BSPC Rapporteur on Labour Market and Social Welfare

The first meeting of the Enlarged Steering Committee (ESC) of the Baltic Sea Labour Forum (BSLF) took place in Hamburg on 20 th April. The BSLF is one of the outcomes of the Baltic Sea Labour Network project, which was concluded in 2011, and in which BSPC was Associate Partner. BSLF is a network for exchange and communication between the key labour market actors in the Baltic Sea region. Its primary aim is the promotion of social dialogue, tripartite structures and cooperation as crucial elements of sustainable economic growth and social development in the Baltic Sea Region. BSPC will continue its committment to the BSLF. Franz Thönnes, MP, Bundestag, member of the BSPC Standing Committee and BSPC Rapporteur on Labour market issues, chaired the first meeting of the BSLF ESC. “The BSLF is continuing the successful cooperation between the social partners and the political bodies in the Baltic Sea Region, which will strengthen the social dialogue. The BSLF should deal with the challenges of developing a sustainable and fair labour market in our region”, Thönnes stated. Further information

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 .

Franz Thönnes, member of the German Bundestag and BSPC’s representative in the Steering Committee of the Baltic Sea Labour Network, took part in the Committee’s meeting in Helsinki on 31 st March. The BSLN Steering Committee advocates the establishment of a Forum for Social Dialogue in the Baltic Sea Region with the aim of influencing policy- and decision-making in the field of labour market relations, promoting transnational social dialogue, and networking and exchange of experience between the social partners and political institutions in the Baltic Sea Region. The Forum will assemble tripartite representatives from the countries in the Baltic Sea Region once a year in an Annual Round Table meeting. The SC meeting also included a meeting with Russian stakeholders. “Well-functioning and fair labour markets are a key element in developing our welfare models in a fair and sustainable direction”, said Franz Thönnes. “North-West Russia is a very important part of the Baltic Sea Region, and that is why representatives from Russia have been invited to Helsinki to plan the future cooperation with us and to take part in the upcoming Forum for Social Dialogue.” Further information

“We will only be able to exploit the great opportunities provided by our economic potential here in the North if the social climate is also right.” This was one of the main messages of Franz Thönnes, member of the Bundestag and member of the BSPC Standing Committee in his address to the 17 th BSSSC Annual Conference in Ringsted on 14 October . “This is why I am so pleased that the European Commission has accorded the social dimension a central role in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. This is precisely the time to gear ourselves up for the time after the crisis. In the coming months, therefore, we need to chart the course for the future. In economically hard times, all other needs unfortunately tend to take second place to the goals of encouraging investment and creating jobs. By this I mean environmental and climate protection and the protection of workers’ rights”, he stated. “On average, we have a good level of prosperity in the Baltic Sea Region. Yet at the same time we have here some of the poorest and some of the richest regions of Europe. The European Cohesion Policy remains one of the main cornerstones of European regional policy. The EU Baltic Sea Strategy can make an important contribution in this respect. To ensure that political resolutions are turned into deeds, we should exploit the momentum generated by the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. But we also need serious efforts on the part of all the Baltic Sea States”, Mr Thönnes concluded. The Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation (BSSSC) is a political network for decentralized authorities (subregional) in the Baltic Sea Region. The BSSSC was founded in Stavanger, Norway, in 1993. Its members are regional authorities (the level just below the national level authorities) of the 10 Baltic littoral states.