Report by Dr Arja Alho

Dr Arja Alho, MP, Finland, Chair of the BSPC Standing Committee4 September 2006Report on behalf of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Standing Committee on the developments since the 14th Parliamentary ConferenceMs Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,It is a great honour for me to address this gathering on behalf of the Standing Committee of the BSPC. I also wish you all warmly welcome to Reykjavik. Some people might have wondered and might still wonder why we are here, several hundreds of miles from the Baltic Sea. I would like to refer to the words of the Speaker, Ms Solveig Peturson who so eloquently described the political commitment of Iceland in the Baltic Sea co-operation. I for my part can confirm this – Iceland has been during the preparations a host which takes its responsibility and has a will to be part of the Baltic Sea Region – although it is physically far away.I will give you a report on the activities of the Standing Committee, concentrating to issues of importance and reflecting the future. A written list of Standing Committee activities is to be found in your conference portfolio.The Baltic Sea does not get better by speaking. This heading could be read in a Finnish newspaper recently. I totally agree. It is time to do something for the sea. At the same time we have to admit that speaking is the only way for us parliamentarians to catch up problems, put them on the agenda and to have pressure. We do act by speaking. By this I want to say that I think that it is of utmost importance that we have gathered here in Reykjavik for a couple of days to just speak. The Conference is one of our ways/possibilities to act and react. That so many have come shows that we believe in the parliamentary power.I am pleased to have been a member of the Standing Committee of the BSPC – a diligent group of parliamentarians doing their homework before coming to the meetings. Since the conference in Vilnius in 2005 the Standing Committee has met five times. Throughout the year the Committee has elaborated the programme and concept for the present conference and drafted the proposed text of the resolution. Much time has been devoted to discussions on issues in our written working programme. We have also been able to find a solution to the co-financing of the BSPC Secretariat. I come to this later.The Baltic Sea Region continues to flourish. We have a combination of good natural and human resources together with a rich common cultural heritage and history. There are no really serious political crises around the Baltic Sea. The economic growth in this region is the highest in Europe. Some of the countries show huge figures for economic growth. This does not mean that we are rich on the average. There are still big differences between countries and also inside the member countries.Since the first conference in 1991 it has been obvious that the regional parliamentary perspective is a strong factor in the development. The 14th conference last year in Vilnius and the interest and broad participation at this 15th conference evidence that the parliamentary democracy has been established and deeply founded in the region. There are many reasons why the parliamentary involvement in the region is so active. We have reached results. As such I would like to mention continued and effective work on the environmental issues in the region, our activities regarding the Northern Dimension and the development of democracy.At the Conference in Vilnius we renewed our rules. One of the new elements in the rules was that both Bundestag from Germany and European Parliament should be represented in the Standing Committee. I can proudly tell you that Mr Franz Thönnes who is also a State Secretary and Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in Germany, and Ms Diana Wallis, Member of the European Parliament, have assumed their tasks in the Standing Committee.The Northern Dimension, coming also of age, celebrating its first ten years, is going to be a new policy between three countries from our region and the EU. The Baltic Sea Region has been lifted up within the Northern Dimension. That is why we will at this conference devote one of the sessions for the Northern Dimension. In January 2006, we had the first Extended Standing Committee meeting ever in Copenhagen. In conjunction to it we organized a round table and were given a good presentation on the Northern Dimension and had a discussion ending in Chair ́s conclusions. Many of the issues in our resolution from Vilnius were discussed and the Standing Committee got a briefing from the CBSS activities. The first meeting of the Extended Standing Committee was still probably seeking its shape and gave us some guidelines for organizing the next ones.It was relatively easy for the Standing Committee to agree on the overall heading and the themes for the conference. We have already got started with the review on the co-operation in the region. We are grateful that the CBSS presidency is attending the conference and has given the CBSS report. I think the report will lead us further to discussing the co-operation in the region. The Standing Committee has noted the importance of the EU policies and the activities of the Union in the Baltic Sea region. That is why the two other themes in the programme, the European Maritime Policy and the Northern Dimension are derived as a repercussion from the discussions on current issues in the EU.The environmental issues have from the beginning of the conferences been high on the agenda of the BSPC. We are concerned about the situation of the Baltic Sea. That is why we are pleased to hear report from HELCOM. We have a working group on eutrophication which continues its work until conference in 2007 and gives here its mid-term report.Due to the new rules the Standing Committee has focused on the implementation of the resolution passed by the participants of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Vilnius last year. But not only that - this year we have had a written work programme which might be described as exhaustive. The Standing Committee has concentrated on concrete political activities, such as the Northern Dimension issues, relation between EU and Russia, the New Neighbourhood programme as well as the European Maritime Policy, Transport and Logistics and sea security. The reports on NGOs and Kaliningrad have been discussed as well democracy. In May we had a vivid discussion on democracy which lead to one sentence in the draft resolution – about support to neighbouring countries.An information exchange between the BSPC and inter-parliamentary regional bodies in South-East Europe has been developed during the last years. We wish to continue promoting the positive experience of the parliamentary cooperation in the region. We wish that we can elaborate our co-operation with the PABSEC (Black Sea Economic Co-operation) in order to involve them into the work on eutrophication.The parliamentarians appreciate the work done by the CBSS. The Standing Committee has during last years reached a new level of co-operation with the CBSS. The Standing Committee has had good working relations with the Icelandic Presidency and the Swedish Presidency which has started this summer, as well as with the secretariat. The CBSS plays a positive role in the European integration process.We address the CBSS in our resolutions. There is no obligation for the CBSS to report to the parliamentarians but they have been committed to do so. We have discussed our relation and I can with pleasure inform you that the CBSS has been both willing and ready to continue to develop our contacts. I would like to thank Mr Persson and the CBSS for the new opening regarding co-operation on the issues of environment.I was invited as the Chairman of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference BSPC to the 6th CBSS Summit in June here in Reykjavik. This was first time in the BSPC history that we had not only the possibility to attend but also speak at the summit consisting of the prime ministers of the member countries. I could note with satisfaction that all the ministers wished to continue the CBSS activities. I could also hear and see that there was a common appreciation towards the organisation. The CBSS is a small and flexible regional organisation ready to react when needed. The Baltic Sea Region shall be able to continue to use its potential for co-operation in order to increase welfare and to strengthen cohesion and civil society. We ought to use this momentum to strengthen the region as an area of economic growth and a model of sustainable socio-economic development.Besides the CBSS, HELCOM is an important regional governmental organisation striving at improving the situation of our sea. HELCOM has been working already more than 30 years, much longer than the other organisations in the region. The observer status at HELCOM has been administrated on behalf of the Standing Committee by representatives of the Nordic Council and the State Parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.The Standing Committee has again been striving at a short and concise draft. We have also listened to the addressees of our resolutions.Due to the new rules it is the first time that the Extended Standing Committee will discuss the draft resolution. By using this Extended Standing Committee we hope to get continuity in the representation of the national and regional parliaments.The Standing Committee had already during a couple of years discussed the financial support to the secretariat. As we all probably know, the Nordic Council has been in charge of all costs for the secretariat. The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference BSPC has costs which are twofold. One of the two main costs is the conference itself. The host Parliament is in charge of this heading and carries also the main responsibility for organising the conferenceThe other main heading in the BSPC budget (which does not actually exist) is the secretariat. The Nordic Council secretariat in Copenhagen has been in charge of both fixed and variable costs for the secretariat from 1994 on. The duties of the secretariat have been increasing constantly as the BSPC has been established as an important actor in the region. Repercussions of the new rules, relations to the counterparts and other organisations have contributed to the increased costs of the BSPC. Some of the undertakings, e.g. participation of the representatives of youth and NGO representatives at the Conferences, are paid by the Nordic Council.We copied a model from the CBSS which we modified a little in order to invite also the regional parliaments to contribute to the payments to the BSPC secretariat. The sums are not high; the big countries would pay appr. 10.000 € and the small national and regional parliaments much less. By building such a system the BSPC Secretariat would receive a little more than 100.000 € for the operational costs of the secretariat at the Nordic Council secretariat. In practice the Nordic Council will open a bank account for the BSPC to which the contributions shall be directed. The assets can only be used to the purposes which have been agreed upon by the Standing Committee.The Nordic Council has agreed with the Danish Bureau of State Audits that the Bureau will audit the account and give its auditing report to the BSPC. It is thus not be necessary to register the BSPC as an association which was one of the issues we wished to avoid. The answers I have received from the parliaments have been encouraging. All but one are prepared and willing to pay their contribution. I still intend to discuss with the parliament answering negatively because I can imagine that there might be some misunderstanding.Dear friends,The Baltic Sea region deserves our commitment. An extensive network of parliamentary contacts is a solid base. By being active and involved the BSPC is making its contribution for the future of the region in co-operation with other relevant organisations.Further strengthening of the co-operation in the region contributes to continuation of the success and leads to development with even more active civic participation and strong democratic institutions.I hope that you will enjoy the debates. We have travelled to Iceland to speak. I am looking forward to a constructive and strong parliamentary input in our common work and new parliamentary networks between the participants.-----------------------[pic]