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An enhanced cooperation between business and the cultural sector can generate initiatives and activities that can contribute to local and regional economic development in the Northern Dimension area, said Valentina Pivnenko, member of the Russian State Duma and vice chairperson of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, when addressing the 2 nd Northern Dimension Parliamentary Forum in Tromsö on 22 February. -The Northern Dimension Business Forum should receive full support in its work to initiate business opportunities in the region. The overarching objective of the activities within the Northern Dimension is to solve the real problems that exists for the peoples of the north, concluded Pivnenko.

Christina Gestrin, Chairman of the BSPC, was awarded the Lasse Wiklöf Baltic Sea Prize on Monday 14 th February. The prize is a recognition of Christina Gestrin´s dedicated work for the environment of the Baltic Sea Region. The Baltic Sea Fund, which was founded in 1989, rewards outstanding environmental efforts in Finland, Sweden and the Åland Islands. This year´s winners were announced on Monday by the Governor of the Åland Islands, Peter Lindbäck. The prize award ceremony will take place on 7 th May in the Alandica Cultural Centre in Mariehamn. It will also include lectures by the prize winners.

Trafficking in children and children at risk were the themes when the Working Group on Trafficking held its 5 th meeting in Helsinki on 18 January. Expert presentations were provided by Lars Lööf, Head of Children’s Unit, CBSS, Niraj Nathwani, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, and Dr Venla Roth, Senior Officer, the Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities, Finland’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings. The WG also commenced deliberations on the political recommendations in its final report, to be presented at the 20 th BSPC in Helsinki 28-30 August.

The theme of the fourth meeting of the WG Integrated Maritime Policy, held in Tallinn 23 November 2010, was Options for the Reduction of Emissions from Maritime Shipping. Expert presentations were delivered by Ms Ramona Zettelmaier, Lloyds Register Hamburg, Mr Jürgen Friesch, Hamburgerische Schiffbau-Versuchanstalt, Mr Mogens Schrøder Bech, Danish Maritime Authority, Mr Are Piel, Vessel Traffic Services Center Estonia, and Mr Ilmari Aro, Finnish Transport Agency. The meeting also appointed Mr Roger Jansson, MP, Åland Islands, as Vice Chairman of the WG, succeeding Ms Lisbeth Grönfeldt Bergman who has resigned from the Swedish Parliament.

The victims of trafficking in human beings were at the centre of deliberations at the fourth meeting of the BSPC Working Group on Civil Security/Trafficking in Hamburg 25 October. Expert presentations were provided by Caroline O´Reilly, Head of the Special Action programme to Combat Forced Labour, the International Labour Office; Veronica Munk, TAMPEP, European Network for HIV/STI Prevention among Migrant Sex Workers; and experts from the Coordination Office against Trafficking in Women (KOOFRA) in Hamburg. The Working Group was also given a status report on the CBSS Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings by Marta Bociek, Project Officer at the Task Force.

“It is fundamentally important to ensure that all stakeholders of the Region – from EU- as well as non-EU– countries – can participate in the work on an equal footing. We strongly advocate the continuous alignment of the EU Strategy with the Northern Dimension policy, which constitutes a general framework for cooperation between EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland.” This message was emphasized by Christina Gestrin, Chairman of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, in her address to the concluding session of the 1 st Annual Forum on the EU Strategy of the Baltic Sea Region. “We can do better in coordinating our various activities in order to avoid duplication and boost the collective impact of our efforts“, she continued. The Forum gathered some 500 participants from virtually all stakeholder organizations in the Baltic Sea Region. The purpose of the Forum was to get an overall picture of the progress of implementation of the EU Strategy and its 15 priority areas. “I believe that this Forum can serve as a kind of a ‘town hall meeting‘, where citizens, experts and decision-makers can congregate and exchange opinions and ideas. A sincere and expanded dialogue with citizens, NGOs, civic organizations and others should be an integral part of the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region”, Gestrin stressed. “At the end of the day, the value and success of the Strategy will be judged not by its internal logic, but by its capacity to improve the welfare – in a wide sense – of the citizens of the Region”, she concluded.

Environmental, economic and other perspectives on shipping were at the centre of the agenda when the BSPC WG on Integrated Maritime Policy met in Copenhagen on 15 June. The meeting, which was led by WG Vice Chair Ms Lisbeth Grönfeldt Bergmann, included presentations by Mr Niels Bjørn Mortensen, A P Møller-Mærsk Group, Mr Jan Fritz Hansen, Danish Ship Owners Association, Ms Raimunda Liutkeviciene, CBSS Expert Group on Maritime Policy, Ms Jaqueline McGlade, European Environment Agency, and Mr Francis Zacharie and Mr Bjarke Bøtcher, Danish Maritime Safety Administration. The meeting also discussed and fine-tuned the WG’s political recommendations to its mid-way report at the 19 th BSPC in Mariehamn 29-31 August.

The economic aspects on trafficking in human beings was the overarching theme for the third meeting of the BSPC Working Group on Civil Security, which was convened in Oslo on 10 June. Guest speakers at the meeting were Mr Jan Austad, Norwegian National Coordinator on Trafficking in Human Beings, Mr Harald Bøhler, Head of the Oslo Police STOP Group, Ms Bjørg Norli, the Oslo Pro Centre, and Mr Sven-Erik Nagelgaard from the Norwegian criminal police. The WG will now proceed to produce a mid-term report with political recommendations, which will be presented at the 19 BSPC in Mariehamn on 29-31 August.

“I am glad to reaffirm the close, continuous and constructive interaction between CBSS and BSPC. In our opinion, CBSS has a central role as a driver for comprehensive action to manage the challenges of the Baltic Sea Region. In BSPC, we have a pronounced ambition to synchronize our objectives and priorities with those of the corresponding bodies of the CBSS”, said Christina Gestrin, Chairman of the BSPC, in her address to the 8 th Baltic Sea States Summit in Vilnius on 2 June. “The promising initiatives and programmes that have been launched in and for the Baltic Sea Region must be transformed into practical deeds and results. The EU Baltic Sea Strategy, for instance, should be closely aligned with and conducted in the spirit of the Northern Dimension, which, like CBSS itself, brings together both EU- and non-EU members as equal partners. An inclusive cooperation between all relevant stakeholders is necessary in order to find credible and sustainable solutions to the challenges of the Baltic Sea Region” she underlined. The biennial Baltic Sea States Summit is a forum for strategic deliberations and decisions by the Prime Ministers of the countries in the Baltic Sea Region.

On 1-3 June, the city of Vilnius has been the home of three consecutive Baltic Sea meetings. On 1-2 June, the Baltic Development Forum held its 2010 Summit on the theme of An Agenda for Jobs, Investment and Sustainable Growth. On 2 June, the 8 th Baltic Sea States Summit was convened, gathering Prime Ministers from the whole Baltic Sea Region, the President of the EU Commission and the BSPC. Last in the line, the BSPC Enlarged Standing Committee met in the Parliament of Lithuania on 3 June.

“BSPC will continue to support the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan as the central tool for the restoration of good ecological status of the Baltic Sea by 2021” says Christina Gestrin, Chairman of the BSPC, attending the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in Moscow on 20 May . “Already at the Ministerial Meeting in Krakow in 2007, the HELCOM member states pledged to present National Implementation Plans at the Moscow meeting in 2010. The Baltic Sea is in a dire ecological state, and can not afford any delays of the actions to save it. Therefore, it is regrettable that not all HELCOM member states had managed to present Implementation Plans at the Moscow meeting. Now we expect that the rest of the states will follow suit and present their Implementation Plans at the high-level meeting of HELCOM in early 2011”, concludes Gestrin.

Christina Gestrin, Chairman of the BSPC, delivered a keynote address at the Nordic Forum for Security 2010, held in St Petersburg on 26-27 April. “Organized crime undermines the security and safety of the citizen. It corrupts the legal and administrative foundation of society. It distorts the free function of the market mechanisms. Organized crime is a fundamental threat against freedom and democracy“, stated Gestrin. She also discussed maritime safety and security in the Baltic Sea, and mentioned that BSPC has called upon governments to enhance preparedness to tackle oil spills, strengthen maritime safety and ship traffic monitoring, and boost efforts to phase out sub-standard ships. “BSPC strongly supports the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan”, she maintained, and concluded that cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region should be conducted as a cooperation between equal partners irrespective of their membership in the EU.