7 BSPC Resolution

Final version: 8.9.1998R E S O L U T I O Nadopted by the 7th Parliamentary Conference on Cooperation in the Baltic Sea RegionLübeck, 8th September 1998At the invitation of the President of the State Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein, hosting and chairing the meeting with the administrative support of the Nordic Council, members of the Parliaments of Åland, Bremen, Denmark, Estonia, the Federal Republic of Germany, Finland, Greenland, Hamburg, Iceland, Latvia, Leningrad Region, Lithuania, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Norway, Poland, Schleswig-Holstein, Sweden, as well as of the Baltic Assembly, the European Parliament, the Nordic Council and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe convened in Lübeck on 7th - 8th September 1998 for the 7th plenary session of the Parliamentary Conference on Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region.The participants of the Conferencenotingthe conclusions of the European Council in Luxemburg on 12th and 13th December 1997, starting the enlargement process of the European Unionthe European Commission’s communication “Agenda 2000” of 16th July 1997, setting out proposals for the reform of existing European Union policies, the process of enlargement and the financial framework for the period 2000-2006 and furthermore the corresponding legislative proposals on which decisions are taken on the policy reforms and on the pre-accession aid instrumentsthe development of the initiative of the Northern Dimension in the European Union as instructed by the European Council; this includes the potentials and resources of the whole regionthe Presidency’s Declaration of the Baltic Sea States Summit in Riga in January 1998, underlining the importance of developing cross-border cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region as well as the necessity to stick to close cooperation with the European Commissionthe outcome of the 7th ministerial session of the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in Nyborg in June 1998, especially the adoption of the agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region (Baltic 21) as well as the decision to include initiatives in the work programme to extend existing EU and Nordic cooperation on information technology to the entire Baltic Sea Regionthe CBSS activities, as there are the implementation of the Action Programmes for the Baltic Sea States Cooperation as well as diverse efforts to develop the Baltic Sea Region into an integrated, competitive and dynamic area of sustainable growththe bilateral agreement on partnership and cooperation between Russia and the EU, entered into force on the 1st of december 1997, providing the framework for cooperation in sectors such as political dialogue, economics, trade, social security, competition, science and technology, energy, transport, environment, tourism, home and justice affairspointing outthe Parliamentary Conference as a representative body initiating and guiding governmental activities in the Baltic Sea Region, endowing them with additional democratic legitimacy and authority on the regional, national and supranational levelthe new political dimension of the Baltic Sea Region due to the EU enlargement processthe necessity to promote the Baltic Sea Region Building Process in order to deepen political, economical and cultural links with all Baltic Sea States whether they are taking part in the enlargement process or opting for remaining outside the EUthe outstanding role of the Baltic Sea Region as a link between EU member and non-member states by strengthening particularly the positive interdependence between Russia and the other Baltic Sea Statesthe importance of strategic alliances between the public, the private sector and non-governmental organizations in the Baltic Sea Region and the constructive role parliaments can play in this respect, based amongst others on the aim to encourage the establishment of cross-border structuresthe common challenge of the European Union and the candidate countries to affirm shared political values just as the need to create a common vision of economic and social development, being simultaneously valid on the subregional level as well as in the Baltic and European dimensioncall on the European Commission tocreate greater transparency with regard to the future financial framework of the EU, differentiating clearly between expenditures for the member states and those for the candidate countriesreadjust its programmes for a better use in the pre-accession strategy and to foster by this the adoption of the acquis communautaire in the future member statesimprove coordination between European policies by improved linking of the structural funds with the Phare and Tacis programmes; especially in the field of cross-border cooperation, simplify the administrative procedures in order to overcome difficulties in the implementation of aid programmes, and reinforce a regional approach apart from the national dominated approachallocate in a well balanced way budgetary means to the Phare and Tacis programmes, taking into account both the pre-accession strategy and the need to grant assistance to Russia and the other members of the Commonwealth of Independant Statesrenew the Tacis regulation as foreseen in 1998, considering the potential offered by the Northern Dimension, both in priority sector setting and defining the share targeted for investments and technical assistancestrengthen cohesion instruments and to implement mechanisms designed to reduce disparities, both in the candidate countries and in the EU as a wholepursue the reduction of trade restrictions in the Baltic Sea Region, functionning as a zone of relative prosperitycall on the European Parliament toactively take part in the decision making process of the enlargement strategypresent in the framework of the enlargement process, and with a view to the next intergovernmental conference, proposals for the necessary institutional reforms of the EU in order to guarantee that even after the enlargement of the EU an efficient decision making process will be maintainedcall on their governments tounify their efforts in the Vienna summit that the candidate countries of Latvia and Lithuania, taking into account the progress shown by them since the Luxembourg summit, should be included in the process of negotiation for the accession to the EUput emphasis on the role of the Baltic Sea region as a link between EU member states and non-member statesimplement emphatically the action programmes of Kalmaractively support in the framework of the people-to-people approach the establishment of a Baltic Sea Youth Foundation and offer young people the possibility of a voluntary ecological and social yearhelp the candidate countries and Russia by means of technical assistance and exchange of experience, familiarizing them with EU rules and market economy. For the candidate countries this will improve the conditions for their entry into the Union, while for Russia it will serve to facilitate the implementation of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EUrevise and approximate their systems of social protection in order to create comparable living conditions in the Baltic Sea Regionbuild up a coalition between governmental and non-governmental organizations, conceding at the same time an adequate role for non-governmental organizations in public life, keeping the priorities, which they themselves have setreview policies regarding the choice of industrial sites in the Baltic Sea Region, taking into account the development of trans-European networkscall on the governments of the candidate countries toadopt and apply as quickly as possible the acquis communautairecontinue the reform process by developing local democracy as well as regional policies in order to prepare the candidate countries for the Europe of Regionscreate a favourable business climate for trade, investment and industrial cooperation on the basis of a legislative framework and predictable procedureshave decided touse the forum of the Parliamentary Conference as well as the extensive network of parliamentary contacts in order to strengthen the common identity of the Baltic Sea Area as a region, where democracy, market economy and cooperation prevail, contributing thereby to the development of the Northern Dimensionsupport democratic reforms in Central and Eastern European Countries, assisting them through the transfer of knowledge to respect the parliamentary decision making process, while keeping pace with the need for legislative reformsdevelop common strategies for the Baltic Sea Region to ensure that neither social groups nor regions are excluded from further development and progress and to create comparable living conditions with a minimum pressure of migrationimprove links with all bodies in the Baltic Sea Region, asking at the same time the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Conference to focus particularly on closer cooperation with the Baltic Sea States Subregional Conference (BSSSC), the Baltic Sea Chamber of Commerce Association (BCCA), the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and the Union of Baltic Cities (UBC)call for a common initiative of these organizations together with the CBSS to improve public relations on behalf of the Baltic Sea region and to present the special interest of the Baltic Sea region towards the EU-institutions, especially to the EU Commissionmake out a balance sheet between the number of proposed and approved projects in the framework of pre-accession aid programmes, elaborating together with all actors involved how to create optimum conditions for the terms of reference as well as for the implementation of aid programmesto make every effort in order to create the necessary consciousness that the new political dimension of the Baltic Sea Region is practically based on structure building, cooperation activities and people coming togethersupport the EU enlargement process by all possible measures, meaning that the cooperation of today can be the integration of tomorrowto promote stability and integration in the Baltic Sea region through increased cooperation between representatives of parliamentary special committees on concrete problems and common issuesentrust the Standing Committee to supervise the implementation of the yearly approved resolutions, to increase permanent public relations activities and to strengthen the Parliamentary Conference by setting up formal structures. To start with, the Standing Committee is asked to draft rules of procedure, including its consequences for the representation in the Standing Committee, based on the current guidelines, which have to be approved by the 8th Parliamentary Conferenceaccept with gratitude the invitation of the Parliament of Åland to hold the 8th Parliamentary Conference on Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region on the 7th and 8th of September 1999 in Mariehamn