAs. The Committee will also discuss the report on this issue by EP Rapporteur Ms Satu Hassi. Mr Jochen Schulte, Chairman of the BSPC WG on Integrated Maritime Policy in 2009-2011, has directed a letter to Ms Hassi, drawing the attention of the European parliamentarians to the concerns of the WG members regarding possible competitive disadvantages for Baltic Sea shipping. He points out, i.a., the necessity of accompanying measures in order to, on the one hand, prevent an unwanted traffic shift from sea to land transport and, on the other hand, facilitate the transition to low-sulphur fuels and ship propulsion systems.

The final report of the BSPC Working Group on Integrated Maritime Policy has just been released in a printed version, which will be distributed to the WG members and other stakeholders. A few copies are also available through the BSPC Secretariat. The report is also published as pdf on the WG’s webpage .

The BSPC Working Group on Green Growth and Energy Efficiency held its inaugural meeting in the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm on 12 December 2011. The meeting was led by the WG Chairman Ms Cecilie Tenfjord-Toftby, Sweden. Expert presentations were provided by Ms Mia Crawford, CBSS/Baltic 21, and Mr Fredrik von Malmborg, Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, Sweden. The meeting was primarily devoted to initial discussions about the mandate, scope and priorities of the WG, recognizing that the overarching mission of the Group is to elaborate political recommendations on Green Growth and Energy Efficiency, and to bring an added political value from the parliamentary side to the process of creating sustainable growth in the Baltic Sea Region. The next meeting of the WG will be held on 2 March 2012.

The 20 th Anniversary of the Baltic Assembly was celebrated in connection with the 30 th Session of the Baltic Assembly in Tallinn on 25 November. Bertel Haarder, President of the Nordic Council and member of the BSPC Standing Committee, conveyed warm greetings from Valentina Pivnenko, Chairman of the BSPC, to the Baltic Assembly on the occasion of its 20 th Anniversary. “Mutually beneficial cooperation is of fundamental importance. BSPC has always appreciated and benefited from the dedicated involvement and participation of the Baltic Assembly in the work of the BSPC, and we in the BSPC look forward to many more years of fruitful interaction. A clear testimony to this is that Estonia has offered to assume the Chairmanship of BSPC in 2012-2013”, Haarder stated.

The Baltic Sea Labour Network (BSLN) project, in which BSPC is Associate Partner, held its Final Conference in Hamburg on 15-16 November, drawing over 200 representatives of various social partners from all over the Baltic Sea Region. A wide range of keynote speeches, working sessions and side events contributed to the success of the Conference, which was a worthy finale of the BSLN project. The project, launched in October 2008, has managed to bring together representatives from employer organizations and trade union organizations throughout the Baltic Sea Region in a series of projects all devoted to developing sustainable labour markets in the Region. The Final Conference adopted an exhaustive Resolution, in which it advocated the establishment of a Baltic Sea Labour Forum, which will be located at the CBSS Secretariat in Stockholm. Franz Thönnes, MP, Bundestag, Member of the BSPC Standing Committee and BSPC Rapporteur on Labour Market issues, opened and closed the Conference, and also chaired the Drafting Committee as well as the first meeting of the Forum on 16 November. Jan Widberg, Head of BSPC Secretariat, also took part. Documents from the Final Conference are available on the BSLN website .

The final report of the BSPC Working Group on Trafficking has just been released in a paper version. A limited number of copies are available thorugh the BSPC Secretariat. The report is also published in PDF format on the WG webepage .

The new Standing Committee of the BSPC convened on the premises of the Hamburg Parliament on 7 November. The new Standing Committee, which is headed by the BSPC President Valentina Pivnenko, constitutes a merger of the previous Standing Committee and Enlarged Standing Committee, and thus includes all national parliaments, regional parliaments and parliamentary organizations of the Baltic Sea Region as regular members. The meeting primarly focussed on various follw-up initiatives to the 20 th BSPC. Moreover, it agreed to appoint Cecilie Tenfjord-Toftby, MP, Sweden, as Chairperson of the new BSPC Working Group on Green Growth and Energy Efficiency

Valentina Pivnenko was elected Chairman of the BSPC for 2011-2012 at the BSPC Standing Committee meeting 28 August. Valentina Pivnenko has been a member of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation since 2000. She is Chairman of the State Duma Committee on North and Far East Issues. The 21 st Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference will be convened in St Petersburg on 26-28 August 2012. The Standing Committee also appointed Laine Randjärv Vice Chairman of the BSPC. Laine Randjärv is Vice President of the Estonian Parliament and Chairman of the Baltic Assembly Presidium.

The sixth and final meeting of the BSPC Working Group on Integrated Maritime Policy was convened in Schwerin on 20 June in the Parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen. The theme of the meeting was Port Infrastructure, and expert presentations were provided by Manfred Müller-Fahrenholz, Managing Director, Neptun Werft GmbH, Dr Hans-Jörg Wenzel, Project Manager, P+S Werften, Erik Andersson Pauldin, Public Affairs, Ports of Stockholm, Sten Björk, Project leader Clean Baltic Sea Shipping, port of Trelleborg, and Jörg Sträussler, technical Manager, Clean Baltic Sea Shipping, Baltic Energy Forum. The meeting also included a discussion and exchange of ideas with Lars Almklov, outgoing Chair of the CBSS Expert Group on Maritime Policy, Dietrich Seele, incoming Chair of the CBSS EGMP, and Stefan Musiolik, Chairman of the BSSSC Working Group on Maritime Policy. The Working Group also discussed its final report, to be presented at the 20 th BSPC in August, and finalized the political recommendations to be included in the final report and submitted to the BSPC Drafting Committee for the 20 th BSPC Resolution.

The seventh and final meeting of the Working Group was held in the Lithuanian Parliament on 16 June. The meeting was devoted to awareness raising on trafficking, and the Working Group got information, experiences and inspiration from Ms Marianne Gulløv, External Communications Manager, the Body Shop, Mr Anthony Jay, Head of Media and Communications, CBSS Secretariat, and Ms Giedre Blazyte and Ms Ona Gustiene, Missing Persons Families Support Centre, Lithuania. The Working Group also finalized its political recommendations on trafficking, which will be included in the final report of the group and conveyed to the BSPC Drafting Committee as input to the 20 th BSPC Draft Resolution.

“BSPC and CBSS share the basic tenet that all stakeholders of the Baltic Sea Region – from EU- as well as non-EU– countries – must be able to cooperate on an equal footing in order to find credible and sustainable solutions to the challenges of the Region“ said Christina Gestrin, Chairman of the BSPC, in her address to the 16 th CBSS Ministerial meeting in Oslo on 7 June. Speaking before Ministers and top officials of the CBSS countries, she pointed out that a great deal is undoubtedly being done to help the Baltic Sea recover and to promote prosperity and welfare in the Baltic Sea Region. However, challenges are persistent. “An expansion of nuclear power generation, for example, in spite of the recent German decision to phase out its nuclear power by 2022, places a great responsibility on the governments to set up extremely stringent conditions and regulations for operation as well as storage and processing of spent fuel. But this, in turn, also provide opportunities to intensify efforts to promote the development of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and green technologies. These fields hold great potentials for stimulating growth and strengthening the competitiveness of the Region“, she emphasized.

Roger Jansson, Vice Chairman of the BSPC Working Group on Integrated Maritime Policy, co-chaired a joint meeting with the maritime expert groups of CBSS and BSSSC in connection with the European Maritime Day in Gdansk on 19-20 May. “The intention of this common event is, basically, to promote a more regular and structured dialogue between the different levels of political decision-making in the region. We should all strive to build a Baltic Maritime Community by developing and sharing maritime knowledge, exchanging information and experience on best-practice examples. Thus, we can hopefully promote common objectives for the best of our region” said Jansson. “The meetings of the BSPC Working Group on Integrated Maritime Policy so far have shown that maritime safety and climate protection constitute the principal maritime challenges of the Baltic Sea Region. The harmful effects of ship-generated emissions and the designation of the Baltic Sea as an Emission Control Area have been at the centre of discussions”, Mr Jansson mentioned. “A more regular dialogue between our organizations can strengthen the combined impact of our efforts to promote competitiveness and environmental sustainability”, he stated.