Article in Baltic Rim Economies June 2010

27.6.2010 Article in the Baltic Rim EconomiesChristina Gestrin, MP, Finland, Chairman of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (www.bspc.net)Broad Parliamentary Support for Baltic Sea Region InitiativesThe Baltic Sea Region has great potential for further progress in economic development, social welfare and environmental protection. But to realize that potential and continue to benefit from the region’s opportunities, we must also improve our ability to manage the strains brought on by development. It is a paramount task to find a sustainable balance between future economic growth and ecological care.The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) was established in 1991 as a forum for political dialogue between parliamentarians from the Baltic Sea Region. BSPC gathers parliamentarians from 11 national parliaments, 11 regional parliaments and 5 parliamentary organizations around the Baltic Sea. The BSPC thus constitutes a unique and comprehensive parliamentary bridge between all the EU- and non-EU countries of the region.BSPC is first and foremost a political body. Its primary mission is to raise awareness and opinion on topical issues in the Baltic Sea Region. It strives at promoting efforts to support a sustainable environmental, social and economic development of the Baltic Sea Region. Parliamentarians bring an added value to the process by listening to the grassroots; by raising awareness and building opinion; by driving political issues in their own parliaments; by exerting political pressure on governments to fulfill their commitments and obligations, and by acting as watchdogs to make sure they do; and by initiating and adopting budgetary allocations and - not least - legislation.The 19th annual Conference in Mariehamn 29-31 August this year will tackle issues such as climate change and biodiversity, peace and security in the Baltic Sea region, integrated maritime policy, and trafficking.BSPC is currently operating political working groups on integrated maritime policy and on civil security and trafficking. A BSPC working group serves as a kind of target-oriented and temporary political task force to elaborate joint political positions and recommendations on specific issues. BSPC has the clear ambition to synchronize its priorities and objectives with those of the corresponding organs at the CBSS, which, in BSPC’s opinion, has a leading role in initiating and coordinating actions against the challenges of the Baltic Sea Region.In recent years, a number of promising initiatives and programmes have been launched in and for the Baltic Sea Region. It is essential that they are transformed into practical deeds and results. The HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan has received the support from BSPC from day one as a central tool for restoring good ecological status of the Baltic Sea by 2021. Already at the Ministerial Meeting in Krakow in 2007, the HELCOM member states pledged to present National Implementation Plans at the Moscow Ministerial meeting in May 2010. It is regrettable that not all HELCOM member states were able to present Implementation Plans at the Moscow meeting. BSPC now expects that the remaining states will follow suit and present their Implementation Plans at the planned high-level meeting of HELCOM in early 2011.The EU Baltic Sea Strategy is a step forward in the EU’s perception and management of Baltic Sea Region issues, and BSPC took active part in the consultation process preceding the adoption of the strategy. However, the Strategy is an internal EU instrument. It is therefore essential that it is closely aligned with and conducted in the spirit of the Northern Dimension, which brings together both EU- and non-EU members as equal partners. No credible solution to any major challenge in the Region can be found if relevant stakeholders are excluded from cooperation. The desirability and modalities for inviting countries adjacent to the Baltic Sea Region to observe or take part in activities in the Region should also be considered.The Baltic Sea States Summit in Helsinki in February 2010 is a fresh example of an initiative that aims at devising practical activities to restore and protect a healthy environment in the Baltic Sea Region. BSPC submitted a commitment to the Summit to provide political backing on the issue of safety of navigation and the creation of a joint ship reporting system for the whole Baltic Sea.Action requires resources. Hence, it is very encouraging to hear international financial institutions claim that there is really no shortage of money for projects. What is lacking, however, is bankable projects, meaning coherent, realistic and viable projects to implement plans and programmes. Based on an initiative by parliamentarians of the region, the Nordic Investment Bank and the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation have launched a BSAP Trust Fund to support the development of bankable projects for the implementation of the HELCOM BSAP. This is an undertaking that should merit the full political and financial support from all the governments in the region. In any case, the present economic downturn must not be taken as an excuse for lowering environmental goals, cutting resources or delaying timetables for environmental work.The Baltic Sea Region is bustling with actors and initiatives. The good news is that this provides a broad resource base and a battery of competencies. The bad news is that it entails a risk for duplication of efforts. A strengthened, more regular and practical dialogue between stakeholders could be instrumental in better defining their comparative advantages, respective roles and modes of cooperation in dealing with the challenges of the Region. This would augment both their individual and combined impact. Everyone must not do everything.Many of the issues and challenges of the Baltic Sea Region are complex and have different repercussions for different countries. But just because there are diverging views on issues, a forum such as the BSPC is all the more important. It can provide an arena where differences can be openly aired and where a candid political debate can be held. That, in turn, is a necessary prerequisite for the pursuit of pragmatic approaches and compromises to tricky issues. In that sense, BSPC contributes to a transparent, democratic and rewarding political process, as well as to practical solutions, in the Baltic Sea Region.