Speech Roger Jansson at Cleanship Conference 2012

Speech at the Cleanship Conference, Riga, 19 September 2012Dear participants,On behalf of the BSPC maritime rapporteurs Mr Schulte and myself I would like to express our gratitude to the Clean Baltic Sea Shipping project for holding this event.The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) was established in 1991 as a forum for political dialogue between the Parliaments and parliamentarians from the Baltic Sea Region. BSPC gathers parliamentarians from the parliaments of 11 states around the Baltic sea, 11 regional parliaments and 5 parliamentary organizations.You have put together a very informative agenda with a clear focus on practical, real-world problems in the area of Clean Baltic Sea Shipping.You will be addressing many of the issues that lie at the heart of the agenda of the parliaments of the Baltic Sea Region. Just a few weeks back we came together in St Petersburg for the 21st Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference.Like in previous years the BSPC worked out a comprehensive set of demands vis-à-vis the governments in the Baltic Sea Region, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the EU, and other Baltic Sea actors.Among others we called for1. to expand information exchange, joint planning and dissemination of best practices between maritime authorities in order to manage the growing vessel traffic in the Baltic Sea;2. to develop real-time maritime surveillance information and e-navigation technologies in order to improve vessel traffic management and increase the joint preparedness against accidents;3. to strengthen the competitiveness of clean shipping in the Baltic Sea Region by using appropriate targeted incentives;4. to promote research and innovation in order to develop competencies in the areas of shipping safety, energy efficiency, emission reductions, alternative propulsion technologies and renewable energies in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the Baltic Sea Region in the global competition;5. to carry on further actions aiming at developing a joint macro-regional prevention and preparedness approach towards major hazards and emergencies at sea and on land, and to promote research and to develop technologies aimed at oil spills response in ice conditions, as well as in bad weather and bad visibility conditions6. to strengthen the cooperation with the shipping companies to further prevent and minimize the risk of accidents and groundings;7. to support the implementation of the triparts project “The Gulf of Finland Year 2014”, with the purpose of consolidating joint research and conservation efforts of Finland, Estonia and Russia in order to strengthen the maritime ecosystems of the Baltic Sea;8. to support the build-up of a more integrated marine and maritime knowledge network (environment, fisheries, regional planning, shipping etc.);9. to promote small scale fishery and to enhance the opportunities for investing in environmentally friendly marine tourism;10. to draft joint objectives in maritime spatial planning policy (taking the VASAB guidelines into account) and11. to promote the development and strengthening cross-border cooperation of the Baltic Sea region in order to counter cross-border crime and security threats at sea.Whereas we can keep up the political pressure on the relevant actors, projects and conferences just like this one in Riga are indispensable to translate words into action.We, as the elected representatives of the people, will continue to do our part to work towards a prosperous, sustainable, accessible, and safe Baltic Sea Region. Especially will we continue to work together with you on issues related to Clean Shipping and will accompany this process from a competitiveness perspective.There is hence a natural relationship between the BSPC and the Clean Baltic Sea Shipping project, as recently evidenced by Sten Björk’s active participation at the conference in St Petersburg.The fuel and ship engine producers, ship owners, port designers, and the other actors from the maritime industry that are present at the conference in Riga surely have a vested interest in an Integrated Maritime Policy that strives to maximize the sustainable use of the oceans and seas.In this regard the Integrated Maritime Policy constitutes the core issue of the Maritime Rapporteurs’ common efforts.We welcome that the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union has explicitly stated that it intends to reenergize the EU Integrated Maritime Policy so as to address the relevant challenges in an efficient and sustainable way.All around the Baltic Sea actors work together towards holistic policy approaches that consider the reciprocal interaction between economic growth, environmental protection and social prosperity. For instance, on this very day a conference by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, is being held in Brussels, which deliberates the international architecture of integrated maritime policy.Also the fuel and ship engine producers, ship owners, port designers, and the other actors from the maritime industry that are present at this conference in Riga surely have a vested interest in an Integrated Maritime Policy that strives to maximize the sustainable use of the oceans and seas.We, as Maritime Rapporteurs, support such a position fully.We accompanied very critically the negotiations regarding the adaption of existing EU legislation to revised, stronger IMO regulations concerning the reduction of sulphur limits in marine fuels as from 2015 in so-called Sulphur Emission Control Areas (COM(2011) 439).Nevertheless, the European Parliament on September 11, 2012 voted in favor of the proposal, though our contacts at the European Commission did assure that state aid in compliance with EU law will be possible until the changes enter into force in order to allow for the adjustment to the new requirements.The BSPC and we as Maritime Rapporteurs will deal with the situation as it is and support initiatives and projects, which aim to fulfill the new SECA directives for the Baltic Sea. It is therefore all the more important for the BSPC to be present at the conference in Riga.The challenges facing the Baltic maritime industry are manifold. We therefore would like to call your attention to a recently published study by the European Commission titled “Blue Growth: sustainable growth from the oceans, seas and coasts”.Based on different future scenarios the report identifies areas where smart, inclusive, and sustainable growth may be realized and addresses potential synergies between maritime economic activities to secure a blue future for Europe.In light of these considerations the BSPC through us wish for a successful conference including different projects and we underline our political support for the Clean Baltic Sea Shipping project.