10 BSPC Resolution ENG

R E S O L U T I O NP A R T Iadopted bythe 10th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC),assembled in Greifswald, Germany, September 3rd - 4th, 20011,The participants of the Conferenceconcentrating onPOLITICAL AND LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF A CIVIL SOCIETYas backbone of a stable democracy including the inter-active civic participation inpolitical decision-making on all levels in the Baltic Sea areataking into account- the proclamation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union onDecember 7th, 2000 in Nice- the NGO Conference in Copenhagen organised by the Copenhagen NGO-initiativeon March 24-25th, 2001 and the 1st Baltic Sea NGO Forum under the auspices of theCBSS held in L(cid:252)beck, May 28th-29th, 2001- that the region building process in the Baltic Sea Area should be based on a regionalcivil society and its active participation in public lifecall on the CBSS and their own parliamentsto support the development of a stable civil society and to strengthen the sense ofcitizenship and democracy in the Baltic Sea Region1 Members of the Parliaments of ̄land, Bremen, Denmark, Estonia, the Federal Republic of Germany, Finland,Hamburg, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation,Schleswig-Holstein, St. Petersburg, Sweden, as well as of the Baltic Assembly, the Nordic Council and theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe-2-especially by- granting fundamental rights, comprising civil and social rights as well as new rightssuch as technology change, the growing awareness of environment anddemographic developments- good administration and governance, demanding to provide legal assistance,promoting public trust in democratic institutions and guaranteeing the rights ofcitizens- promoting human rights at the legislative level and the implementation thereof, toconsolidate democratic development, including the division of power and the rule oflaw, and the protection of political freedoms in the CBSS Member states. In thisregard the institution of the CBSS Commissioner remains an essential instrument.Thus the CBSS and the parliaments in the Baltic Sea Area are called on toestablish close working contacts between national and regional parliaments andthe CBSS Commissioner on Democratic Development- underlining that the Region building process has to be based on a bottom-upapproach, avoiding at the same time power structures misusing civil societyengagement by means of a top-down approach- strengthening the co-operation with Non Governmental Organisations in order tosupport the ongoing socio-political transformation process of a civil society, makinguse of their engagement and know-how concerning the control of state power,political education, the promotion of values and standards and input for reforms- promoting youth policy, calling on the governments of all Baltic Sea countries tosupport the Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs- establishing the Baltic Sea Youth Assembly as an initial multinational project foryouth exchange, paving the way for a Baltic Sea Youth Fund as well asparticipation of Baltic Youth Assembly delegates in the BSPC annual conferences- developing procedures for a dialogue with existing and emerging regional civilsociety structures- fostering measures of mutual understanding by means of research, teaching anddocumentation of the common features and differences in political culture andcommunication in the Baltic Sea Region- initiating and supporting an observatory for the development of civil societystructures in the Baltic Sea Region- supporting the idea of a (cid:147)Baltic Sea Youth Ferry Ticket(cid:148) (price reduction for youthgroups) to set a sign for more mobility in the Baltic Sea Region and to promoteyouth exchange-3-- stressing the need for a simplification of the administration of international youthprograms like (cid:147)YOUTH(cid:148)- creating favourable conditions for interregional youth co-operation, meaning thatespecially on the local level multilateral meetings between youth NGO(cid:146)s should besupported and encouraged- establishing the practice of consulting all Baltic Sea States on important issues- close co-operation with relevant institutions, such as the UN, the OSCE and theCouncil of Europe, applying their standards and expertiseagree to- charge the Standing Committee with identifying in close co-operation with theCBSS Commissioner on Democratic Development and with the CBSS WorkingGroup on Democratic Institutions a selected number of key issues in order to followup the various aspects of the discussion how to develop a civil society- further charge the Standing Committee with discussing the future composition ofthe Standing Committee- charge the Standing Committee in close co-operation with the secretariat of theCBSS Task Force on Communicable Disease Control to identify development inpublic health and control of infectious diseases to be discussed as one of the keyissues for future Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conferencescelebratethe 10th anniversary of the BSPC by presenting the booklet (cid:147)BSPC - 10 years of work(cid:148)and by opening officially the BSPC homepage (www.eyekey.de/bspc)acceptwith pleasure the offer of the Adriatic Ionian Initiative (AII), expressed in theconclusions drawn at the 1st meeting of the Presidents / Speakers of Parliaments inZadar, 27th April 2001, to co-operate with other parliamentary dimensions of Europeanregional initiatives such as the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference and ensure theinterest of the BSPC to establish an exchange of information especially with regard tothe development of civil societywith gratitude the invitation of the Russian Federal Parliament to hold the 11th BalticSea Parliamentary Conference in 2002 in St. Petersburg.-4-R E S O L U T I O NPART IIadopted bythe 10th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC),assembled in Greifswald, Germany, September 3rd - 4th, 20012,The participants of the Conferenceconcentrating onSAFETY OF SHIPS AND SEA LANESconcerning the resolution, approved by the 9th BSPC in Malm(cid:246), calling on theirparliaments and their governments to encourage multilateral co-operation in order toprevent and combat catastrophes and to organise international disaster controltaking note of- the efforts made by the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) at its conference on7th June 2001 to grant high priority to maritime safety in the Baltic Sea and tosupport a number of measures to be implemented at international level- the decision by the IMO NAV-Subcommittee at the beginning of July 2001 toapprove the extension of the deepwater route North East of Gedser (DW 17m) 5nautical miles inside the Traffic Separation south of Gedser (the Kadet fairway) andthe endorsement of the Subcommittee that Denmark and Germany initiate an earlyimplementation of the amendment in January 2002- the regional work of the Helsinki Commission·s expert group preparing for theextraordinary ministerial meeting in Copenhagen on 10th September 2001- the appended report on current problems with regard to maritime safety on theBaltic Sea, presented by the Parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at therequest of the Standing Committee of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference2 Members of the Parliaments of ̄land, Bremen, Denmark, Estonia, the Federal Republic of Germany, Finland,Hamburg, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation,Schleswig-Holstein, St. Petersburg, Sweden, as well as of the Baltic Assembly, the Nordic Council and theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe-5-call on the CBSS and their own parliamentsto continue to fundamentally improve the prevention and control of shipping accidents,as well as the safety of ships and navigation, and international co-operation in this field(cid:150) especially in the Baltic Sea (cid:150) and to grant high priority to maritime safety, byestablishing solidarity and a common culture of maritime safety in view of thepotentially catastrophic effects of accidentsespecially by- initiating a review at international level with the aim of designating the Kadetfairway as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) and investigating the benefitsof designating further parts of the Baltic Sea Area as a Particularly Sensitive SeaArea- jointly trying to convince the IMO of the need for an international agreement on theestablishment of mandatory pilotage and of a Vessel Traffic Management andInformation System (VTMIS) in the Route T, the Sund and the Kadet fairway- adopting suitable measures to ensure that, when ships arrive at Baltic Sea ports,their captains will be given a leaflet informing them about the navigationalpeculiarities of particularly dangerous traffic areas (the Kadet fairway, the Gulf ofFinland and the Gulf of Bothnia) and, where necessary, updating nautical charts,which may also be done in the framework of the port state control- jointly making efforts at international level to codify a port-of-distress law so that aprocedure for directing distressed ships to a port of distress can be laid down in law- adopting similar initiatives with the aim of transforming EU standards (cid:150) in particularthose envisaged with the (cid:147)ERIKA I and II packages(cid:148) (cid:150) into legally binding rules inthe framework of international agreements at the level of the IMO- improving safety and pollution prevention measures in the Gulf of Finland- protecting the environment by more effectively enforcing the prohibition of alldischarges from ships, especially oil and sewage, in all traffic in the Baltic Sea- additional measures to ensure improved hydrographic services and to promote theuse of Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC)- the enhanced use of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS)- promoting an obligatory reporting system for navigation in the Gulf of Finland, theKadet fairway and other main parts of the Baltic Sea- phasing out the use of single hull oil tankers in the Baltic Sea Area up to 2015-6-- carrying out port state control on the basis of either the 1982 Paris Memorandum ofUnderstanding on Port State Control or Council Directive 95/21/EC, as amended- promoting a safety and environmental culture through the establishment of acommon procedure for the investigation into marine casualties- promoting the implementation of economic incentives as a means to encourageenvironmental protection in maritime transport by, for example, granting lower portdues for ships complying with certain environmental standards- ensuring adequate emergency capacity (fire-fighting, emergency lightering andemergency towing capacities)- basing the development of the Baltic Sea Region on co-operation of the Baltic SeaStates in order to prevent the catastrophic effects of accidents and technogeniccatastrophes- urging the governments of the Baltic Sea Region to co-operate and assist eachother during shoreline clean-up operations- realising an observer status for both the Conference of the Peripheral MaritimeRegions of Europe (CPMR) and the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC)at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)call on the participants of the extraordinary ministerial meeting on10th September 2001 (Helcom Extra 2001)- to reach a mutual agreement on the above measuresagree to- establish a working group on the topic of (cid:147)Maritime Safety on the Baltic Sea(cid:147) forwhich each parliament that participates in the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conferencecan send a representative and which will prepare additional resolutions foradoption during the next Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference.Appendix: Report on current problems with regard to maritime safety on the BalticSea, presented by the Parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at therequest of the Standing Committee of the Baltic Sea ParliamentaryConference