17 BSPC Resolution FINAL

Conference ResolutionthAdopted by the 17 Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC)The participants*, elected representatives from the Baltic Sea States, assembling inVisby, Sweden, 31 August – 2 September 2008,discussing Co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region, Climate Change and Energy Efficiency,Energy Supply and Security, Eutrophication, Maritime Policy and the Baltic Sea ActionPlan, and Labour Market and Social Affairs,reiterating their profound and shared concern about the state of the terrestrial andmarine environment in the Baltic Sea region, and welcoming the HELCOM Baltic SeaAction Plan as a central tool for restoring a good environmental status of the Baltic Seaby 2021,call on the governments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSS and the EU,Regarding Co-operation in the Region, to1. take into account the development of a EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region andensure its coordination with the existing formats of cooperation in the region, namely theCBSS and the new Northern Dimension policy, including measures to strengthen dialogueand coordination with parliamentary organizations and parliamentarians of the Baltic SeaRegion;2. promote coordination between intergovernmental actors and other stakeholders inthe Baltic Sea Region, for the sake of environmental and fiscal efficiency, encouragingthe evolution of a division of labour and responsibilities in accordance with theirrespective objectives and competencies;3. support, facilitate and heed the work of NGOs in the Baltic Sea Region, especiallyconcerning public awareness raising on environment, climate change, labour market andsocial affairs, as well as other relevant issues;Regarding Climate Change and Energy Issues in the Baltic Sea Region, to4. Coordinate and cooperate on strategies before the COP-14 in 2008 (Poznan) andCOP-15 in 2009 (Copenhagen) in order to provide consolidated support from the BalticSea Region to ambitious measures for the mitigation of man-made CO2 emissions, byrecommending:- a significant reduction of CO2 emission in 2020, as concluded by the ad hocworking group of the Annex-1 countries under the Kyoto Protocol at the COP-13session in Bali, and- fulfil recommendations of the Council of the European Union to achieve asignificant emission reduction by 2050 compared to 1990;5. extend cooperation to reduce the vulnerability and improve the adaptability to theconsequences of climate change, as well as to the enhancement of the capacity toprevent and manage adverse consequences of climate change (such as natural hazardsand technological accidents);6. strengthen the capacity to support and coordinate Baltic Sea regional energycooperation in developing an integrated and optimized regional approach to the energyissues in the Baltic Sea Region, taking into account the various energy mixes of thecountries in the Region and the possibilities for developing cross-border power links;7. support the construction and greater use of land-based and offshore wind power,as well as increase the investments in the construction and upgrading of new three-phase supply networks, and promote the development of a European ultra-high voltageDC transmission network in order to enhance interconnectivity within Europe;8. promote the establishment of an inter-modal transport system in the Baltic SeaRegion to save energy and make the Region a model region in Europe;9. support transport projects of energy and energy carriers that minimizeenvironmental threats to the Baltic Sea and intrusion on its environment, and whichincrease the level of the security of supplies, without diminishing security of one or morestates in the Baltic Sea Region;10. promote – by means of e.g. technology transfer, research and development, andvocational training - more effective actions to develop renewable energy, energyefficiency and energy savings in all sectors in the Baltic Sea Region, while takinginitiatives to exploit the positive research, job and business potentials of environmentallyfriendly technologies;Regarding the Baltic Sea Action Plan and the Integrated Maritime Policy, to11. fully commit themselves to the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea ActionPlan (BSAP) and the work of the BSAP Implementation Group, for instance by unreservedcompliance of the nutrient reduction objectives in each sub-region of the Baltic Sea, anddeveloping national programmes of action to be considered by the HELCOM Ministerialmeeting in 2010 at the latest;12. take active measures against eutrophication, in accordance with therecommendations of the 16th BSPC and the BSPC Working Group on Eutrophication, forinstance by promoting research and concrete measures to bind and reduce phosphorousin the Baltic Sea, and by building new sewage plants, fostering the use of phosphate-freedetergents and reducing emissions from agriculture, transport, industry and households;13. take concrete steps to develop the Baltic Sea Region into Europe’s model maritimeregion, recognizing that maritime policy must be seen within an overarching frameworkof sustainable development, environment, marine spatial planning, safety at sea andintermodality, according to IMO (Law of the Sea) and EU maritime policies;14. continue to support global regulation with regard to safety and marineenvironmental protection, thereby ensuring that all ships that sail through the Baltic Seacomply with the same high level of safety and environmental standards, irrespective offlag;15. ensure that all States of the Baltic Sea Region are continuously committed to theratification, effective implementation and enforcement of existing IMO instruments;16. support the establishment of an IMO regulatory framework, preferably already in2008, for an ambitious and binding regulation for the reduction of total global CO2-emissions from ships;17. take continued concrete and effective steps within the framework of IMO toensure binding regulations for maritime safety, safety of navigation and security,considering among other things the rapidly increasing number of oil transports in theBaltic Sea and the severe winter conditions especially in the northern parts of the BalticSea;18. support the harmonisation of Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) procedures throughoutthe Baltic Sea region, a programme for the gradual development and introduction of asatellite-based, emission-related monitoring system for ships;19. support the stepwise development of land-based electricity supply for cargo andpassenger ships in harbours regarding the international development;Regarding Labour Market and Social Affairs, to20. establish fair, clear and accessible ground rules for labour mobility and businessestablishment and provision of services, for instance by securing transparency regardingrules and regulations in various countries and by expanding the already existing networkof info-centers in the northern and eastern parts of the Baltic Sea Region;21. further develop the cooperation in the field of education and science forsustainable development as a means of further boosting the competitiveness of the BalticSea Region;22. continue to pursue an active policy against youth unemployment, forharmonization of vocational training programmes, and for strengthening the dialoguebetween social partners;Furthermore the Conference23. appreciates the acknowledgement, made by the Heads of Government at the 7thBaltic Sea States Summit in Riga 4 June 2008, of a close and regular dialogue betweenCBSS and BSPC, of a deepened cooperation, and of the importance of its continuation;24. welcomes and supports the text of the Declaration on the reform of the CBSS,elaborating the priorities of regional cooperation in the Baltic Sea area;25. advocates that the new, long-term priorities of cooperation in the framework ofthe CBSS also be taken into consideration during the 18th Baltic Sea ParliamentaryConference;26. acknowledges the positive process of dialogue and information exchange withCBSS, looks forward to a further and mutual development of this dialogue, andencourages the governments of the CBSS to present, through the CBSS, an annualreport of their implementation of the BSPC resolutions;27. asks the Standing Committee to carry out a review and assessment of thestructures and working methods of the BSPC, based on considerations within the BSPCExtended Standing Committee, and to report to the 18th BSPC in 2009;28. welcomes with gratitude the kind invitation of the Danish Parliament to host the18thBaltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Denmark 31 August – 1 September 2009.*Parliaments of Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Federal Republic of Germany, Freeand Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Iceland, Latvia, Leningrad Region, Lithuania, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,Murmansk, Norway, Poland, Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, StateDuma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, City of St. Petersburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Sweden,Åland Islands, Baltic Assembly, Nordic Council, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, ParliamentaryAssembly of North-West Russia.