Speech Maydanov

HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan:Implementation via National ProgrammesMr. Igor I. MaydanovChairman of the Helsinki Commission18th Baltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceThe Baltic Sea Region and the New Security ChallengesNyborg, Denmark,31 August – 1 September 2009SLIDE 1Ladies and gentlemen.I am pleased to represent here the Commission for the Protection of theMarine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area and to inform you about:- the latest developments in the implementation of the HELCOM BalticSea Action Plan, and- the work which on a short time-scale is focusing on the upcomingHELCOM Moscow ministerial meeting on 18-20 May 2010; and- on a longer time-scale on achieving a Baltic Sea in good environmentalstatus by 2021.And not least I see this as an immense opportunity to gain Your supportfor the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in Yourcapacity as both:- an influential regional organisation; and- as representatives of the national parliamentsSLIDE 2I will during my intervention focus on the National ImplementationProgrammes for presentation in May 2010 at the HELCOM MoscowMinisterial Meeting – and the coherence between these ImplementationProgrammes and the obligation of the HELCOM Member States toimplement other international requirements.And it is important already at this moment to flag the stronginterconnection between the work that HELCOM is carrying out and thework that is carried out at the global and European scales. Because byimplementing the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan countries are alsofulfilling global requirements and requirements at EU level. And for thisreasons it is similarly important that Baltic needs, and identified priorityactions are being taken into account and supported in other fora, whenimplementing existing and developing new instruments and whendeciding on the priorities and the alignment in the use of the existingfinancial instruments.A good example of this is the recent release by the EuropeanCommission of the Communication on a European Union Strategy for theBaltic Sea Region, stating (and I am quoting, from page 6 in the ActionPlan): ”that HELCOM will (thus) have an important role for theimplementation of the (European) Strategy (for the Baltic Sea Region)”.SLIDE 3Besides the well known facts about geography, the political set up andthe natural sensitivity of the Baltic Sea Region, we should not forgetabout the major function of the sea as such, namely to provide variousecosystem services which are supporting life in our region.A recent study commissioned by the Swedish Government has shownthat the benefits of accomplishing a non-eutrophied Baltic Sea wouldaccount up to 5 000 Million Euros per year. And mind you: this figuremight even be an underestimation as it does not give the full picture ofother than eutrophication impacts on the marine environment of theBaltic. However, I believe it provides us with a very good basis tounderstand both the scale of values which could be lost as well the cost-effectiveness of quick actions to address the current environmentalsituation.SLIDE 4This leads us naturally to the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan – and theimportance and necessity of this Plan.As you know, the HELCOM Action Plan was adopted in 2007. It consistsof four pillars, covering the key environmental problems in the Baltic;namely eutrophication, hazardous substances, maritime transportationand degradation of biodiversity. And each pillar contains tailor-madeactions, the implementation of which will lead to a healthy Baltic Sea.SLIDE 5We all know that one thing is to agree at the international level whatneeds to be done – but in order for this to be effective it needs to bePage 2 of 5implemented at the national level. This is why the HELCOM Baltic SeaAction Plan states that all countries are to develop their NationalImplementation Programmes specifically for the eutrophication andhazardous substances segments for HELCOM’s assessment by the2010 Moscow Ministerial meeting.And as we have recently learned such National ImplementationProgrammes are preconditions for the Baltic Sea to be considered a PilotProject by the European Commission under the EU Marine StrategyFramework Directive. In my letter to Mr. Barroso, the President of theEuropean Commission, HELCOM pointed out that we consider ourHELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan as an early programme of measures, asrequired under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive – and now ofcourse the next step is to show how the HELCOM Action Plan is beingimplemented at the national level – through the National ImplementationProgrammes.And as already stated the HELCOM Action Plan has been acknowledgedas the basis for the environmental pillar of the EU Strategy for the BalticSea Region.SLIDE 6And now to the outline for the National Implementation Programmes, andthus what will be the objective of HELCOM’s assessment of these at the2010 Moscow Ministerial meeting.Naturally HELCOM wants to assess the overall status of theimplementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan – and specificallyHELCOM wants to give a picture of our progress towards the nutrientreduction targets in the Baltic Sea Action Plan. The same nutrientreduction targets which are a precondition to achieve a Baltic Seaunaffected by eutrophication. And likewise HELCOM wants to show theplanned measures by the countries and how they will contribute to theimprovement of the eutrophication status of the Baltic Sea. And in thesame way for the hazardous substances.SLIDE 7As you can see on this slide, the implementation of the HELCOM BalticSea Action Plan is a coherent process, which goes hand in hand withmany other regional and European initiatives to improve the quality of thePage 3 of 5marine environment. In this way the Baltic Sea Region also has apossibility to develop into a model for regional co-operation where newideas and approaches can be tested and developed over time as bestpractice examples.And as you now the implementation of the Action Plan is not entirely leftin the hands of the administrations of the HELCOM partners. Wiselyenough, the environment ministers, while agreeing on the HELCOMAction Plan in Krakow, also agreed that they will be supporting theimplementation process by evaluating the progress made first in 2010and again in 2013.In addition to the environment ministers, it is important to ensure that allsectors of the administrations are involved in the implementation of theHELCOM Action Plan. I would therefore like to draw your attention to theinvitation by the President and the Prime Minister of Finland as well asthe Baltic Sea Action Group, a private foundation, for the Baltic SeaAction Summit in February, 2010.In HELCOM we see this high-level meeting as an important steppingstone and help towards our Ministerial meeting in Moscow in May 2010.SLIDE 8Allow me a few concluding thoughts:We see that the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan has come, from ourpoint of view, at the best possible time to complement, facilitate and giveinput to major global and EU instruments. It is clear however that theBaltic Sea Action Plan itself will not solve the environmental problems ofthe Baltic Sea – for this we need the countries to show their strongcommitment to the implementation of the agreed actions. A commitmentwhich will crystallize when the countries submit their NationalImplementation Programmes for the 2010 HELCOM Moscow Ministerialmeeting.It is also clear for us that the interconnection between the HELCOM workand the work carried out at European and global levels is of increasingimportance, and that it is of outmost importance in these processes tomake use of common Baltic knowledge and priorities. Likewise commonBaltic knowledge and priorities are indispensable when setting prioritiesand aligning the use of the various financial instruments.We very much hope that the adoption of the EU Baltic Sea RegionStrategy, during the Swedish EU Presidency, will provide additionalPage 4 of 5strong impetus to ensure the successful implementation of the HELCOMBaltic Sea Action Plan.SLIDE 9Thank you for your attentionPage 5 of 5