Implementation of the 27th BSPC Resolution

28 BSPCYEARSBaltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceStatements of the governmentsin the Baltic Sea Region to the27th BSPC Resolution.1. Åland 22. Estonia 13. Finland 14. German Bundestag 15. Hamburg 16. Latvia 17. Lithuania 18. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 19. Norway 110. Poland 111. Russia 112. Sweden 1Status: 24 June 2019Åland Page 2ÅlandÅland Page 3Dokumentnamn Nr SidnrLETTER 259 Rk1a 1 (5)Datum Dnr3.5.2019 ÅLR 2019/1145Ålands BSPC-delegation, Ålands lagtingHänvisningKontaktpersonMarcus ÅkerblomÄrendeINOFFICIAL TRANSLATION: THE ÅLAND GOVERNMENT ́SVIEW REGARDING THE BSPC RESOLUTION OF 2018 ANDINFORMATION OF MEASURES TAKEN, ANDACTIONS PLANNEDBackgroundIn August 2018 at the annual Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) inÅland Islands the BSPC resolution was adopted. The purpose of the resolution isthat governments around the Baltic Sea region pay attention to different areasdescribed below. February 5th 2019 the parliament on Åland forwarded theresolution to its government for further actions. In this letter the Government ofÅland describe measures taken and actions planned for four areas out of five.• Various projects and other collaborations• The vision of a healthy sea• Smart energy solutions and renewable energy sources• Sustainable migration and integration• Economic development and growth.1. Various projects and other Baltic Sea collaborationsIn accordance with the resolution of the 26th Conference, the Government ofÅlandsupports the need for political exchanges between young people in all areas ofsociety. The government also supports BSPC's desire for intensified programs formultinational youth forums. In order to support the regeneration 2030 movement,which is the multinational forum or gathering for young people, the governmentintends to continue the cooperation with both the Nordic Council of Ministers andthe CBSS.The first ReGenereration 2030 Summit was held on Åland in August 2018 andwill be followed up by a new gathering on Åland on the 24–26 of August 2019.The theme will be Changing Climate - Changing Lifestyles. Regeneration 2030brings young people together from 14 countries and autonomous regions aroundPostadress Telefon Telefax E-postPB 1060 (018) 25000 (018) 19155 registrator@regeringen.axAX-22111 MARIEHAMN, Åland URL www.regeringen.axTjänstebrev bör ställas till Ålands landskapsregering, inte till enskild tjänstemanÅland Page 42 (5)the Baltic Sea: Finland, Åland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greenland, FaroeIslands, Iceland and Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany.Under the direction of the Government of Åland, a development and sustainabilitywork is in progress with the name The Development and Sustainability Agenda forÅland. Find more information at www.barkraft.ax. Regeneration 2030 has gainedinspiration and originated from the Åland vision that Everyone Can Flourish in aViable Society on The Islands of Peace. That makes Åland the natural place forthe regeneratio2030 annual summit. Find more information atwww.regeneration2030.org.2. The vision of a healthy Baltic SeaTo both achieve the objectives of the UN Agenda 2030 and to have a successfulimplementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, the resolution highlightsthe importance of cooperation and commitment at the highest political level indifferent countries and autonomous regions around the Baltic Sea.To achieve the goal of good water status and a healthy Baltic Sea, Åland isdependent on measures taken to improve water quality in the Åland archipelagoand its surroundings. Therefore, the Åland government supports the resolution'scall for intensified efforts both nationally and regionally in order to meet theobjectives of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in time.Due to its location in the middle of the Baltic Sea, the water in the Ålandarchipelago has gained an increasingly deteriorating status. One of the strategicdevelopment goals of the agenda described above is that all water should havegood quality by the year 2030. The goal description in the Åland development andsustainability agenda says that Åland has both an obligation and a right to be avoice for the Baltic Sea. The work within the agenda can only be realized if everycountry in the Baltic Sea region do their part to implement the UN Agenda 2030.In long term and in addition to measures to improve the water quality in the BalticSea, the government of Åland wishes to emphasize the importance of also takingother measures to prevent climate change.3. Smart Energy Solutions and renewable energy sourcesDuring 2011, the Finnish department of finance approved a partial financing of anew 100 MW DC link between Åland and Finland. Its main purpose is to meet theemergency backup requirement in case of a possible power failure from Sweden.After initial planning and design during the autumn in 2012 Kraftnät Åland Absigned the agreement with ABB regarding the construction. The work began in2013 and in the beginning of 2016 the connection was completed and up andrunning as planned.Since the year 2000, there's been a 60 MW sea cable connection between Ålandand Sweden. This connection enables the possibility of transferring electricity inboth directions between the Swedish and Finnish transmission system operatorsvia the Åland islands. The Finnish transmission system operator Fingrid wishes touse the transit connection. Discussions are conducted with Svenska Kraftnätregarding the conditions for transit. In order to enable the transit operation,adaptation is required in the management system. Svenska Kraftnät have beenworking on the updates for a long time. The process has unfortunately beendelayed, but the Government of Åland is hopefullthat the conditions will be inplace this year.Åland Page 53 (5)The FLEXe Project (previously known as the Clic Project) has continued during2018. Its aim is to make Åland a test platform for smart energy networks. InSeptember 2018, the company Flexen Ab Oy was founded. The government ofÅland is one of several companies and organizations that own the company. Theaim is to commercialize the work of creating flexible energy solutions for thefuture. The plan is therefore that Åland should act as a test platform for newenergy solutions. The activities carried out within the company will probably havea major impact both in Åland and abroad. The project is a collaboration thatincludes actors and administrations both in Finland and in Åland. With increasedpossibilities to transfer electricity in both directions between Sweden and Finlandvia Åland, the intention is in the long term to increase integration within theEuropean energy network.However, a limiting factor is that Ab Vattenfall charges a net fee of approximately1.2 million euro per year from Kraftnät Åland Ab for the transfer through themaritime cable connection between Åland and Sweden. The network fee todaylimits the possibility for an effective use of the connection. According to adecision between the Nordic countries, connection fees should not be imposed.This is also stipulated in the EU's electricity Trade Regulation (714/2009).Discussions have been conducted for a long time regarding the connection feeswithout any success.In view of the abovementioned, the Government of Åland supports smart energysolutions and renewable energy sources.4. Migration and IntegrationIn recent years, approximately 1000 people per year have migrated to Åland andas a result, almost half of the population aged 30 – 39 is born abroad. Even ifsome emigration occurs, net immigration has been positive. Today in Åland thereis about 65 different native languages and almost 100 different nationalities.A successful integration leads to the immigrants being happy and wanting to stayon Åland Islands and hopefully access the labor market. The trade and industry inÅland have had some difficulties to find employees and therefore wish for a fasterintegration.To some extent the integration is made difficult because the legislativecompetence is divided between Finland and Åland. The applicable law dependson the person's passport status. People seeking humanitarian protection are subjectto Finnish integration legislation. Other persons are subject to Åland’s integrationlegislation. Because Åland does not have jurisdiction in the case of residencepermits, the Finnish Migration Agency will come to Åland a few days every sixweeks to receive and prepare residence permit applications.A visit to the Migration Agency is perceived as complicated. One has to make awritten booking in advance. To facilitate the procedure, the Government of Ålandbuys services via the city of Mariehamn through the information officeKompassen (Compass). Kompassen is not only supporting immigrants to do theirbooking to the Migration Agency. The office also serves immigrants with generalinformation about the local society and, if needed, refers immigrants to otherauthorities.An important part of the integration is of course to understand the language andhaving general knowledge about the society. Therefore, as a labour market policyÅland Page 64 (5)action, education in the Swedish language (Swedish for Immigrants, SFI) isoffered to persons outside the labour market who are registered at the EmploymentOffice (AMS).. For employees, with the employer's permission, there is anopportunity to study Swedish part-time, partly at working hours and partly inleisure time.The SFI course also provides social information about, for example, rights andobligations in the labour market, how health care is organized in Åland etc. Thecourse also includes an introduction to the Åland development and sustainabilityagenda. The government has also arranged general conversations with quotarefugees in Arabic to raise and discuss differences in, for example, genderequality and family roles between Syria and the Nordic countries.As a new member of the society, it takes some time to develop new relationshipsand participate in new networks. As many jobs are added through networks, it isparticularly important to develop a workable system for guidance and validationof knowledge and competence. Therefore, the government has a validation serviceat the Ålands Gymnasium (Ålands Upper Secondary School). This year thegovernment has also decided to finance a three-year activity with career guidancefor adults. The activity starts in August 2019 with the name VISA vägen (SHOWthe way). Migrants are assumed to be a large part of the target group for validationand guidance activities.The government of Åland also supports various integration efforts in order tocreate changes in attitudes and develop methods that reduce alienation. As anexample, lectures and workshops have been arranged all around Åland inattitudes, identity and equal value to educate teachers, students and parents. It hasalso been arranged lectures about people fleeing, cultural clashes,misunderstandings, prejudices and exclusion to the third sector and to civilservants.Associations can seek additional funding from the government for specialintegration initiatives. For example, integration has been arranged throughfootball, integration through work or integration through open preschool.RefugeesÅland has received 73 quota refugees since 2015. In the beginning only the city ofMariehamn received quota refugees, but later on eight municipalities have alsoreceived refugees. Four of sixteen municipalities received a total of 26 persons inthe autumn of 2018.The decision to receive or not receive refugees is taken by the municipal council.A contract is then signed between the municipality of Åland, which intends toreceive refugees and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and theEnvironment (NTM-centralen) in Finland. Each municipality has its ownintegration program in order to support a good integration into Åland society.With the aim of continuously improving the reception of refugees (before, duringand after the reception), the government of Åland maintains a continuous dialoguewith receiving municipalities, ÅHS (Åland Health Care), AMS (ÅlandsEmployment Office), Medis (course organizer for language and integrationtraining) and the third sector. Those organizations form a coordination group forwhich the government is the convener. The coordination group decided to applyfor the launch of the EU project “En säker hamn” (a secure port, mustering forstrength for the municipalities, authorities and the third sector to developÅland Page 75 (5)cooperation in the reception of refugees and integration in Åland). The projectwas accepted and started in March 2018 with support from the AMIF Fund(Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund). The government of Åland is theresponsible authority for the project and twelve other organizations are involved.Because of this project, the support from and the cooperation between theseorganizations has been given an opportunity to be more effective. The projectsactivities focuses on quota refugees but the activities and measures will alsobenefit other immigrants in Åland.Examples of activities within the project:- Health care procedures are reviewed. Among other things, staff are trained in• intercultural communication• how different residence permits provide different rights within healthcare• how to use different support such as images, language apps, interpreters,etc.- An interactive website www.integration.ax has been developed with a FAQpage containing questions, answers and links sorted under different themes.Through this channel (which is now available in more than 20 languages) youalso can promote integrational events.A flow chart for the health review of refugees has been developed including costallocation and compensation.Minister Nina FellmanAdministrator Marcus ÅkerblomEstonia Page 1EstoniaEstonia Page 2Estonian answers regarding the Implementation of the Resolutionof the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceMinistry of Foreign Affairs (Preamble and p 1-2, 4)Regional cooperation formatsEstonia contributes with other Member States to the ongoing review process of the Council of the BalticSea States, which continues until the end of the Danish Presidency in the middle of 2020. It is too earlyto reflect the outcome of that process under the Latvian and then Danish Presidencies of the CBSS. TheVision Goup report is an important contribution to that process.The Council has continued to implement successfully its three long-term priorities – Regional Identity;Sustainable and Prosperous Region; and Safe and Secure Region. The activities of the CBSS have becomemore practical and project based. Finally, cooperation and division of labour with other international foraand regional formats active in Northern Europe remains an important issue to the years to come.CBSS, Northern Dimension, HELCOM, EUSBSR and other regional cooperation formats are all taking stepsto answer current challenges. Several policy areas of the EUSBSR for example contribute to the imple-mentation of the Declaration of the HELCOM ministerial meeting in March 2018 and BSAP. Some EUSBSRareas contribute to the activities of the CBSS- for example in the area of civil security. Northern Dimen-sion Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS) coordinates EUSBSR Policy area Health.Estonia participates in more than 60% of the flagships of the EUSBSR. Estonia is one of the smallest statesof the Region and because of the resource limits our stakeholders have to define their priorities verycarefully.It is important to integrate regional cooperation issues better with EU next period MFF instruments, italso involves the future of the EU cross-border cooperation instruments.Stakeholders engagement incl YouthIt is important to have active participation of different stakeholders in Regional cooperation. After the lo-cal Government reform Estonian municipalities have now more capabilities to participate in internationalcooperation, but still they often have too limited resources because of the small size.We also see more active participation of Youth. Estonian Youth Council plays effective role in that pro-cess. Main Estonian Universities and some Vocational Education institutions also paly active role in Youthexchanges and other forms of cooperation.Ministry of Education and Research (P 4-6)Baltic Sea Region priorities are addressed in national strategies and implementation plans. Young NEETsare one of the key target groups in National Youth Field development plan, some extra services includingoutreach youth work were initiated for about 8000 young people during period of report. Strong co-op-eration established between MoER and MoSA under Youth Guarantee initiative, including preventiveyouth work and labour services, intervention services for NEETs, also support for better knowledge inEstonia Page 3fields of responsibilities of the ministries. Reform of career guidance were initiated, and form 01.01.2019all career guidance services are provided on state level by Unemployment Foundation. S2W network wasinitiated and supports peer learning in the field.Estonia widely uses opportunities of the Erasmus + Programme. During 2018 from Erasmus+ in Estoniawere supported 102 Young people and Youth workers to study, participate in Youth Exchange events andother purposes 2,88 million euros.Ministry of Social Affairs (P 5-6)Elderly people and Labour issuesThe activity of elderly is high in the labour market in Estonia. Despite it, the employment of older peoplemust be continuously encouraged. By 2040, it is predicted that 48% of the population in Estonia will be50+.The Government has dealt with the concern of aging already for years. For instance, has been composedthe Estonian Active Ageing Development Plan 2013-2020, with the aim to develop an age-friendly societyand ensure the quality of life and equal opportunities for older people.In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs has developed a Welfare Development Plan 2016–2023, whichenvisages the activities to support the employment of older people as well as to achieve a longer life ex-pectancy.The surveys have been conducted on the request of the Ministry of Social Affairs on the working of theelderly and the factors affecting it. For example, the 2012 survey on the elderly in the Labour Market andthe survey of the Coping of Older People and the Elderly Survey 2015.Additionally, there have been analyses conducted about the possibilities of supporting the participation ofolder people (including those of retirement age) in the employment, including the aspects how to changethe attitudes of employers and employees and raise their awareness.The services of the labour market offered by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (job searchcounselling, career counselling, labour market training, internship etc.) help to acquire the skills. Since2017, the provision of employment services to employed people has been expanded to prevent unem-ployment and promote professional mobility. At the same time, the skills of at least 50 years old have beenpromoted and favoured.When a person’s ability to work is reduced, he or she has the possibility to benefit from a package of ser-vices designed according to the Work Ability Reform. Including for example the possibility of upgradingskills, adapting the workplace, and getting the tools needed for work etc.A pension reform has been adopted that would change the pension equation making I pillar pensionsdependent on the number of years worked, introduce the flexible pension and tying the retirement ageto the average life expectancy. The aging of the population places a task of great responsibility to our soci-ety — to ensure on one hand a state pension that protects people against poverty in their old age, and tobe sufficiently flexible on the other to be consistent with changes on the labour market. Therefore, moreflexibility in the retirement scheme is provided in order to ensure the availability of workforce as well asopportunities for self-realization for the elderly.Estonia Page 4Ministry of the Interior (P 18-24)Strengthen cooperation in the field of migration and integrationSuccessful labour market inclusion of third country nationals is one of the major challenges today in Eu-rope and in countries bordering the Baltic Sea. Therefore, in 2018 in partnership with the Nordic Councilof ministers Estonian office, UNHCR, the Johannes Mihkelson Centre and the Estonian Ministry of Interiorlabour market inclusion initiative was launched to foster the development of a more coherent strategy toensure successful labour inclusion of third country nationals.Every year a conference is organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers Estonian office, in cooperation withEMN Estonian Contact Point in Tallinn University, Ministry of Interior and University of Tartu. Conferenceaims to be a platform where best practices and latest research in the field of migration in the Nordic andBaltic countries are shared.Increase the offer of migration-specific advisory services and language trainingIn 2017 migration advisors service was launched. Advisors main purpose is to support foreigners settling inEstonia and to be a partner to employers, entrepreneurs, educational institutions and to others who inviteforeigners to Estonia.Consider migration and security perspectives in relevant other political agendasEstonian immigration policy has historically aimed at facilitating settlement of those foreigners in Estonia,whose residence here is consistent with the public interest and preventing the entry of foreigners intoEstonia who may be a threat to public order or national security. The facilitation of the migration of peo-ple who contribute to the development of the Estonian state and society, and development of legal andadministration solutions to support such migration is one of the main objectives in the field of migration.In 2017 wide-range immigration working group was established. The aim of this working group is to con-tinue developing systematic solutions mainly related to the labour migration.Seek holistic and multi-facetted solutions to the challengesEstonia has contributed on the EU level to different measures in the field of migration. For example, Estoniahas participated in the EU relocation and resettlement activities stemming from the 2015 migration crisesand have admitted 206 persons in the need of international protection (141 from Greece, 6 from Italy and59 form Turkey). Furthermore, we are participating in different formats of cooperation and dialogue onmigration with third countries, for example process of implementation of Joint Valletta Action Plan.Government of Estonia has also made a decision in December 2017 to admit up to 40 persons from Turkeyduring both the years of 2018 and 2019. Estonia will continue to plan and develop different measures andcontinue to contribute to agreed measures on the EU level in the field of migration.We have yearly contributed to the Frontex missions – approximately 200 police and border officials a year.During the 2018 a total of 218 were provided. We have also contributed to the EU naval operations EU-NAVFOR Med/op Sophia. Currently with 3 officials of Defence Force. Contributions to the Frontex missionshave also involved technical help and transportation means. As an example: during one month of 2018one airplane was provided for Spain, until the march 2019 one patrol ship is operating in Greece, therewere 52 cameras sent to Bulgaria and Greece. During the year 2019 there are 3 persons planned to providefor as EASO experts.Estonia Page 5Estonia is a long-time supporter of UNHCR activities. Respecting the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD)principles, Estonia makes its unearmarked voluntary contributions to the UNHCR every year. Estonia hasallocated 100 000 EUR in support of UNHCR programs in the year 2019. Apart of this contribution, Estoniacontinues to support various UNHCR operations throughout the year. As mentioned, Estonia has beencontributing to the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey (4,3 million EUR) as well as to the EU Emergency TrustFund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa (EUTFfor Africa) from the beginning (1,6 million EUR), mostly to Northern Africa. We are planning to continue thispractice. In addition to that, we have contributed to the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the SyrianCrisis (the ‘Madad Fund’).Ministry of the Environment (P 3, 7-16, 25-26)Regarding the vision of a Healthy Baltic SeaEstonia is committed to the implementation of the HELCOM Ministerial Declaration of 6 March 2018. Re-storing the good environmental status (GES) of the Baltic marine environment by 2021 is continuouslythe highest priority for the Baltic Sea. The work to support achieving the vision for the Baltic Sea andthe common objectives until 2021 and beyond, is enhanced by paying particular attention on review-ing and updating the HELCOM BSAP. Strong involvement in HELCOM working groups supports wider andstrengthened implementation of the HELCOM BSAP and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14. Focus is onHELCOM recommendations to be reviewed and reported as they complement the actions under the HEL-COM BSAP and Ministerial Declaration. Work on voluntary commitments on the regional implementationof the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 continues. An overview of Estonia commitments is availableat: http://www.helcom.fi/Lists/Publications/Implementation%20of%20the%20BSAP%202018.pdf.Estonia’s efforts to implement the HELCOM Ministerial Declaration are mainly based on the existing pro-gram of measures of the Estonian marine strategy. Work is ongoing both at regional and national levels toelaborate new indicators for assessment of the status and pressures affecting the Baltic Sea and the Esto-nian marine areas. This work is well in line with the new requirements of the EU Marine Strategy Directive.The most crucial part of the work is to achieve the phosphorus and nitrogen reduction targets, as whiletrying to reduce the pollution loads to the sea, there is also an increasing interest of the aquaculture sectorto establish new aquaculture plants in the sea, that unfortunately and eventually would increase the pol-lution loads of the sea instead of decreasing them.Implementation Strategy for the sustainable Blue Growth Agenda for the Baltic Sea RegionThe Sustainable Blue Growth Agenda highlights (https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/60adf799-4f19-11e7-a5ca-01aa75ed71a1) the potential for developing the maritime econo-my for the Baltic Sea Region. The report has identified thematic areas, suggesting their drivers and vision.Estonia is in the process of starting the preparation of its blue growth economy plan. The report highlightsareas to give greater depth to the processes and focus areas necessary to realise the Estonian blue growtheconomy plan. Therefore, Estonia’s plan can later contribute to the Implementation Strategy (the sameanswer given to point 25).Estonia Page 6Efforts at the national and regional levels to set appropriate policy priorities so as to achieve theobjectives of the BSAP by 2021 as far as possible on scheduleThe results of the State of the Baltic Sea report (available at http://www.helcom.fi/Lists/Publications/BSEP155.pdf) show that the environmental objectives of the Baltic Sea Action Plan are not likely to bereached by 2021. Nevertheless, the work to achieve good environmental status (GES) of the Baltic marineenvironment by 2021 remains to be high priority. The efforts are intensified by reviewing and updatingwork plans and terms of references of the HELCOM working groups to be determined to deliver thematicobjectives of the BSAP. An initiative is taken by being part of the HELCOM developing groups of a regionalnutrient recycling strategy and coordinating the framework, which synthesizes the latest knowledge onthe effects of climate change on the Baltic Sea region. HELCOM working groups national review process onrecommendations is on-going and will give an updated view on possible knowledge gaps between BSAPobjectives and the targets implemented at national level. Fields will emerge, which need additional focusto achieve the necessary objective by 2021.Regular HELCOM Ministerial MeetingsHELCOM meetings are held and hosted regularly by rotation of member states at ministerial level, at leastevery three years, unless the Heads of Delegation decide otherwise. In the meetings, member states arerepresented by a delegation consisting of representatives, alternate representatives, experts and advisersas may be required and depending on their availability. The next ministerial meeting is planned for 2021when also the updated Baltic Sea Action Plan should be ready for adoption.Strategies to achieve the UN-Agenda 2030 goals and realise the vision of a clean Baltic Sea free frommarine litterConcerning underwater noise the measuring activities will be continued. The HELCOM Ministerial meet-ing on 6 March 2018 decided to elaborate regional and national actions to limit the impact of underwaternoise on sensitive marine species.In order to control and manage eutrophication, promote sustainable agricultural practices and furtherimprove the knowledge base and reduction of pollution loads of the Baltic Sea, HELCOM has establishedworking groups on regional nutrient recycling strategy and regional principles and risk assessment frame-work for management of internal nutrient reserves.The implementation of measures to eliminate marine litter remains a high priority. The Baltic Sea countrieswill have meetings at regional level and will coordinate their actions while implementing the Action Planon the Marine Litter.Nationally, Estonia has aligned some of its main sustainability indicators with the ones in the Agenda 2030in order to monitor and assess the progress towards these objectives.Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development from 2021-2030Estonia is in the process of starting the preparations of its “Decade of Marine Science for Sustainable De-velopment” for 2021-2030, thus having an opportunity to contribute to the UN “Decade of Ocean Sciencefor Sustainable Development” for 2021-2030.Estonia Page 7Regarding the vision of a Healthy Baltic SeaImprovements in the wastewater collection and treatment in Estonia continue mainly in rural areas. Col-lection and treatment systems in urban areas have been upgraded and work as required by the EU and asagreed in HELCOM. In rural areas the priority is to ensure that individual wastewater collection systems aremaintained and exploited as required. For that purpose the new Water Act gives the right for the EstonianEnvironmental Inspectorate to start inspecting individual wastewater treatment systems while the Min-istry of the Environment will support financially individual efforts to improve the wastewater treatmentsystems in rural areas. Implementation Plan for the Estonian Marine Strategy Action Plan includes measureon organizing drainage of storm water discharged directly into the sea and cleaning systems to control theflow of nutrients, hazardous substances and litter into the sea.Estonia has improved its capacity to clean up and monitor polluted sea by acquiring a new and modernpatrol vessel with anti-pollution capabilities and a surveillance aircraft equipped with top-of-the-line mon-itoring and engineering systems in year 2018 designed primarily for marine surveillance, marine pollutioncontrol and monitoring.Estonia is a partner in the Interreg Project “Enhancing Oil Spill Response Capability in the Baltic Sea Re-gion”, to improve oil spill response capabilities.Plastics and micro-plastics in the seasTo combat marine litter, in particular plastic waste, the Baltic Sea countries will coordinate their actions byimplementing the Action Plan on the Marine Litter. The issue was one of the main themes of the EUSBSR9th Annual Forum in Tallinn in June 2018.There is a well-functioning deposit packaging system in Estonia, which collects almost 90% of disposableplastic beverage bottles placed on the market. It is also a priority in the Baltic Sea region to move towardsa common and joint deposit system in the region. Estonian stakeholders play important role in EUSBSRflagship Blastic, more information https://www.blastic.eu .Regarding Economic development and growth in the Baltic Sea RegionImplementation Strategy for the sustainable Blue Growth Agenda for the Baltic Sea RegionThe Sustainable Blue Growth Agenda highlights (https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/60adf799-4f19-11e7-a5ca-01aa75ed71a1) the potential for developing the maritime econo-my of the Baltic Sea Region. The report has identified thematic areas, suggesting their drivers and vision.Estonia is in the process of starting to prepare its blue growth economy plan. The report highlights areasto give greater depth to the processes and focus areas necessary to realise the Estonian blue growth econ-omy plan. Therefore, Estonia’s plan can later contribute to the Implementation Strategy.Use of all opportunities of the Baltic Sea cooperation to enable managing and considering all inter-ests and aspects of economy, environment and the neighboursEstonia acknowledges the importance of cooperation in Baltic Sea region. Estonia is a party to of theHelsinki Convention (HELCOM). The HELCOM has ten Contracting Parties, which are also Members of theHelsinki Commission. Furthermore, Estonia also participates in the trilateral Gulf of Finland co-operationEstonia Page 8with Russia and Finland. Our stakeholders participate in 4 flagships of the EUSBSR PA Hazards, 4 flagshipsin PA Nutri, 3 flagships in PA Ship and so on. Estonia also cooperates with partners in CBSS, IMO, VASABand other formats.Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (p 17, 26- 28)Sustainable Energy, Smart energy distribution platformsEstonia sees great value in the regional cooperation in energy connectivity. We work closely with othermember states in the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP) High Level Group on the syn-chronisation of the Baltic States’ electricity network with the continental European network. Next stepsinclude the signature of the Connecting Europe Facility Grant Agreement for 323 million Euro awarded inJanuary 2019 for the first phase synchronisation investments possibly on 21/22 March as well as signingthe Connection Agreement for the synchronisation at the latest by June 2019.We have started the technical discussions with the Russian Federation and Belarussian system operatorsregarding the de-synchronization process of the Baltic States from their networks and review the prepara-tory work in this respect.Estonia also welcomes the implementation of smart grids in energy in the Baltic Region, as we have suc-cessfully introduced a fully functional smart electricity grid platform in Estonia. Several Member Stateshave taken interest in our solutions and we are willing to share our know how.Economic development and growth in the Baltic Sea RegionEstonia welcomes the regional development of the sea transport and supports the aim to make the BalticSea a pioneer area for automatic shipping.The most important regional TEN-T rail project is Rail Baltica. The commitment to implement Rail BalticaProject within agreed time (by 2026) and budget (5,9 bn) has been set both within the Intergovern-mental agreement of the Baltic States ratified in 2017 and also in the implementing decision approvedin October 2018 being endorsed by all EU member states and the European Commission. In addition,cooperation with Poland and Finland has intensified confirmed by Poland’s readiness to address the in-frastructure requirements matching those of Rail Baltica and Finland expressing commitment to becomea shareholder of the Joint venture RB Rail AS.Finland Page 1FinlandFinland Page 2Finland Page 3Finland Page 4YMPÄRISTÖMINISTERIÖ 4.4.2019Implementation of the Resolution of the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) in Mariehamn,Åland, 26–28 August 2018Regarding Cooperation in the Region, to1. intensify the interaction between the Northern Dimension policy and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Seaand the Russian Strategy of social and economic development of the North-West federal district;Finland has continued to support the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP). The Ministryof the Environment of Finland has continued to coordinate the EUSBSR policy area Nutri to reduce nutrientinputs to the Baltic Sea and to tackle eutrophication through strategic flagship projects, such asNutriTrade, IWAMA, Baltic Blue Growth, CONSUME and BEST.Regarding the vision of a Healthy Baltic Sea – a call for more action, to7. as the BSPC supports the HELCOM Ministerial Declaration of 6 March 2018 in Brussels and shares itscritical view on the state of the Baltic Sea under various aspects – vigorously implement the decisionscontained in the Ministerial Declaration;As Chair of HELCOM for 2018–2020 Finland has kept issues agreed upon in the Ministerial Declaration onthe table and vigorously implemented the decisions contained therewith. As Chair of HELCOM, Finland hasalso paved the way for updating of the BSAP as agreed in the 2018 Ministerial Declaration.9. enhance consultations and cooperation regarding a spatial master planning in the Baltic Sea region,considering all interests and aspects of economy (shipping, fishing, energy, tourism, etc.), environmentand the neighbours;Baltic Sea Countries have established a HELCOM-VASAB maritime spatial planning group consisting ofHELCOM and VASAB nominated members. The aim of the group is to enhance and coordinate maritimespatial planning in the Baltic Sea area and to cooperate to reconcile maritime spatial plans drafted bycountries. The group has agreed on the principles of maritime spatial planning and guidelines of cross-border cooperation and consultation in drafting maritime spatial plans. Finland actively takes part in theworking group.10. considering that, depending on the country, only 25 to 60 percent of the targets of the HELCOM Baltic SeaAction Plan to be implemented by 2021 are currently met at the national level – urgently intensify effortsat the national and regional level to set appropriate policy priorities so as to achieve the objectives of theBSAP by 2021 as far as possible on schedule;Finland has actively promoted intensifying efforts to achieve the objectives of the BSAP by 2021 bothnationally and regionally. The Finnish government has launched a new Water Protection Programme for2019–2021. For 2019 there will be 15 million euros available, and altogether the financing for three yearsis 45 million euros. The Programme is based on more efficient implementation of river basin managementplans and the marine strategy as well as implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan.11. hold regular HELCOM Ministerial Meetings – including all responsible ministers of each member state inthe meetings – and come to binding rules under international law – as was the case with the measures toincrease maritime safety with the involvement of the transport ministers –, thus bringing the issue of aclean Baltic Sea more strongly into the political debate of each nation and region and to achieve a morebinding enforcement of the agreements reached;HELCOM Ministerial Meetings are arranged every few years and the Finnish Minister of the EnvironmentMr Kimmo Tiilikainen participated in the last Ministerial Meeting in 2018. Ministerial Meetings areFinland Page 5important fora for agreements on a high level. The issue of a clean Baltic Sea is part of the political debatein Finland, an example being the additional budget allocated for the new Water Protection Programme.12. develop or enhance both joint and additional national and regional sustainability strategies to achieve theUN-Agenda 2030 goals and realise the vision of a clean Baltic Sea free from marine litter whilst promotingsustainable agricultural practices, more sustainable shipping and tackling eutrophication and underwaternoise;Finland has been active in supporting HELCOM’s strengthened role in the regional implementation ofocean-related goals of the Agenda2030. Finnish River Basin Management Plans 2016–2021 of the WaterFramework Directive contain about 3500 measures and actions, most of them targeting nutrient loads,and are currently being implemented. Additionally, a number of other measures under the Finnish MarineStrategy have been implemented. As part of the newly launched Water Protection Programme, 25 millioneuros will be targeted at innovative water protection methods in agriculture.15. take preventative measures and immediate actions to improve the quality of waste-water effluents andhalt untreated discharges without delay and to show determination to clean up the heavily polluted sea;Finland is an active participant in the HELCOM work on the management of internal nutrient reserves. Thenewly established HELCOM Group to draft regional principles and a risk assessment framework for themanagement of internal nutrient reserves (IN MINUTS) aims at drafting a risk assessment framework andregional principles as guidance for nutrient reserves management as agreed upon in the 2018 HELCOMMinisterial Declaration.16. take urgent efficient action on the worrying levels of plastics and microplastics in the seas; support andimplement the regulations on reducing or banning single-use plastic as quickly as possible; promotepublic awareness of microplastic pollution throughout the Baltic ecosystem and encourage customers toavoid personal care products containing plastic microbeads;Finland supports the implementation of the HELCOM Marine Litter Action Plan with activities such as anational survey on the state and sources of marine litter, launching a case/pilot study on microplastics instorm waters in 2018–2019 and financing a project on the development of best practices for the disposalof old pleasure boats. Finland has also taken action to reduce the use of plastic bags trough a Green dealand voluntary action by shops. Finland actively participated in the negotiations of the new EU directive onsingle-use plastics, and work to implement the directive is underway.Finland Page 61(2)Implementation of the Resolution of the 27th Baltic Sea ParliamentaryConference (BSPC)2.4.2019Regarding the vision of a Healthy Baltic Sea – a call for more action, to11. develop or enhance both joint and additional national and regionalsustainability strategies to achieve the UN-Agenda 2030 goals and realisethe vision of a clean Baltic Sea free from marine litter whilst promotingsustainable agricultural practices, more sustainable shipping and tacklingeutrophication and underwater noise;Finland has continued to promote sustainable shipping. In Finland’sMaritime Policy Guidelines (2019) environmental aspects are highlighted.In the vision for maritime policy, Finland exercises global influence andproduces solutions ensuring that the use of marine natural resources issustainable, the state of the marine environment is good and the effects ofclimate change do not exceed the carrying capacity of the oceans. Theministry of Transport and Communication shares the view and aims toenhance a well-functioning, safe and environmentally responsible maritimesector.In addition, Finland has promoted sustainable shipping in the InternationalMaritime Organization IMO and participated actively on documents whichaim the reduce GHG emissions and marine plastic litter from ships in themaritime sector. For example, Finland presented a document on IMO’sPPR 6 meeting on the most efficient ways to decrease black carbomemission from ships. Finland has also co-sponsored a paper to theupcoming 74th IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting inLondon on the need for measures that change operational practices inorder to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships.Regarding Economic development and growth in the Baltic Sea Region28. aim to make the Baltic Sea a pioneer area for automatic shipping.Finland has actively participated in developing automatisation for maritimetransportation with co-operation between universities (University of Turkuamong others) and companies. Together with ABB, Finland has been thefirst in the world to test passenger ferry in the Gulf of Finland.Finland has taken an active role in promoting trials of automatisation. Forinstance in the beginning of February 2019 a regulation on remote pilotingcame to force. Automatisation would not be possible without digitalization,and therefore Finland has promoted digital infrastructure in the maritimeId VersionumeroMinistry of Transport and Office Postal address Telephone www.lvm.fiCommunications Eteläesplanadi 16 PO Box 31 +358 295 16001 firstname.lastname@lvm.fiFI-00100 Helsinki FI-00023 Government kirjaamo@lvm.fiFinlandFinland Page 72(2)sector. An example of this is an experiment to digitalizise shipping fairwaysand an initiative to develop tools to promore digitalisation in logistic sector.Id VersionumeroMinistry of Transport and Office Postal address Telephone www.lvm.fiCommunications Eteläesplanadi 16 PO Box 31 +358 295 16001 firstname.lastname@lvm.fiFI-00100 Helsinki FI-00023 Government kirjaamo@lvm.fiFinlandFinland Page 8Ministry of Education and Culture 6.4.2019Implementation of the Resolution of the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference(BSPC)1. Vocational education and training• Finland aims to further improve the status of vocational education in the society. The new legislationfor vocational education and training came into effect 2018. This reform is the most extensive reform ineducation legislation in almost twenty years.• In this reform, the focus is on the funding system, steering, and structures of the upper secondaryvocational education providers.• At the same time, we want to keep the various educational paths open.A comprehensive VET providers’ network will be retained all across Finland, and interaction between VETinstitutions and working life will be enhanced.• Vocational qualifications are no longer defined by time of study in the curriculum, but only bylearning outcomes. The objective is to build a flexible vocational education system which responds in thebest possible way to the needs of the working life and enhances lifelong learning, that is, the ability to learnthroughout the career.• The structure and coordination of the VET system will be improved and unnecessary overlapsremoved. The current barriers between vocational education for young people and adults will be removedand the provision of education, its funding and steering will be merged into a coherent package under theMinistry of Education and Culture. Education providers will be encouraged to be even more active thanbefore, and more of the learning will take place at work.• We want to highlight individual learning pathways and competence development. Many youngpeople will change their occupation several times during their career. This is also a challenge worldwide: wehave to ensure that young people have adequate skills and competencies for successful career building andgood life for the decades to come.• The aim is to develop learning at work and create new models to support individual learning andpersonal development, and find the best way to do this for all young people. Apprenticeship training will bereformed especially in terms of reducing the administrative and financial burden of employers.• We also want to speed up the transition from education to working life. Measures will be designed insupport of earlier transition to working life and movement within and between different levels ofeducation. Early graduation and faster transition to working life will be encouraged. Cooperation betweenthe upper secondary and higher education is vital, and we aim to increase this in a practical way.• The Ministry of Education and Culture will also respond to the demand for English-languagevocational education.More information on the reform and continuous learning (in English):https://minedu.fi/documents/1410845/4150027/Finnish+VET+in+a+Nutshell.pdf/9d43da93-7b69-d4b5-f939-93a541ae9980/Finnish+VET+in+a+Nutshell.pdf.pdfFinland Page 9Ministry of the Interior 28.3.2019Implementation of the Resolution of the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference(BSPC)In general terms it can be mentioned that the recommendations regarding migration issues are taken intoaccount via different mobility partnerships.Recommendation # 24; it can be stated that the Ministry of the Interior’s theme paper (SM:n teemapaperi)outlines a comprehensive approach on migration management and the inclusion of all policy sectors.Recommendation # 20; it can be stated that bilateral and multilateral migration dialogues are continuouslyongoing in many areas and especially within EU context. Furthermore, Finland has a regularly agreeddialogue on migration with Russia.In addition, during 2018–2019 Ministry of the Interior has implemented ChemSAR-project with Interregfunding with the aim to develop Operational Plans and Procedures for Maritime Search and Rescue inHazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) Incidents.As for the rest (integration-related), the recommendations fall mainly under the sector of the Ministry ofEconomic Affairs and Employment.German Bundestag Page 1GermanBundestagGerman Bundestag Page 2Opinion on the Resolution of the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference 2018On the statements:The German Federal Government welcomes the Conference Resolution adopted by the 27th annual Bal-tic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) on 28 August 2018 in Mariehamn, Åland, Finland. The BSPC’scommitment to cooperation among parliaments, governments and civil society in the Baltic Sea Regionbrings the Baltic Sea area closer together economically, socially and in its environmental policy. Closeand coordinated cooperation in the region, a healthy Baltic Sea, and sustainable measures regardingthe energy supply, migration and integration, as well as the economic development of the Baltic SeaRegion are high priorities for the German Government. The Resolution of Mariehamm makes clear thatin these complex subject areas in the Baltic Sea area, only regional and common responses are expedi-ent.The German Government underscores the importance of the rule of law, human rights, environmentalprotection and equality of opportunity for its activities in the Baltic Sea Region. The Council of BalticSea States (CBSS), the Helsinki Convention, the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the North-ern Dimension are pillars of the German Government’s cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region. All ofthese forums are used for official and societal exchange in close coordination among the Federal Minis-tries and the North German federal states.Strengthening trust among all Member States of the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) remains apriority.Against this backdrop, the German Government welcomes the CBSS reform process, which the currentLatvian Presidency is pushing forward on the basis of the “Roadmap 2020”.The strengthening of social, environmental and economic cooperation in the region, as emphasisedby the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, is of particular importance to the German Government.In particular, the Baltic Sea Youth Dialogue (BSYD) projects that are described more concretely in thecalls for action should be noted, as should the integration of the Baltic States into the European energygrid by 2025 and public awareness-raising about the negative effects of the use of disposable plasticson seas and oceans.On the calls for action:Regarding cooperation in the region (1 – 6), the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference calls on the gov-ernments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSS and the European Union to:1. intensify the interaction between the Northern Dimension policy and the EU Strategyfor the Baltic Sea and the Russian Strategy of social and economic development of theNorth-West federal district;Intensive Baltic Sea cooperation, including cooperation through the Council of Baltic Sea States, theEU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Northern Dimension, remains a long-term project of theGerman Government. In this spirit, the early involvement of the next generation to strengthen thefoundations of trust and security in the Baltic Sea Region is also an important element of German for-eign policy.German Bundestag Page 3There is already fruitful, professional cooperation with the Russian Federation, especially in the area ofenvironmental protection. This is based on cooperation within HELCOM (the Baltic Marine EnvironmentProtection Commission – Helsinki Commission), together with the EU countries bordering the Baltic Seathat also participate in it. The German Government would like to continue this cooperation and solidifyit further. Within the scope of HELCOM, the German side provides positive input on projects on identi-fied hotpots in the North-West federal district of Russia.2. Extend the scope of transnational programmes covering the whole Baltic Sea area andanchor this possibility and the corresponding funding in all macro-regional strategieson a formal level to improve relations between neighbouring countries;The financial agreement between the European Commission, the Russian Federation and the FederalRepublic of Germany on participation in the transnational cooperation programme “Interreg Baltic SeaRegion (BSR) 2014-2020” was implemented in December 2017. The programme promotes integratedterritorial development and cooperation in order to develop the Baltic Sea Region into an innovative,interconnected and sustainable economic region. It encompasses the European Union Member Statesbordering the Baltic Sea as well as Norway, Belarus and the Russian Federation. Cooperation with theRussian Federation helps to pool resources and provide a uniform orientation for shared goals, whichthe Russian Federation is already pursuing through its North-West strategy.Beyond this, the Federal Republic of Germany is involved in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Regionthrough the federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-WesternPomerania. The aim here is for regions and countries to interconnect further with one another. TheGerman Government welcomes and supports the further intensification of cooperation. As part of theCBSS’s current reform process, potential synergies among different formats and bodies in the BalticSea area are being reviewed. Coordination between the German Federal Government and the involvedfederal states, in which the synergies mentioned are also addressed, takes place within “NorddeutscheKoordinierung” (North German coordination).3. strengthen cooperation in the field of migration and integration, involving all coun-tries bordering the Baltic Sea, to better meet similar tasks;In the areas of migration and integration, the German Government promotes coordination within theEuropean Union and with third countries. Concrete examples of regional cooperation can be found un-der points 18 – 24.4. intensify programs in the scope of visits and multinational meetings of youth in viewof meeting each other, fostering mutual understanding and developing relations;The German Government actively promotes the BSYD, which is supported by the German Embassy inStockholm. This engagement was initiated in 2016 in the amount of EUR 100,000, and was continuedin an annual amount of EUR 50,000 from 2017 onward. For 2019, the German Government plans tocontinue this financial engagement at the same level. Within the BSYD, young people and studentsfrom the CBSS Member States and Belarus meet each other in a variety of formats with a range ofdifferent content.The BSYD in Gdansk in 2016 had three different components: the “Solidarity Academy Baltic Sea YouthDialogue 2016”, a concert by the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, and the programme “Bridge lt!” Sixteen ear-ly-career journalists took part in this. All of the participants were already working as freelance journal-German Bundestag Page 4ists, and they were able to deepen their knowledge through an exchange of experience in Gdansk andKaliningrad.In 2017, the BSYD was held in the twin towns of Helsinki and Saint Petersburg under the leadership ofthe CBSS and in cooperation with the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki and the SaintPetersburg office of the NORDEN Association. Fifteen young teachers from Estonia, Germany, Latvia,Lithuania, Poland and the Russian Federation were invited to take part in a project week from 20 to 26November. A highlight of this project was a simulation of a meeting of the CBSS Council of Senior Offi-cials (CSO), in which the participants used multilateral and diplomatic methods to work on hypotheticalissues in the Baltic Sea area.In 2018, the BSYD was conducted in the German-Danish border region as part of a seminar for youngpoliticians and students on cross-border communication and intercultural understanding. Thirty partic-ipants discussed the question of what changes can be made to present-day Europe to improve it fur-ther. The German-Danish border region served as a positive example of cross-border cultural exchangein the Baltic Sea area. In this region, a common European policy is being implemented with the help oflocal committees. Young people are particularly needed for this shared work. This exchange was im-parted to the young politicians and students in a practical way, with the prospect that they would thenimplement and disseminate these experiences in their home cities and throughout the Baltic Sea area.A further goal of the BSYD is networking among members of the younger generation in order to fostera shared understanding of the Baltic Sea area and a shared effort on its behalf.5. actively support – referring to the Ministerial Declaration adopted by the CBSS LabourMinistries in June 2017 – in the field of labour and employment in the Baltic Sea Re-gion, the work of the “CBSS/BSLF Coordination Group on Labour and Employment”(CG) – focused on the cross-cutting and topical issues pertaining to the new qualifica-tions required for future work patterns, and their linkage to education and the needsof the labour market, life-long learning and comprehensive labour market forecastingand research, including demographic challenges; guarantee equal opportunities formen and women;The German Government expressly supports the Ministerial Declaration adopted by the CBSS LabourMinistries in June 2017, and is strengthening regional cooperation in the areas of training, life-longlearning and labour market development. In this regard, the Federal Ministry of Education and Re-search (BMBF) initiated a three-year vocational training cooperation project with Latvia in 2013, whichwas extended on 6 March 2017 for another three-year period until 6 March 2020.In the area of training, the Federal Employment Agency is currently comprehensively expanding itsadvisory offerings for people who have not yet entered professional life. This enhanced vocational guid-ance before professional life should, among other things, make it possible to reach more young peopleearly and enable them to make well-informed career choices. What is new here is the use of self-exam-ination tools: through self-assessments and the use of psychological testing methods, cognitive and so-cial skills, as well as attitudes towards work and interests, are determined. As a result, potential fieldsof study and vocational training can be identified. These measures have already been initiated.Measures in the area of life-long learning are also underway. Good initial training and life-long trainingare investments in the future, and are a prerequisite for lasting employability. Demographic, technicaland qualification-specific structural change poses major challenges for the labour market. EmployeesGerman Bundestag Page 5are challenged to continuously adapt to fundamental changes in required skills through vocational fur-ther training.Promotion of further training in accordance with the Third Book of the German Social Code as a coreelement of active labour market policy supports learning throughout people’s entire lifespan. It is notonly the unemployed and those who face the threat of unemployment who can receive support; em-ployees can as well under certain conditions.Through the Skills Development Opportunity Act that came into effect on 1 January 2019, the GermanGovernment is enabling employees to gain access to support for further training – fundamentally re-gardless of their qualifications, their age, and the size of company they work for – if their professionalactivities could be replaced by technology, if they are otherwise threatened by structural change, or ifthey seek further training in a profession with a shortage of workers.In addition, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) has, though monitoring of skilledemployees, drafted a long-term labour market forecast for the period until 2035, which examinesthe development of the German labour market in terms of skills, professions, industries and regions.Scenarios including the spread of digital technologies in the world of work are also taken into consider-ation.As a permanent measure, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) has been commissioned to con-duct continuous and long-term research on trends in employment and the labour market, taking intoaccount regional differences and the effects of active employment promotion.6. meet the challenges of an ageing population, social cohesion and sustainable develop-ment in the Baltic Sea region through increased cooperation on incentives and prac-tical systems for life-long learning and adult education, adaptation of job conditionsand workplaces to the needs of older persons, anti-age discrimination policies, mea-sures to promote good health and flexible and gradual retirement schemes;The German Government recognises the challenges of an ageing population and is working to takeconcrete steps to counter potential age discrimination. To this end, the Federal Ministry of Labour andSocial Affairs has already initiated measures in the areas of life-long learning and further training.Further training is indispensable for employees. Until retirement, professional skills must be kept cur-rent and continually expanded so that employees can advance professionally, remain able to adjust tocompany-specific changes, and increase their chances of finding a new job if they become unemployed.A comparison among age cohorts approaching retirement shows that older members of the work-ing-age population currently have a higher level of vocational qualifications than those who belongedto these age cohorts fifteen years ago. The trend in participation in further training has been especiallypositive. Since 1979, the level of participation in further training among 50- to 64-year-olds has morethan quadrupled. The previously large gap with people of younger and middle working age has nar-rowed, but has not vanished entirely. Ever more companies are confronting the challenges of demo-graphic change, for example through greater involvement of older people in in-company further train-ing and through equipping workplaces to meet the needs of older people.The Skills Improvement Opportunity Act also includes improved support for further training for employ-ees whose professions could be replaced by technology, who are otherwise threatened by structuralchange, or who seek further training in a profession with a shortage of skilled workers. In the caseGerman Bundestag Page 6of subsidies, a distinction is to be made between the assumption of the costs of further training andsubsidies for wages that are paid to the employer. The amount of the latter subsidy varies according tothe size of the company. In the case of older employees (age 45 and older) or employees with a severedisability, up to 100 per cent of the costs of further training can be subsidised. The Federal Employ-ment Agency’s advising services on further training and skills are also being strengthened.Regarding the vision of a Healthy Baltic Sea, the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference calls on the gov-ernments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSS and the European Union to take more action (7-16), inorder to:7. - as the BSPC supports the HELCOM Ministerial Declaration of 6 March 2018 in Brusselsand shares its critical view on the state of the Baltic Sea under various aspects – vig-orously implement the decisions contained in the Ministerial Declaration;As a HELCOM Contracting Party, the Federal Republic of Germany provides interministerial support toits specialist work in all of the thematic areas that it deals with, and also provides additional themati-cally focused resources (including contributions in kind, technical contributions and financial contribu-tions) beyond the usual commitments of a Contracting Party.In order to revise the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) in 2018 with the future target year of2030, which is analogous to the UN’s 2030 Agenda, a strategic plan to update the Action Plan, whichwas first developed in 2007, was adopted at the ministerial meeting in Brussels in the middle of June2018. Along with purely structural dimensions such as work organisation, a timetable and resources,the strategic plan also includes initial descriptions of topical areas.In addition to the topics that are already included in the current BSAP, such as eutrophication, biodiver-sity, maritime activities and hazardous substances, the revised BSAP will contain new prospects beyond2021. It will also deal with the general implementation of the ecosystem approach as well as with tak-ing the socio-economic consequences of measures into consideration.The HELCOM Regional Action Plan for Marine Litter in the Baltic Sea was developed largely under Ger-man leadership and reflects Germany’s commitment to this issue in the Baltic Sea Region.8. establish effective coordination processes and policies to support the ImplementationStrategy for the sustainable Blue Growth Agenda for the Baltic Sea Region Agenda;In the strategic paper “Maritime Development Plan – Strategy for an integrated German maritimepolicy”, which was developed by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) in2011, the German Government underscored its support for measures for sustainable blue growth in allareas of maritime policy.The constant review of framework conditions plays an important role in the context of economic de-velopment. The status report on the Baltic Sea that was issued on 13 December 2018 (in German,https://www.meeresschutz.info/berichte-art-8-10.html?file.files/meeresschutz/berichte/art8910/zyklus18/Zustandsbericht_Nordsee_2018.pdf, ) shows clearly that the consequences of marine usehave done severe damage to marine ecosystems, and continue to do so. These systems are reachingthe limits of what they can withstand. At the same time, the German Government observes a tendencyfor seas to increasingly be used as economic areas. It is absolutely necessary for a “Blue Economy” tobe designed in such a way that seas are sufficiently protected, including when they are used sustain-ably, and that the pressure on them does not increase further. The German Government supports theGerman Bundestag Page 7coordination processes in the Baltic Sea area through collaboration at EU level and in HELCOM. In ad-dition, expert groups such as the CBSS Expert Group on Sustainable Maritime Economy are to developan integrated and multilateral approach to maritime policy.To this end, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) underscores the objectives ofthe “Maritime Agenda 2025” of 2017, which initially consist of creating a central point of contact and/oran interministerial coordination body within the German Government within the framework of existingmandates. They also include the promotion of cooperation with European partners within the EU Strat-egy as well as the protection and sustainable use of seas and oceans for climate-, nature- and environ-mentally friendly growth within the scope of political decision-making processes.9. enhance consultations and cooperation regarding a spatial master planning in theBaltic Sea region, considering all interests and aspects of economy (shipping, fishing,energy, tourism, etc.), environment and the neighbours;Regional issues of consultation and cooperation on overall spatial planning for the Baltic Sea Region arebeing addressed in the standing conference of ministers responsible for spatial planning of the BalticSea states (Visions and strategies around the Baltic Sea - VASAB). The national maritime planningauthorities of all Baltic Sea states are also working together in the Interreg VB project “Baltic LINes” todevelop shared methods and guidelines for spatial planning at sea, such that different types of use atsea (shipping, fisheries, offshore wind energy, tourism, military use) are taken into consideration andthe safe and sustainable development of maritime space is ensured.Furthermore, the BMVI is intensively involved in the CBSS Expert Group on Sustainable Maritime Econ-omy, which is particularly committed to the concept of integrated maritime policy.With regard to energy, the Federal Republic of Germany is centrally involved in the Baltic Energy Mar-ket Interconnection Plan (BEMIP) initiative, which is discussed in more detail below under call for action17.The Baltic Sea Tourism Center (BSTC) is a key element of cooperation in the field of tourism among thecountries bordering the Baltic Sea. The project, which is being funded by the EU for the period from 1January 2017 to 31 December 2019 (budget: EUR 1.5 million), is supported by the German NationalTourist Board (DZT) in close coordination with the BMWi. The lead partner in the project is the tour-ism board of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (TMV). The DZT is the operational base for cooperationamong 15 partners from seven countries. In addition to the official (= monetarily involved) projectpartners, there are a number of “associated partners”. These include the DZT and other tourism mar-keting organisations from the region (including Denmark, Finland and Poland). The UN World TourismOrganisation (UNWTO) is one of the initiative’s strategic partners.As part of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, the DZT takes part in the meetings and workshopsof the Steering Committee “Tourism Policy in the Baltic Sea Region” (Priority Area Tourism). The 12thBaltic Sea Tourism Forum will take place in Pskov, Russian Federation, in autumn 2019.10. considering that, depending on the country, only 25 to 60 percent of the targets ofthe HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to be implemented by 2021 are currently met atthe national level – urgently intensify efforts at the national and regional level to setappropriate policy priorities so as to achieve the objectives of the BSAP by 2021 as faras possible on schedule;German Bundestag Page 8In 2018, for the purpose of the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD),the Federal Republic of Germany presented and reported to the EU an update of the initial assessmentof the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, of the description of good status for marine waters, and of thesetting of objectives. The status report submitted on 13 December 2018 and the current findings thathave been presented will provide the foundation for the review and adaptation of measures that is up-coming in 2021-2022.The marine environment in the Baltic Sea clearly has not yet reached good status. It is likely that the Fed-eral Republic of Germany will not reach this MSFD objective in 2020. According to current estimates, how-ever, this applies to all 28 Member States. Eutrophication, unsustainable fishing, and marine litter, especial-ly from plastics, remain among the most pressing problems in the Baltic Sea, as well as in the North Sea.11. hold regular HELCOM Ministerial Meetings – including all responsible ministers of eachmember state in the meetings – and come to binding rules under international law –as was the case with the measures to increase maritime safety with the involvementof the transport ministers –, thus bringing the issue of a clean Baltic Sea more strong-ly into the political debate of each nation and region and to achieve a more bindingenforcement of the agreements reached;The most recent HELCOM meeting at the ministerial level took place on 5 March 2018. The revisionof the Baltic Sea Action Plan with the future target year 2030, which is analogous to the UN’s 2030Agenda, was given more tangible form. In addition to the topics that are already included in the BSAP,such as eutrophication, biodiversity, maritime activities and hazardous substances, current issues suchas underwater noise, marine litter and invasive species are being addressed. In particular, the DPSIR(Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) approach is to be bolstered in order to produce a directcause-and-effect relationship. As assessment of the extent to which measures to achieve the objectivesare appropriate and sufficient is also planned as a basis for the revision.12. develop or enhance both joint and additional national and regional sustainabili-ty strategies to achieve the UN-Agenda 2030 goals and realise the vision of a cleanBaltic Sea free from marine litter whilst promoting sustainable agricultural practices,more sustainable shipping and tackling eutrophication and underwater noise;The main implementation framework for the 2030 Agenda in Germany is the German Sustainable De-velopment Strategy, which was completely revised in 2017 and has now been oriented to the 17 globalSustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, in key areas (SDGs 13 and 14, among others)there are sectoral strategies, action plans and programmes that supplement these goals and give thema more concrete form – for example, the Climate Action Plan 2050 and the Research for SustainableDevelopment (FONA) framework programme. “Sustainable Development Goals measuring progress forthe same targets in the Baltic Sea” (http://www.helcom.fi/Lists/Publications/BSEP150.pdf), a reportissued by HELCOM, presents HELCOM’s contribution to the implementation of SDG 14 in a clear, the-matically structured way.Shared transnational research strategies have also been developed as part of the measure “BONUS -Science for a better future of the Baltic Sea region”, which has been running since 2010. The FederalMinistry of Education and Research (BMBF) is a part of the steering committee of BONUS, which focus-es on research topics that aim to protect the Baltic Sea, including ecosystem and coastal managementresearch and marine research. Following its evaluation, BONUS will in the future be expanded to in-clude the North Sea region.German Bundestag Page 913. prepare for and help shape the “Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Develop-ment” from 2021-2030 proclaimed by the United Nations, in order to reach the goal ofdelivering the ocean we need for the future we want;At the proposal of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), an internationalDecade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) was adopted by the United Na-tions General Assembly in December 2017 (A/72/73, 5 December 2017). At the 51st session of the IOCExecutive Council, the Federal Republic of Germany successfully applied to host a kick-off conferencefor the Decade of Ocean Science, which is to take place in Berlin in 2021, and will include representa-tives of the scientific world, society and the political sphere.Through the federal marine research programme “MARE:N”, the Federal Republic of Germany hasalready implemented an integrated approach to marine research, which also contributes to the attain-ment of SDG 14 of the 2030 Agenda. Beyond this, the Federal Republic of Germany, represented by theBMBF, is also significantly involved in researching marine microplastics through a current funding an-nouncement together with European partners through the European incentive measure “Joint Program-ming Initiative: Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans”. The content of the Decade of Ocean Sciencewill be primarily driven by science. The marine research facilities in the Federal Republic of Germany,both at and outside of universities, are superbly positioned to implement the Decade of Ocean Science.14. further strengthen the relationship between the UN Sustainable Development Goalsand human rights whilst recognising their close relationship and mutual reinforce-ment;The connection between human rights and the 2030 Agenda was part of the German Government’sconsultations with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Thestrategic discourse on this issue is currently being continued. It should be noted here that the 2030Agenda and its sustainable development goals are, unlike human rights conventions, not legally bind-ing. At the same time, improving the human rights situation invariably helps to tackle the root causesof barriers to the realisation of the SDGs.15. take preventative measures and immediate actions to improve the quality ofwaste-water effluents and halt untreated discharges without delay and to show deter-mination to clean up the heavily polluted sea;In the Federal Republic of Germany, wastewater is treated, depending on the level of connection tosewage systems and sewage treatment plants, almost universally and in conformity with all require-ments of the EU Directive on Urban Waste Water Treatment, and in some cases beyond these require-ments. In addition, every discharge requires a permit. These permits are issued on the basis of therequirements of the national wastewater ordinance, which contains minimum requirements for thedischarge of wastewater for 53 industries. Depending on the individual case, these minimum require-ments can be made more stringent by the responsible authority (immission considerations).In terms of direct discharges of municipal wastewater, the cruise ship industry is particularly signif-icant. The two most important German ports for this purpose, Kiel and Rostock, both have a directconnection to the sewage system and to additional tankers in the port facilities. Depending on the sizeof the ship, the discharge of at least 300 m3 per call at port is already covered by a “no-special-fee”system (http://www.helcom.fl/Lists/Publications/HELCOM Sewage PRF Overview_Baltic Sea_2018_Au-gust_2018.pdf ).German Bundestag Page 1016. take urgent efficient action on the worrying levels of plastics and micro-plastics in theseas; support and implement the regulations on reducing or banning single-use plasticas quickly as possible; promote public awareness of microplastic pollution throughoutthe Baltic ecosystem and encourage customers to avoid personal care products con-taining plastic microbeads;In German Baltic Sea waters, plastics make up 40 per cent of the litter on the seafloor and 70 per centof the litter on beaches. The German Government is very aware of the scale of the problem of marinelitter, and not only in the Baltic Sea. This challenge can only be solved by working across borders – thatis, regionally, in Europe and internationally. The Federal Republic of Germany played a major role in thedevelopment of the HELCOM Regional Action Plan for Marine Litter in the Baltic Sea. This also reflectsGermany’s commitment to this issue in the Baltic Sea Region. Germany’s March 2016 proposals to theEuropean Commission also include marine litter. They address, among other things, policy, legislation,consumers and producers.The Roundtable on Marine Litter established by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Con-servation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the Ministry of the Environment of Land Lower Saxony and theFederal Environment Agency (UBA) brings together well over 100 participants, including representa-tives of public authorities, research institutions, environmental and consumer associations, waste andwastewater disposal entities, plastics producers and users, and supermarket chains and retailers. As athink tank, it contributes actively to operationalising measures.The future new directive on port reception facilities for the unloading of waste from ships includesfishing vessels and passively fished waste in the scope of regulation of the directive on port receptionfacilities for the first time. The German Government provided active input on the directive in order toimprove marine protection in this sector too.The text of the draft directive on single-use plastics, which was agreed between the European Parlia-ment, the Council Presidency and the Commission on 18 December 2018, has been available sinceJanuary 2019. Many of the measures included in the directive have already been implemented in theFederal Republic of Germany. Dealing with packaging and short-lived articles in a more sustainableway is one of the aims of the 5-point plan for less plastic and more recycling that was presented by theBMU at the end of November 2018 (in German, www.bmu.de/DL2122).Preventing the emission of primary and secondary microplastics into the environment is also an im-portant concern of the German Government. It will therefore examine any proposed measures at EUlevel, such as a REACH restriction, to check whether they support the goal of emissions prevention inan effective, efficient and timely manner. On the basis of the national cosmetics dialogue on voluntari-ly discontinuing the addition of plastic microbeads to cosmetics, the German Government has alreadybeen able to produce a corresponding recommendation from Cosmetics Europe, the European cosmet-ics trade association. As a result, according to the Cosmetics Association, the addition of such particlesto its member companies’ products was reduced by 97 per cent EU-wide by the end of 2017.The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference calls on the governments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSSand the European Union, regarding sustainable energy and smart energy distribution platforms (17), to:17. enhance and efficiently use cross-border transmission connections by buildingand expanding fluent electricity networks to enable new energy markets and newforms of energy services and products to better integrate renewable energies, as wellas use undersea electricity connection to integrate grids;German Bundestag Page 11The Federal Republic of Germany is a member of the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP)initiative and pursues the integration of energy infrastructure in the Baltic Sea area at this level, especial-ly regarding electricity. Besides Germany, the members of this initiative are Denmark, Estonia, Finland,Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and the European Commission. Norway participates as an observer.The cross-border and national expansion of infrastructure is at the heart of BEMIP’s implementationstrategy. The first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed in 2009, was updated on8 June 2015 and extended to address security of supply, energy efficiency, renewable energy and theintegration of the Baltic States’ electricity network. The core projects of this interconnection are Estlink,Nordbalt and LitPol Link. The Baltic States are now among the best-interconnected regions in Europe,with an interconnection level of 23 per cent.The electricity networks of the three Baltic States remain synchronised with the Russian and Belarusiannetwork in what is known as the BRELL ring. By 2025, the Baltic States are to be synchronised with thecontinental European electricity network. There is already a BEMIP Working Group devoted specificallyto this task. Most recently, a political roadmap for it, between Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland andthe European Commission, was launched on 28 June 2018. The Federal Republic of Germany supportsthis initiative and also emphasises the importance of confidence-building talks with Russia, especiallyregarding the future security of Kaliningrad’s electricity supply.The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference calls on the governments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSSand the European Union, regarding migration and integration (18-24), to:18. acknowledge objective differences in the political system as well as in the historicaland cultural background due to the scars of the Second World War, continue discussions andreflections about flight and migration, and share best governance practices to raise aware-ness in our societies;The German Government supports active civil society and governmental exchange in the Baltic Seaarea in the field of migration. Cultural and historical heterogeneity particularly underscores the needfor forums and bodies such as the CBSS and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Migration andits causes in the Baltic Sea area were examined as early as the first ministerial conference of the CBSSin 1992. Since then, the German Government has supported exchanges on migration between expertbodies and close cooperation at state level. Along with the exchange among young people in the BalticSea area, this plays a key role in raising awareness.From 4 to 6 September 2018, analysts from the police forces and coastal and border protection author-ities of all countries bordering the Baltic Sea met in Stockholm to share information and discuss risksand trends in the area of irregular migration and cross-border crime as part of the Baltic Sea RegionBorder Control Cooperation (BSRBCC) forum. An additional regional forum in this area was held from30 to 31 May 2017 in close coordination between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and theIcelandic Presidency of the CBSS under the title “Soft Security and Migration in the Baltic Sea Region”.Within this framework, participants discussed the experiences of the states bordering the Baltic Seawith the migration movements of 2015-16 and talked about measures for better governance. In thearea of migration and trafficking in human beings in the Baltic Sea area, the specialised conference“Following the traces between migration and human trafficking – from exploitation to integration” washeld in November 2018 within the scope of the CBSS-funded project Trafficking along Migration Routes(TRAM): Identification and Integration of Victims of Trafficking among Vulnerable Groups and Unac-companied Children.German Bundestag Page 12The German Government is continuing its work in the CBSS Task Force against Trafficking in HumanBeings under the current Latvian Presidency. It is represented here by the following ministries: theBMAS, the BMFSFJ and the BMI.19. initiate a Baltic Sea-wide data basis on integration conditions and measures to im-prove the public discussion on a factual basis;At European level, the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is currently being revised to makeit efficient, resilient and solidarity-based. Uniform standards throughout the EU and the alignment ofreception conditions and asylum benefits are key issues here. This system would involve all of the EUMember States in the Baltic Sea area. The German Government will continue to advocate for such asystem at EU level.20. intensify the dialogue on migration and integration between the countries borderingthe Baltic Sea;The German Government supports effective management of migration in the EU. This can only beachieved through enhanced cooperation, including in the Baltic Sea area. Security begins at the bor-ders. The German Government’s aim is thus to improve the protection of external borders. The GermanGovernment wants reliable and comprehensive cooperation and communication between the EU andthe countries of origin and transit for irregular migration. In this context, the German Government callsfor consistent compliance with the Dublin III Regulation.Intensive exchange in the Baltic Sea area could also be fostered regarding integration measures suchas integration courses and occupation-related language courses, which have been expanded into anintegrated language programme and are conducted by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees(BAMF). Expert bodies are a key element for duplicating successful models here.21. increase the offer of migration-specific advisory services and language training in or-der to intensify integration efforts;It is the stated aim of the German Government to improve the language skills and qualifications ofrefugees to enable their successful participation in the labour market and integration into society. Avariety of measures, programmes and regulatory instruments exist to this end. In September 2018,77,000 refugees participated in Federal Employment Agency measures. Almost half of these benefi-ciaries took part in activation and vocational integration measures, especially measures such as “Pros-pects for Refugees” (PerF) and “Competence assessment, early activation and language acquisition”(KompAS), both of which are specifically tailored to the target group of refugees.With the establishment of occupation-related language courses, a regulatory instrument for job-relat-ed German language training has been created for the first time. The Ordinance regulating job-relatedGerman language courses (legal basis: § 45a Residence Act) entered into force on 1 July 2016 andreplaced the temporary ESF-BAMF job-related language training programme by the end of 2017. Theoccupation-related language courses are the federal offering for occupation-related language qualifi-cations from Level B1 to Level C2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages(GER). They build upon the integration courses offered by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Buildingand Community (BMI) as a foundation for language acquisition (Level A1 to Level B1 GER); togetherwith them, they comprise the integrated language programme.German Bundestag Page 13The “Integration through Qualification” (IQ) support programme has been working for years on thegoal of improving labour market opportunities for immigrant communities. In January 2015, the pro-gramme was expanded to include the guideline “ESF training and qualification within the context of theRecognition Act”, which encompasses not only training and qualification but also advisory and guidanceservices on recognition and qualification. Intercultural training course offerings for key actors in thelabour market (especially employment agencies and job centres) and, since the beginning of 2019, thedevelopment of regional support offerings regarding the immigration of skilled workers are additionalfocal areas for this nationwide programme.22. enlarge projects for advising and supporting volunteers, local institutions and civilsociety organizations working in the field of integration and taking into account theunifying and integrating role of sports;In view of the integrating role of sports, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior citizens, Womenand Youth (BMFSFJ) provides EUR 5.4 million in annual support to the German Sports Youth (DSJ) onthe basis of a framework agreement. The DSJ is the youth organisation of the German Olympic SportsConfederation (DOSB). Approximately 90,000 sports clubs are organised into approximately 80 mem-ber organisations, with almost 10 million children and young people as members. Because of this, theDSJ is active in almost every area of activity in youth and social policy. Low-threshold offerings to har-ness the integration power of sport are a focal point of its activities. The Federal Ministry of the Interi-or, Building and Community supports the DOSB through the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees,and is providing EUR 11.4 million in funding to the “Integration through Sport” programme.23. consider migration and security perspectives in relevant other political agendas suchas trade, labour rights and environmental preservation;The BMAS has strengthened the area of labour rights from the angle of migration. In 2017, the “Inte-gration through Qualification” (IQ) support programme was expanded to include advisory structureson the issue of fair integration of refugees. The aim is to make information about working conditions,labour rights and advisory structures for refugees in Germany available. Between November 2017 andJune 2018, an information centre were established in every federal state, and in the second half of2018 advisory services on these issues began throughout Germany.24. seek holistic and multi-facetted solutions to the challenges posed by current refugeeand migration policies which include a well-coordinated combination of migrationmanagement, humanitarian assistance, political solutions, European and internationalcollaboration, fair trade agreements and development assistance;The German Government supports the European Union’s values-based trade policy (see the EuropeanCommission’s Trade for All strategy). Agreements with developing countries are structured asymmet-rically and accompanied by trade assistance to foster employment, growth and prosperity in partnercountries. In addition, trade policy plays a part in maximising synergies between different policy areasin order to create incentives for third countries to cooperate on migration and refugee issues.The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference calls on the governments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSSand the European Union, regarding economic development and growth in the Baltic Sea Region (25-28), to:25. support the Implementation Strategy for the sustainable Blue Growth Agenda for theBaltic Sea Region;German Bundestag Page 14As mentioned above under point 8, more intensive use of seas goes hand in hand with the increasingdegradation of marine ecology. Sustainable use through the “Blue Economy” must accommodate theprotection of the seas.In this area, the BMBF regards the Baltic Sea area as holding great potential in the context of the firstand second target areas of its internationalisation strategy, as well as outstanding skills in the areas ofneed of the High-Tech Strategy 2020. In this regard, the Horizon2020 programmes and the EU Strat-egy for the Baltic Sea Region should also be noted. In 2010, 2011 and 2013, the BMBF announced itspromotion of a competition of ideas on the development and expansion of innovative R&D networkswith partners in countries bordering the Baltic Sea.Beyond this, the BMBF has established the funding instruments “International Cooperation in Educationand Research – Central, Eastern and South Eastern European Region” and “Bridge2Era” (since 2004).26. acknowledge that the Baltic Sea is a crucial line of sea transportation (a motorway ofthe sea) for all its neighbours, a resource for nutrition (fishing) and energy (oil, gas,wind and wave) as well as a recreation area for millions of tourists, therefore use allopportunities of Baltic Sea cooperation to enable managing and considering all inter-ests and aspects of economy, environment and the neighbours;As the economy in the eastern Baltic Sea area continues to grow faster than in the EU as a whole, in-creasing trade there will bring further expansion of maritime cargo transport. The German Governmentwill take this trend into account appropriately within the CBSS and its working groups.27. further develop the Trans-European Networks for transport in the Baltic Sea region,take initiatives to synchronize toll systems in Europe, in particular the Baltic Seaneighbours, to make transport via sea and rail most economic compared to trucking;The Member States of the European Union are obliged to expand the TEN networks by the guidelinesfor trans-European energy infrastructure (TEN-T). The German Government complies with this withinthe scope of its budgetary possibilities. The EU funds available for trans-European transport networksin the 2014-2020 period amount to 13.174 billion euros (at 2011 prices).28. aim to make the Baltic Sea a pioneer area for automatic shipping.The German Government is encouraging members of science and industry to apply for test sites. Thedevelopment of a legal and security framework is being pushed forward at the IMO together with Scan-dinavian countries, amongst others.Hamburg Page 1HamburgHamburg Page 2PARLIAMENT OF THE21/15476FREE AND HANSEATIC CITY OF HAMBURG Document06.12.201821st legislative periodInformationby the President of the ParliamentRef.: Statement by the Senate on the Final Resolution of the 27th Baltic SeaParliamentary Conference – Document 21/14417Under the chairmanship of the Åland Lagting, the Parliament of the Åland islands, around180 delegates met from 26 to 28 August 2018 for the 27th Baltic Sea ParliamentaryConference in Mariehamn.The implementation of the 27th BSPC Resolution will be evaluated within the framework ofthe coming 28th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Oslo from 25 to 27 August 2019. Tothat end each member parliament is charged with forwarding the Resolution to its respectivegovernment with the request for a statement on the implementation of the political demandsthe Resolution contains.In the light of the above, I wrote to the President of the Senate, First Mayor of Hamburg DrPeter Tschentscher, on 10 September 2018, enclosing the Resolution and requesting astatement on the extent to which the Hamburg Senate, within the limits of its jurisdiction, hasplanned, initiated or implemented corresponding measures.The Hamburg Parliament discussed the written report on the Conference (as Document21/14417) in Hamburg in its sitting of 17 October 2018 and referred it to the EuropeCommittee for consultation.The Delegate to the Federation, to the European Union and for Foreign Affairs, StateSecretary Dr Annette Tabbara, has passed me the enclosed document of 26 November2018.Carola VeitPresidentEncl.Hamburg Page 3Statement by the Senateon implementing the Final Resolution of the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceThe Senate expressly welcomes the goals formulated in the Resolution. To the extent that the points listedfall within the purview of the Senate and do not require regulation at the federal or EU level, they are in manyrespects already current practice.In the following statement, the Senate takes a position on the areas that are its concern and reports on mea-sures and administrative practices that are implemented in Hamburg in accordance with the interests of theBaltic Sea Parliamentary Conference.Regarding cooperation in the region:With regard to paragraphs 1 and 2 of the ResolutionIn its 26/27 September 2018 meeting in Brussels, the EMK (Conference of the Ministers of the LänderDealing with European Affairs) formulated a resolution on European territorial cooperation to whose prepa-ration and support Hamburg contributed as a co-rapporteur. In it (para. 6) the EMK fundamentally welcomesthe linking of macro-regional strategies such as the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region with the strategicorientation of the Interreg programmes such as the Interreg Baltic Sea Region. In this context the EMK hasonce again emphasised that the transnational Interreg programmes are important pillars in supporting theimplementation of the macro-regional strategies. Therefore the EMK has recommended that the Interregprogramme areas should not be curtailed with regard to macro-regional strategies but should continue intheir present form. The Europe Ministers were of the opinion that the programme areas should be extendedwhere appropriate to match the macro-regions in order to enable better interconnection. The EMK arguedagainst the cuts to the Interreg programmes proposed by the European Commission, not least on account ofthe programmes’ importance for implementing the macro-regional strategies.With regard to paragraph 3 of the ResolutionIncreasing cooperation and also preventing reciprocal brain drain would be desirable, e.g. with regard tostronger securing of skilled labour in Europe by attracting migrant skilled workers to Europe in preference tocompeting regions such as the USA/Canada/Australia. The joint approach could be extended to encompassqualification and employment for refugees and trialled in corresponding trans-regional projects.Hamburg Page 4With regard to paragraph 4 of the ResolutionBASFI (Hamburg’s Ministry for Labour, Social and Family Affairs and Integration) and BSB (the Ministry forSchools and Vocational Training) support trainee exchanges using ESF and federal state (Land) funding. TheESF project “Working practice abroad for all” works together with vocational schools and the Hamburg Insti-tute for Vocational Training (HIBB) to organise and fund stays abroad for trainees, education managers andskilled workers. This reflects the importance of skilled workers’ professional mobility as a means to strength-en the European Union’s common economic area and facilitate fast responses to demand for skilled workers.The project’s objectives are acquiring specialist knowledge and developing language and intercultural skills.Youth and school exchanges are part of cross-national cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region and support theefforts of individual north German federal states (Länder) to strengthen their European public policy roles inthe context of a “Europe of the Regions”. The Baltic Youth Exchange gives young people the chance to tacklecurrent topics relevant to their age group, to gain new knowledge, to debate with experts and to get to knowthe various cultures in the Baltic Sea Region. Young people in Hamburg have access to the appropriate ad-visory framework when it comes to planning concrete youth exchange projects.With regard to paragraph 4 of the ResolutionThe Fachkräftenetzwerk Hamburg (Hamburg skilled labour network) has addressed the consequences of thedigitalisation of the workplace and concluded that the primary effects will be a restructuring of labour and ofjob profiles. These changes require a forward-looking adaptation of vocational training and life-long learning.The Fachkräftenetzwerk Hamburg is currently working out how what is offered in these areas at present canbest be adapted. During career and study guidance, students in years eight to ten are given information onchoosing their future vocational training or university courses. Hamburg encourages equal opportunities inthe workplace, for instance through projects to convert marginal employment into employment subject tocompulsory social security contributions, primarily benefiting women. Hamburg also supports forms of part-time training, making it easier for young single mothers to get a professional qualification.With regard to paragraph 6 of the ResolutionThe Senate is fully aware of the significance of an ageing population and has agreed a cross-departmentalstrategy, “Hamburg 2030” to tackle demographic change. The strategy is continually updated, including inrelation to the areas of action mentioned here.Increasing employment potential by increasing labour market participation by older members of the workingage population is one of the strategy components of the skilled labour approach in Hamburg. Physical com-plaints have now become the top indicator for early retirement in Germany. To counter this, Hamburg has setup an information centre to provide employees and employers with advice on creating a good working envi-ronment which also keeps people in employment. Employers are advised on conducting risk assessments,while employees can get advice on necessary retraining if appropriate.Hamburg Page 5Regarding the vision of a healthy Baltic Sea – a call for more action:With regard to paragraphs 7 to 11 of the ResolutionThe Senate welcomes the Federal Environment Ministry’s strong commitment to the HELCOM workinggroups, especially the Minister’s participation in the regular Ministerial Meetings.The Senate supports the priorities set by the Federal Environment Minister concerning the German contribu-tion to protecting the Baltic Sea in respect of• reducing pollution of the Baltic Sea with nutrients and marine litter, conserving biodiversity by estab-lishing protected areas,• revising the Baltic Sea Action Plan by 2021 at the latest to reflect regionally significant core topics, and• incorporating global developments such as Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Oceans) of the 2030Agenda.The Senate takes the view that, given the protected status of the Baltic Sea as a Sulphur Emission ControlArea (SECA), expanding short sea shipping in the Baltic must be accompanied by a move towards low-er-emission marine fuels and propulsion systems as well as extending the Baltic’s status to become an Emis-sion Control Area (ECA), restricting the input of nitrogen oxides (N).With regard to paragraphs 12 to 14, and 25 to 26 of the ResolutionIn 2017 Hamburg developed a timetable (Document 21/9700) for achieving the sustainable developmentgoals set by the United Nations in the 2030 Agenda over the next few years. The aim is for this to happen ina very concrete way through local projects in the areas of environmental protection and urban development,economic and financial policy, participation and social cohesion, plus education and science. Goal 14 “Con-serve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” is allocatedto the “environment and city” action area. New topics and emphases are being added as the process devel-ops. One example here is the sustainable development report for the whole of the Port of Hamburg.The environmental guidelines, which since 2016 have very successfully introduced ecological criteria forpublic procurement in Hamburg, are to be developed further, becoming sustainability guidelines by 2022.The environmental guidelines negative list, detailing products which may no longer be procured in Hamburg,includes disposable tableware.The north German federal states of Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-West Pomeraniaand Lower Saxony are in negotiations with the federation to put in place a new, long-term funding programmefor marine research from 2019 on. Within the framework of a “German Alliance for Marine Research” the aimis to set up and fund major inter-institutional collaborative research projects and infrastructure projects thataddress the major challenges that (global) marine research faces. Hamburg and its partners will thus makean important contribution to preparing and shaping the “Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Develop-ment”.Hamburg Page 6With regard to paragraph 15 of the ResolutionIn Germany first steps towards improving the soil situation, in particular pollution of soils and near-surfacegroundwater with nutrients and fertilisers, has been legislated for with the amendment to the Fertiliser Ordi-nance. The City of Hamburg considers further improvements are required.With regard to paragraph 16 of the ResolutionThe European Strategy for Plastics identifies the problem of increasing plastics and microplastics in Europe-an seas and inland waters. However the European Commission is currently only proposing concrete banson disposal tableware and a few other single-use plastic products. In addition, the Commission has publisheda proposal for a new version of the Directive on port reception facilities, which aims to reduce the amount ofplastic waste generated on ships entering the sea. Further bans of uses or materials have so far only beenissued by a few individual EU Member States, such as Sweden. The Senate is currently examining an initia-tive which could achieve a national ban on the addition of microplastics.Regarding sustainable energy and smart energy distribution platforms:With regard to paragraph 17 of the ResolutionThe Senate supports the goal of better linking European transmission networks so as to improve the incor-poration of renewable energies in the European electricity supply system. The prerequisite for efficient use ofcross-border transmission networks is the reception capacity of national grids.Regarding migration and integration:With regard to paragraphs 18 to 21, and 23 to 25 of the ResolutionHamburg supports the approach to improve the intercultural sensitivity of relations, establishment of a com-mon data analysis tool on integration conditions, the suggestion to expand dialogue in this area and devel-oping joint solutions.Hamburg plans to develop an integration monitoring system by building on the integration concept “Wir inHamburg! – Teilhabe, Interkulturelle Öffnung und Zusammenhalt” (We in Hamburg! – participation, intercul-tural openness and cohesion), with more than 140 indicators for measuring the success of integration. Addi-tionally Hamburg is participating in the expansion of the existing supra-regional monitoring system operatedby the federation and the federal states.Language training and migration-specific advisory services are among the central aspects of integrationpolicy in Hamburg. Although the federation is responsible in principle for these areas, Hamburg uses its ownHamburg Page 7resources to close gaps where target groups are not reached by what the federation offers. In addition, Ham-burg advocates at the federal level the improvement and expansion of existing provisions.With regard to paragraph 22 of the Resolution“Forum Flüchtlingshilfe” (Hamburg’s forum for support for refugees) supports all volunteers working to helprefugees by providing funding, information, information events, forums for dialogue, training and a major an-nual event. Migrant organisation are supported, for example by provision of exhibition stands at the “Aktivoli”volunteers fair.In 2016 the “Active City” Masterplan was launched in Hamburg. It aims to encourage people in the city tolead more active daily lives but also to implement special projects to promote recreational and competitivesport. “Active City” will implement 26 of the projects planned in the context of Hamburg’s bid to stage the 2024Olympic Games that offer the greatest benefit to the population and the city.In 2017 and 2018 Hamburg funded HSB (Hamburg sports federation), the voluntary federation of sports clubsand associations in Hamburg, with €400,000 annually from Hamburg Parliament’s Integration Fund. Thesegrants are hypothecated to projects in the area of integration.The German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB) initiated the “Integration durch Sport” (Integration throughSport) project, funded jointly by the federation and DOSB, which assists the sports federations in the federalstates with focusing more on integrating people from migrant backgrounds. For years the HSB has beenmaking a big contribution to integration through this project and the “Willkommen im Sport” (welcome tosport) programme. The HSB supports its member associations financially with offering and running specialmeasures that appeal both to refugees and to Hamburg residents from migrant backgrounds. Examples ofHSB projects in the area of integration include a workshop to develop the involvement of migrants at all levelsof a sports association, the Integration Cup 2017 involving sportsmen and women from Germany as well asfrom migrant backgrounds, and an integrative chess competition.Regarding economic development and growth in the Baltic Sea Region:With regard to paragraphs 25 to 28 of the Resolutioncf. also the answer above to paragraphs 12 to 14 and 25 to 26 of the ResolutionHamburg supports the further development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) in the BalticSea Region. TEN-T counts as an important contribution to implementing and developing a common marketas well as achieving economic and social cohesion in the EU. Linking national transport networks and makingthem interoperable as well as creating access to the networks are the primary factors in fulfilling this aim. Im-proving multimodality of the rail, inland waterway and maritime transport infrastructure within the frameworkof the multimodal TEN-T as well as through innovative technology solutions in the transport area will bring atransfer of traffic, a reduction in road congestion, a lowering of greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions andan increase in transport safety.Hamburg Page 8The TEN-T planning concept comprises a comprehensive network with a core network as its top level. Thecore network with its nine multimodal corridors should generate maximum European added value and befinalised by 2030. The broader comprehensive network should meet the standard defined in the TEN-Tregulation by 2050. Hamburg represents a node in the TEN-T core network and lies directly on three of thenine multimodal transport corridors, the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, the Orient/East-Med Corridorand the North Sea-Baltic Corridor. TEN-T will give a lasting boost to the economic competitiveness and thebalanced and sustainable development of the Baltic Sea Region.It is worth mentioning the construction of the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link including its feeder links along theScandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor. In connection with this Hamburg is planning a new rapid transit line,the S4, to transfer the majority of the current short-distance rail traffic between Hamburg and Bad Oldesloeto the rapid transit tracks. This will create the necessary capacity on the Hamburg-Lübeck-Copenhagen routefor long-distance and goods traffic, further improving transport links with Scandinavia. Completion of the so-called “Vogelfluglinie” (flyway route) will strengthen not only the Öresund Region and Schleswig-Holsteinin the European context but also the locations of Copenhagen/Malmö and Hamburg in particular. The con-struction of the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link is in fundamental agreement with the policy that Hamburg follows inregard to the continued development of the trans-European networks, which holds that more attention shouldbe devoted to the links between the highly profitable metropolitan regions, not least in order to enable furtherresources to be generated for structural policy measures at national and European levels.Tourism cooperation with Baltic States in selected source markets aims to increase the visibility of the regionas a tourist destination. Building on the experience of activities detailed in the answers to earlier requests (EUProject: ONE Baltic Sea Region, Fehmarnbelt project: “Building Tourism” and cooperation with WonderfulCopenhagen) Hamburg Tourismus GmbH (HHT) currently has further tourism projects that are either focus-sing on growth in the Baltic Sea Region or have already done so. These include the joint online campaign byHHT and the Scandinavian Tourist Board on the Chinese tour operator website TUNIU promoting Hamburg,Odense, Copenhagen and Oslo as a tour route as well as a campaign with the Chinese cruise specialistsUTOUR in cooperation with HHT and Wonderful Copenhagen.Latvia Page 1LatviaLatvia Page 2Latvia Page 3Latvia Page 4Latvia Page 5Latvia Page 6Latvia Page 7Latvia Page 8Latvia Page 9Latvia Page 10Latvia Page 11Latvia Page 12Latvia Page 13Latvia Page 14Lithuania Page 1LithuaniaLithuania Page 2Lithuania Page 3Informationabout measures, projects or actionsplanned, initiated and implemented in support of the 27th BSPC Resolution submitted by the min-istries of the Republic of LithuaniaRegarding Cooperation in the Region, to1. intensify the interaction between the Northern Dimension policy and the EU Strategy for the Bal-tic Sea and the Russian Strategy of social and economic development of the North-West federaldistrict;Lithuania supports cooperation and coherence between the Northern Dimension, the regionalcouncils, and other relevant organizations, such as the CBSS and the EUSBSR in the areas of mutu-al interest.Lithuania has opposed the inclusion of the Russian Strategy in the ND, EUSBRS, CBSS and otherrelevant regional documents on cooperation since 2012, and hence cooperation with the abovementioned Strategy on any regional level. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)2. extend the scope of transnational programmes covering the whole Baltic Sea area and anchor thispossibility and the corresponding funding in all macro-regional strategies on a formal level to im-prove relations between neighbouring countries;The Police Department under the Ministry of Interior initiated and on the 31st of December 2018started the implementation of the project “Strengthening of the police transnational cooperationin the Baltic Sea region”. The project is implemented by the law enforcement institutions of Lithua-nia, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The most part of the project is financed by the EU Internal SecurityFund Police instrument. The objectives of the project – to identify and eliminate obstacles, whichhinder the comprehensive use of the instruments of transnational police cooperation, to estab-lish joint instruments for analysis of transnational crimes, to analyse the needs of transnationalcooperation and organize practical bilateral and multilateral trainings of law enforcement officerscooperation, to develop distance learning module of transnational cooperation, to prepare for re-storing internal border control, in case of necessity. The implementation of the project should becompleted until the 30th of June 2020. (Ministry of Interior)3. strengthen cooperation in the field of migration and integration, involving all countries borderingthe Baltic Sea, to better meet similar tasks;4. intensify programs in the scope of visits and multinational meetings of youth in view of meetingeach other, fostering mutual understanding and developing relations;5. actively support – referring to the Ministerial Declaration adopted by the CBSS Labour Ministriesin June 2017 – in the field of labour and employment in the Baltic Sea Region, the work of the“CBSS/BSLF Coordination Group on Labour and Employment” (CG) – focused on the cross-cuttingand topical issues pertaining to the new qualifications required for future work patterns, and theirlinkage to education and the needs of the labour market, life-long learning and comprehensivelabour market forecasting and research, including demographic challenges; guarantee equal op-portunities for men and women;Lithuania Page 4Baltic Sea region’s countries network of European Social Fund (ESF), established due to the EUBaltic Sea region strategy (EUBSRS) continued cooperation in 2018. In the meetings the net-work members, by means of information technologies (SKYPE), exchanged information aboutthe implementation of projects financed by ESF, discussed on relevant issues to all Baltic Searegion countries (integration of socially excluded people into the labour market, age manage-ment, youth employment, integration of the unemployed into the labor market, education andintegration of young people not in employment or education into the labour market, labourmobility and migration, demographic change, etc.), which could be a subjects for the projectsof the EU international cooperation, implementing EUBSRS.The example of successful cooperation is flagship project (School to Work (S2W)), which wasinitiated by the network members together with the coordinator of EUBSRS priority area “Ed-ucation” and started to implement in 2017, using funds of ESF and other EU programs. Theobjective of the project is strengthening of the cooperation between the countries and variousinstitutions addressing the problems of newly arrived refugees, unemployed, early school leav-ers, young people not in employment or education, initiating new projects, developing inter-national cooperation. The supervisor of the project – Swedish Association of Local Authoritiesand Regions. The members of five task forces participated at trainings, internships, exchangedwith good working experience, worked out the review of “one stop” in all countries of the BalticSea region. Management Committee of the project was established, which included the repre-sentative of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. Department of Youth Affairs at the Min-istry of Social Security and Labour started to implement the activities, related with the imple-mentation of this flagship project. The possibility to participate in other flagship projects wasdiscussed. The coordinator of EUBSRS priority area “Education” introduced information aboutthe job done in this priority area and the prospective events, possibility to take part at the proj-ect “BSLF for sustainable working life” was discussed.The measures contributing to the implementation of the EUSBSR are financed by the ESF andare therefore implemented under the Operational Programme for the European Union Funds’Investments in 2014-2020 (hereinafter referred to as the Operational Programme). The Min-istry of Social Security and Labor (hereinafter referred to as the MSSL) is responsible for theimplementation of Priority Axis 7 “Promotion of Quality Employment and Participation in theLabor Market” and Priority Axis 8 “Promoting Social Inclusion and Combating Poverty”. TheMSSL implements measures such as “Integration of the Unemployed into the Labour Market”,“Increasing Youth Employment”, “Integration of Socially Excluded Persons into the Labour Mar-ket”, “Integrated Assistance at Home”, “Integrated Family Services”, “Roma Social Integration”,“54+”,” Support for Work”, “Entrepreneurship Promotion”, “Business Startups” and others con-tribute to reducing unemployment, social exclusion, delivery of quality service, business de-velopment, while at the same time increasing wellbeing of the population living in one of theBaltic Sea region countries. (Ministry of Social Security and Labour)6. meet the challenges of an ageing population, social cohesion and sustainable development inthe Baltic Sea region through increased cooperation on incentives and practical systems for life-long learning and adult education, adaptation of job conditions and workplaces to the needs ofolder persons, anti-age discrimination policies, measures to promote good health and flexible andgradual retirement schemes;Lithuania Page 5Regarding the vision of a Healthy Baltic Sea – a call for more action, to7. as the BSPC supports the HELCOM Ministerial Declaration of 6 March 2018 in Brussels and sharesits critical view on the state of the Baltic Sea under various aspects – vigorously implement thedecisions contained in the Ministerial Declaration;In order to vigorously implement the decisions contained in the Ministerial Declaration, first ofall the decision „that the updated BSAP should include actions necessary for managing hu-man activities in such a way that the current HELCOM strategic goals “Baltic Sea unaffected byeutrophication”, <...> “Maritime activities carried out in an environmentally friendly way” and<...> can be achieved, and that its overall objectives support relevant political processes andstrengthen sciencebased decision-making“, Water sector development program for 2017–2023was adopted on February 1st, 2017 by Regulation of the Government of the Republic of Lithuaniaon . One of the main objectives of the program is to meet HELCOM BSAP strategic goal - to achieveor maintain good environmental status of the Baltic Sea. Targets for eutrophication to reduce theinput of nutrients in the Program correspond to the HELCOM nutrient reduction targets set for Lith-uania. In order to implement the Water Sector Development Program, Action plan was adopted onMay 5th, 2017, where measures to achieve objectives were set. At the moment actions to improvethe status of the Baltic Sea are under the implementation. (Ministry of Environment)8. establish effective coordination processes and policies to support the Implementation Strategyfor the sustainable Blue Growth Agenda for the Baltic Sea Region;9. enhance consultations and cooperation regarding a spatial master planning in the Baltic Searegion, considering all interests and aspects of economy (shipping, fishing, energy, tourism, etc.),environment and the neighbours;In order to enhance consultations and cooperation regarding a spatial master planning in theBaltic Sea region, considering all interests and aspects of economy (shipping, fishing, energy,tourism, etc.), environment and the neighbours Ministry of Environment is developing The Gen-eral Plan of the Territory of the Republic of Lithuania. All related ministries and stakeholders areinvolved in the process. Consultations are currently ongoing and all efforts are made to harmonizevarious activities in the country - business, agriculture, tourism, recreation, protection of environ-ment and cultural heritage, infrastructure. The General Plan must be addopted by 2020. (Ministryof Environment)10. considering that, depending on the country, only 25 to 60 percent of the targets of the HELCOMBaltic Sea Action Plan to be implemented by 2021 are currently met at the national level – urgent-ly intensify efforts at the national and regional level to set appropriate policy priorities so as toachieve the objectives of the BSAP by 2021 as far as possible on schedule;11. hold regular HELCOM Ministerial Meetings – including all responsible ministers of each memberstate in the meetings – and come to binding rules under international law – as was the case withthe measures to increase maritime safety with the involvement of the transport ministers –, thusbringing the issue of a clean Baltic Sea more strongly into the political debate of each nation andregion and to achieve a more binding enforcement of the agreements reached;12. develop or enhance both joint and additional national and regional sustainability strategies toachieve the UN-Agenda 2030 goals and realise the vision of a clean Baltic Sea free from marinelitter whilst promoting sustainable agricultural practices, more sustainable shipping and tacklingeutrophication and underwater noise;In order to a call for more action to develop or enhance both joint and additional national andregional sustainability strategies to achieve the UN-Agenda 2030 goals and realise the visionof a clean Baltic Sea free from marine litter whilst promoting sustainable agricultural practices,more sustainable shipping and tackling eutrophication and underwater noise, Lithuania ini-tiated projects by The Programme “Environment, Energy, Climate Change” using the NorwegianLithuania Page 6Financial Mechanism2014-2021 in order to solve specific issues of environmental policy in theRepublic of Lithuania, including marine management capacity building. One Project is for Improv-ing mapping and monitoring of the ecological status of marine and inland water. The goal of theProject is assume representative knowledge of marine litter, including microplastics, in the watercolumn and seabed sediment and to fill the knowledge gaps on the properties, quantities andpossibly pollution routes of litter to the Baltic Sea. Another Project is for Improving mapping andmonitoring of the ecological status of marine and inland water. This project is aimed to identifythe main sources causing the greatest pollution and to obtain the data, which cover the remainingsmaller water bodies with the smaller cost of maintaining a denser sampling network. In additionLithuania initiated project for Monitoring of marine litter on the sea coast and the project for Mon-itoring of marine litter in the sea water column and bottom. Furthermore Lithuania is in the pro-cess to establish a procedure for recording underwater impulsive noise and provision of the datato the Impulsive Underwater Noise Register administrated by ICES (to be implemented in 2018).(Ministry of Environment)13. prepare for and help shape the “Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development” from2021-2030 proclaimed by the United Nations, in order to reach the goal of delivering the oceanwe need for the future we want;14. further strengthen the relationship between the UN Sustainable Development Goals and humanrights whilst recognising their close relationship and mutual reinforcement;15. take preventative measures and immediate actions to improve the quality of waste-water efflu-ents and halt untreated discharges without delay and to show determination to clean up theheavily polluted sea;In order to a call for more action to take preventative measures and immediate actions toimprove the quality of waste-water effluents and halt untreated discharges without delay andto show determination to clean up the heavily polluted sea. According to the Lithuanian na-tional legislation untreated wastewater cannot be discharged to the environment. Taking intoaccount provisions of HELCOM recommendation 28E/6, Lithuania approved stricter requirementsfor individual wastewater treatment plants, requiring treatment of nitrogen and phosphorus. Therequirements were approved by Order of the Minister of Environment, dated 25 September 2018and will come into force from 1st November 2019. (Ministry of Environment)16. take urgent efficient action on the worrying levels of plastics and micro-plastics in the seas;support and implement the regulations on reducing or banning single-use plastic as quickly aspossible; promote public awareness of microplastic pollution throughout the Baltic ecosystemand encourage customers to avoid personal care products containing plastic microbeads;Regarding Sustainable Energy, Smart energy distribution platforms, to17. enhance and efficiently use cross-border transmission connections by building and expandingfluent electricity networks to enable new energy markets and new forms of energy services andproducts to better integrate renewable energies, as well as use undersea electricity connection tointegrate grids;Lithuanian-Swedish submarine power cable NordBalt was shut down for the repairs from Au-gust to October in 2018, involving the replacement of onshore cable joints, which have causedfrequent failures since the beginning of its operation. The repair was necessary to increasethe NordBalt’s interconnection reliability and consequently more effective operation of theregional electricity market.Lithuania Page 7Pre-development works of new undersea interconnection between Poland and Lithuania(“Harmony Link”) have started in December 2018. The interconnection is a part of the BalticStates synchronization with the Continental European networks’ implementation process. Syn-chronization of the Baltic States is set to be completed by 2025. (Ministry of Energy)Regarding Migration and Integration, to18. acknowledge objective differences in the political system as well as in the historical and culturalbackground due to the scars of the Second World War, continue discussions and reflections aboutflight and migration, and share best governance practices to raise awareness in our societies;19. initiate a Baltic Sea-wide data basis on integration conditions and measures to improve the publicdiscussion on a factual basis;20. intensify the dialogue on migration and integration between the countries bordering the BalticSea;21. increase the offer of migration-specific advisory services and language training in order to intensi-fy integration efforts;22. enlarge projects for advising and supporting volunteers, local institutions and civil society orga-nizations working in the field of integration and taking into account the unifying and integratingrole of sports;23. consider migration and security perspectives in relevant other political agendas such as trade,labour rights and environmental preservation;24. seek holistic and multi-facetted solutions to the challenges posed by current refugee and migra-tion policies which include a well-coordinated combination of migration management, human-itarian assistance, political solutions, European and international collaboration, fair trade agree-ments and development assistance;Regarding Economic development and growth in the Baltic Sea Region25. support the Implementation Strategy for the sustainable Blue Growth Agenda for the Baltic SeaRegion;26. acknowledge, that the Baltic Sea is a crucial line of sea transportation (a motorway of the sea) forall its neighbours, a resource for nutrition (fishing) and energy (oil, gas, wind and wave) as well asa recreation area for millions of tourists, therefore use all opportunities of Baltic Sea cooperationto enable managing and considering all interests and aspects of economy, environment and theneighbours;Klaipėda Port has dense network of shipping lines: 20 shipping lines connect the port with 65countries. Shipping Liner AB “DFDS Seaways” with ro-ro and ro-pax lines connect Klaipėda withKiel, Karlshamn, Fredericia, Copenhagen and Aarhus.Tremendous efforts of Klaipėda port and TT-Line GmbH&Co resulted in launching new ro-pax lineTT-Line which stared its operations since 9 June 2018 with one weekly connection between Klaipė-da and Trelleborg (Denmark). Further steps and efforts are taken to expand shipping lines, thusdiverting cargo flows from motor – to short sea shipping mode. (Ministry of Transport and Commu-nications)27. further develop the Trans-European Networks for transport in the Baltic Sea region, take initiativesto synchronize toll systems in Europe, in particular the Baltic Sea neighbours, to make transportvia sea and rail most economic compared to trucking;“Via Baltica”, which in Lithuania territory is fully aligned with the TEN-T core network, remains asone of the most important transit arteries for Lithuania. Seeking to fulfil EU transport policy onroad safety for Lithuania together with the other Baltic States it is essential further to modernizeroad transport network. In 2018 the reconstruction of A5 Kaunas-Marijampolė-Suvalki sectionLithuania Page 8from 17,34,4 to 56,83 km (2+2) was finished. Reconstruction of A5 Kaunas-Marijampolė-Suwalkisection from 56,83 to 97,07km (2+2) will be developed in the upcoming years. The whole motor-way “Via Baltica” from Kaunas to Lithuanian/Polish border reconstruction will be finished in 2022with separated transport flows, 4 lane highway, guaranteed speed of 130 km/h.Lithuania consistently supports the European Commission’s proposal on the revision of the Eurovi-gnette Directive. By reducing the differences in the levels and systems of tolls in Member States,electronic tolls will improve the functioning of the road transport internal market and will betterreflect the real cost of road infrastructure. Lithuania is going to introduce electronic tolling systemfor trucks by 2020, which will be impetus to move a part of cargo from roads to railway and to pro-vide more opportunities for cleaner road transport.Recently, the project „Rail Baltica“ became the most important transport infrastructure project inthe Baltic Sea Region connecting the Baltic States with the European railway infrastructure net-work. It is expected that by completing the “Rail Baltica” project as a part of the TEN-T Core Net-work will allow citizens and businesses to profit and reach its expected economic and social bene-fits. Rail transport has a capacity to provide a competitive alternative for cargo carriers.“Rail Baltica” with its modern and new infrastructure will change the logistics playground on theeastern part of Baltic Sea: it will contribute to the “green transport corridors” development, whichis to enable traffic to flow more smoothly and efficiently in a more environmentally acceptable,climate-smart manner. (Ministry of Transport and Communications)28. further develop the Trans-European Networks for transport in the Baltic Sea region, take initiativesto synchronize toll systems in Europe, in particular the Baltic Sea neighbours, to make transportvia sea and rail most economic compared to trucking;29. aim to make the Baltic Sea a pioneer area for automatic shipping.Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 1Mecklenburg-VorpommernMecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 2Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 3LANDTAG MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN Except from Drucksache 7/34967th election periodExcerpt from the informationby the Governmentstatement by the Government Mecklenburg-Vorpommern about the implementation of theresolution for the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (Mariehamn, Åland, 26-28 August 2018)Forwarded by letter from the Chief of the State Chancellery from 5th April 2019; in charge is the Ministry ofthe Interior and Europe.Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 4Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. WahlperiodeInformation of the Government Mecklenburg-Vorpommern about theimplementation of 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference ResolutionWith this statement the Government Mecklenburg-Vorpommern reports about theimplementation of the 27th BSPC resolution from 26th to 28th August 2018 inMariehamn, Åland. The Government meets with this statement the request of theparliament to convey a report before 31st March 2019.1 The statement only coversthe fields of competence of the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and field of overallimportance for the state.The participants, elected representatives from the Baltic Sea Region States,assembling in Mariehamn, Åland, 26-28 August 2018, call on the governmentsin the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSS and the EU,Regarding Cooperation in the Region, toPara Conference Resolution Statement of the GovernmentMecklenburg-Vorpommern1 intensify the interaction between The state government supports thethe Northern Dimension policy and demand of the Baltic Seathe EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference for closerand the Russian Strategy of social integration of the overarchingand economic development of the strategies in the Baltic Sea region andNorth-West federal district; is committed to do so within itsresponsibilities.An expression of this effort is theplanned implementation of the BalticSea Tourism Forum 2019 in Pskov(Russia) under the control of theTourism Association Mecklenburg-Vorpommern eV in cooperation withthe Ministry of Economy, Labor andHealth in its capacity as coordinator ofthe policy area Tourism in the EUStrategy for the Baltic Sea Region.2 extend the scope of transnational The state government supports theprogrammes covering the whole closer integration of the INTERREGBaltic Sea area and anchor this Baltic Sea Region Program with thepossibility and the corresponding EU Baltic Sea Strategy.funding in all macro-regionalstrategies on a formal level toimprove relations betweenneighbouring countries;1 see Landtagsdrucksache 7/2803 of 7nd November 2018 in conjunction with Landtagsdrucksache 6/4498 of15th September 20152Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 5Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/34963 strengthen cooperation in the field Strengthening cooperation isof migration and integration, welcomed. It is already the aim of theinvolving all countries bordering the Common European Asylum SystemBaltic Sea, to better meet similar (CEAS) to create a uniform regulatorytasks; framework for all member states andto set common standards. In the areaof asylum and refugee policy, variouslegal instruments have been adoptedsince 1999, which form the basis foran area of refugee protection andsolidarity in the EU today. The coreelement of the common system is theEU-wide harmonization of protectionand recording standards. They aredesigned to ensure that asylumseekers are granted internationalprotection under the same conditionsthroughout the EU.4 intensify programs in the scope of The state government promotesvisits and multinational meetings of international youth work andyouth in view of meeting each exchanges according to the guidelineother, fostering mutual 4 of the state youth plan. In addition,understanding and developing the “Jugendwerke” provides funding.relations;5 actively support – referring to the The future work models, which areMinisterial Declaration adopted by characterized among other things bythe CBSS Labour Ministries in June digitization and increasing demand for2017 – in the field of labour and skilled employees, also haveemployment in the Baltic Sea implications for forms of training,Region, the work of the training regulations, framework plans,“CBSS/BSLF Coordination Group job descriptions, legal changes andon Labour and Employment” (CG) – the like. In dealing with this change,focused on the cross-cutting and the state government takes an activetopical issues pertaining to the new role, which is reflected for example inqualifications required for future the participation in the regulatory workwork patterns, and their linkage to on vocational training taking place ineducation and the needs of the federal bodies. Crosscutting issueslabour market, life-long learning such as gender equality, inclusion andand comprehensive labour market internationalization are taken intoforecasting and research, including account.demographic challenges; guaranteeequal opportunities for men and In particular, the interests of the statewomen; of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as aBaltic Sea country are represented asneeded. Of course, the local universityeducation also responds to currentsocial and labor market challenges. Inaddition, the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern actively supports the3Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 6Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode"Baltic Sea Council/BSLF Labor andEmployment Coordination Group"(CG) based on current and futurelabor market policy issues.6 meet the challenges of an ageing Lifelong learning can help strengthenpopulation, social cohesion and the cohesion of societies orsustainable development in the communities. Therefore, it makesBaltic Sea region through increased sense to increase the participation incooperation on incentives and education by joint projects betweenpractical systems for life-long the Baltic Sea States which also takelearning and adult education, place in the context of furtheradaptation of job conditions and education. For this reason, the furtherworkplaces to the needs of older education institutions in the countrypersons, anti-age discrimination can also carry out projects with thepolicies, measures to promote good states in the Baltic Sea region. Onehealth and flexible and gradual example can be seen in the projectretirement schemes; “Adult Education in Transition -Internationalization, Digitization andDemographic Change as Challenge inEurope” of the Adult EducationAssociation Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It has been fundedthrough the Erasmus + program sinceSeptember 2018 until August 2020. Inthis project, course instructors and full-time educational staff (of the adulteducation centers in the state) canundertake further education courses inother European countries, includingScandinavia.In addition, continuing educationmobility of full-time educational staff inSweden in 2020 is planned to discussthe topics of the projectinternationalization, digitization anddemographic change with Swedishadult education institutions.The state government ofMecklenburg-Vorpommern is alsocommitted to ensure that thereorientation of the FederalEmployment Agency towards furthereducation and lifelong learning isclosely coordinated with existingstructures and services offered by thefederal states and that these are takeninto account. The assumption offurther training costs and the paymentof subsidies for pay in connection with4Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 7Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/3496the qualification of employees inaccordance with the Third Book of theSocial Code (SGB III) generallyrequire co-financing by the employer.Older or severely handicappedworkers are expected to receiveexceptions from this principle.Furthermore, programs of the FederalEmployment Agency such as thetraining of low-skilled and employedolder workers in companies(WeGebAU) can be used.The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern maintains a trainingdatabase so that companies as wellas women and men being interestedin education find easier access tofurther education measures. With thisoffer multilingual (in German, English,French, Russian and Arabic)comprehensive, up-to-date and user-friendly training information andtraining offers in general, political andvocational education are available.5Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 8Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. WahlperiodeRegarding the vision of a Healthy Baltic Sea – a call for more action, toPara Conference Resolution Statement of the GovernmentMecklenburg-Vorpommern7 – as the BSPC supports the The Ministry of Agriculture andHELCOM Ministerial Declaration of Environment in Mecklenburg-6 March 2018 in Brussels and Vorpommern supports theshares its critical view on the state responsible Federal Ministry for theof the Baltic Sea under various Environment, Nature Conservationaspects – vigorously implement and Nuclear Safety within the scopethe decisions contained in the of its responsibilities and possibilities.Ministerial Declaration;8 establish effective coordination The state government ofprocesses and policies to support Mecklenburg-Vorpommern endorsesthe Implementation Strategy for the agenda for sustainable bluethe sustainable Blue Growth growth in the Baltic Sea region. TheAgenda for the Baltic Sea Region; implementation of the content is theresponsibility of the relevantministries within the scope of theirresponsibilities and possibilities.Furthermore, the agenda isimplemented by INTERREG projects.One example is the transnationalBaltic Sea project “InnoAquaTech”,which aims to strengthen theeconomic application ofenvironmentally friendly aquaculturetechniques in the southern Baltic Searegion. BioCon Valley® GmbH is thelead project partner here.9 enhance consultations and According to the Federal Spatialcooperation regarding a spatial Planning Act, the cross-sectional,master planning in the Baltic Sea sustainable spatial plans have to beregion, considering all interests agreed upon between theand aspects of economy (shipping, neighboring countries. That happensfishing, energy, tourism, etc.), in particular in the area of maritimeenvironment and the neighbours; spatial planning with the aim ofcreating a coherent spatial planningfor the marine areas. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is intensively involvedin this within the framework of theCommittee for Spatial Planning of theGerman-Polish GovernmentCommission with the Polish WestPomeranian Voivodeship. With theother Baltic Sea riparian states, thevote takes place in the context ofparticipation procedures. The Ministry6Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 9Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/3496of the Environment is also involvedwithin the scope of its responsibilities.The state government is committed inthis context to the development of asustainable tourism in the Baltic Searegion, both from an ecological,economic and social point of view.This is also the theme of the projectentitled “from SDGs to sustainabletourism in the Baltic Sea Region”,which was approved in the summerof 2017 and funded by the ProjectSupport Facility of the Council of theBaltic Sea States. The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Tourist Board is thelead partner and the Ministry ofEconomic Affairs, Labor and HealthMecklenburg-Vorpommern is aproject partner.10 considering that, depending on the The responsible Federal Ministry forcountry, only 25 to 60 percent of the Environment, Naturethe targets of the HELCOM Baltic Conservation and Nuclear SafetySea Action Plan to be (BMU) is supported by theimplemented by 2021 are currently Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ministry ofmet at the national level – urgently Agriculture and Environment withinintensify efforts at the national and the scope of its responsibilities andregional level to set appropriate possibilities.policy priorities so as to achievethe objectives of the BSAP by2021 as far as possible onschedule;11 hold regular HELCOM Ministerial The state government has noMeetings – including all objections.responsible ministers of eachmember state in the meetings –and come to binding rules underinternational law – as was the casewith the measures to increasemaritime safety with theinvolvement of the transportministers –, thus bringing the issueof a clean Baltic Sea more stronglyinto the political debate of eachnation and region and to achieve amore binding enforcement of theagreements reached;12 develop or enhance both joint and The state government has noadditional national and regional objections.7Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 10Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiodesustainability strategies to achievethe UN-Agenda 2030 goals andrealise the vision of a clean BalticSea free from marine litter whilstpromoting sustainable agriculturalpractices, more sustainableshipping and tacklingeutrophication and underwaternoise;13 prepare for and help shape the The "Decade of Marine Research for“Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development" is part ofSustainable Development” from the activities of the Leibniz Institute2021-2030 proclaimed by the for Baltic Sea ResearchUnited Nations, in order to reach Warnemünde (IOW) as well as of thethe goal of delivering the ocean we Consortium for German Marineneed for the future we want; Research (KDM) and thus of allGerman marine research institutions.In addition, it is a permanentreference point in the Forum MarineResearch (FMF) of the FederalGovernment and the North Germancoastal states.14 further strengthen the relationshipbetween the UN SustainableDevelopment Goals and humanrights whilst recognising their closerelationship and mutualreinforcement;15 take preventative measures and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern hasimmediate actions to improve the achieved or even surpassed the EU-quality of waste-water effluents wide standard in wastewaterand halt untreated discharges treatment. Furthermore, all ships inwithout delay and to show Mecklenburg-Vorpommern can bringdetermination to clean up the their waste into appropriate receptionheavily polluted sea; facilities. For a standard disposal, thecosts are already covered by theharbor fee (no-special-fee system),so that the shipowner is given noincentive to illegal disposal in thesea. In the future, the disposal ofbycatch (waste, which the fishermentake up with their nets) should alsobe possible via the no-special feesystem.16 take urgent efficient action on the The responsible Federal Ministry forworrying levels of plastics and the Environment, Naturemicro-plastics in the seas; support Conservation and Nuclear Safety8Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 11Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/3496and implement the regulations on (BMU) is supported in itsreducing or banning single-use implementation by the Ministry ofplastic as quickly as possible; Agriculture and Environment,promote public awareness of responsible for marine environmentmicroplastic pollution throughout protection in Mecklenburg-the Baltic ecosystem and Vorpommern, within itsencourage customers to avoid responsibilities and possibilities. Thepersonal care products containing amount of marine litter on theplastic microbeads; beaches of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is regularly recordedand evaluated in accordance withuniform specifications (flushing tankmonitoring). The information of thepopulation takes place both bymeans of the website of the StateOffice for the Environment, NatureConservation and Geology M-V(LUNG) and the land-funded websitehttp://meeresmuell.de/ as well asflyers and a well-accepted brochureon marine litter. Both will be updatedthis year. Since 2016 state actiondays on marine litter have beenorganized regularly in cooperationwith the EUCC e.V. Representativesof the state are involved at nationallevel in the Round Table on MarineWaste for Measure Development andImplementation and in the BLANOMarine Waste Task Force andparticipate at the HELCOM level inthe expert network Marine Litter. Theresults of an event organized by theLUNG on marine litter in cooperationwith the state educational institutionfor the target group tourism andcommunities are currently being usedto issue a recommendation for actionto this target group at the RoundTable on Marine Litter. Investigationsto determine the plastic cargo of theWarnow have started, as well asstudies on the occurrence of marinelitter in the stomachs of marinemammals. Studies on marine litterfrom marine angling and sourceanalysis to clarify the origin of litterare nearing completion.9Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 12Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. WahlperiodeRegarding Sustainable Energy, Smart energy distribution platforms, toPara Conference Resolution Statement of the GovernmentMecklenburg-Vorpommern17 enhance and efficiently use cross- The project “Kriegers Flak -border transmission connections Combined Grid Solution” envisagesby building and expanding fluent the construction of a submarine cableelectricity networks to enable new connection between the existingenergy markets and new forms of German Baltic Sea wind farm Baltic 2energy services and products to and the future Kriegers Flak offshorebetter integrate renewable wind farm in Denmark. The projectenergies, as well as use undersea serves to increase the energyelectrity connection to integrate exchange between the two countriesgrids; and therefore the system stability. Inaddition, this connection will be thefirst step in an integrated electricitynetwork in the Baltic Sea, in whichSweden could be integrated in thelong term. A transmission capacity of400 megawatts is envisaged. TheGerman-Danish joint project will beimplemented by transmission systemoperators 50 Hertz and Energinet.dkand is expected to go into operationin the third quarter of 2019. With thehelp of the Hansa PowerBridgeGermany and Sweden want toconnect their electricity grids witheach other via a new high-voltagedirect current line. With the help ofthe planned electricity bridge, it willbe possible to use the existingstorage facilities in Scandinavianhydroelectric storage facilities tocompensate for the fluctuatingelectricity supply from renewableenergies. The German approvalprocedure is expected to becompleted by the end of 2021.Sweden should also have thenecessary permits by that date. Thestart of construction is planned for theyear 2023. It is planned to put theHansa PowerBridge into operation in2025/2026. The investments amountto approximately 650 million euros.Half of this sum will go to each of thetwo project partners 50 Hertz andSvenska.10Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 13Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/3496The INTERREG Baltic Sea Regionprojects Baltic LINes and BalticInteGrid also contribute to theexpansion of cross-bordertransmission links. For example, theBaltic Lines project (Spatial Planningfor Maritime Infrastructure), which isdue to expire in 2019, and theMinistry for Energy, Infrastructureand Digitization of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a partner, developeda strategy for integrating the differentsectors and a guideline for dataexchange and data transmission. Inthe Baltic InteGrid project, which willbe officially completed at the end ofFebruary 2019, feasibility studieshave been carried out on theconstruction of a Baltic Sea powergrid connecting several riparianstates.11Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 14Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. WahlperiodeRegarding Migration and Integration, toPara Conference Resolution Statement of the GovernmentMecklenburg-Vorpommern18 acknowledge objective During the development of thedifferences in the political system integration concept for theas well as in the historical and implementation of number 344 of thecultural background due to the coalition agreement, consultations arescars of the Second World War, held in various committees (includingcontinue discussions and the “Landesintegrationsbeirat” and itsreflections about flight and thematic working groups on socialmigration, and share best integration, day care, school, transitiongovernance practices to raise from school to work, occupationalawareness in our societies; integration and health), which includequestions on migration as well asmethods for (intercultural) sensitizationof society2. Correspondingconsiderations are to be reflected inthe integration concept of the stategovernment of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.19 initiate a Baltic Sea-wide data The aim of a more fact-based publicbasis on integration conditions discussion on the conditions ofand measures to improve the integration matches the activities in thepublic discussion on a factual context of the ongoing furtherbasis; development of the integrationmonitoring of the states, in which theMinistry of Social Affairs, Integrationand Equal Opportunity of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern participates.20 intensify the dialogue on The state government is open tomigration and integration dialogue and participates inbetween the countries bordering appropriate opportunities.the Baltic Sea;21 increase the offer of migration- The state has further expanded itsspecific advisory services and offer of migration-specific advisorylanguage training in order to services as part of its promotion ofintensify integration efforts; migration counseling. In the dualbudget 2018/2019 700,000 euros peryear are available for this area. Withregard to language teaching, thecountry does not sponsor its owncourses, but assumes responsibility forcomplementary services (travel costs,2 Paragraph 344 of the coalition agreement 2016-2021 for the 7th parliamentary term of the LandtagMecklenburg-Vorpommern: "The coalition partners will continue the integration concept of the state incooperation with all those involved."12Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 15Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/3496language mediation pools). For thispurpose, 242,000 euros per year areavailable in the aforementioned doublebudget.Within the framework of the ministerialconferences, the state also advocatesthat the professional language supportbenefits all immigrants with at leastsubordinate access to the job market.The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Federal EmploymentAgency and the job centers are jointlypursuing the goal of optimizing andaccelerating the occupationalintegration process of migrants and ofachieving sustainability. Measurestaken to achieve this aim include:• The Health and Care Office (HCO)project initiated and funded by thecountry. It is aimed at immigrants whohave already completed medicalstudies, medical or nursing educationin their country of origin with the goal ofgaining adequate and sustainableemployment, primarily in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The HCO supportsdoctors, pharmacists, nurses and otherhealth professionals in fulfilling thenecessary conditions for theirprofessional recognition. For thispurpose, additional qualificationrequirements are identified, suitableeducational measures are initiated andindividual career paths andperspectives are planned with thoseseeking advice. In this context, offersof language and vocationalqualification are developed andimplemented.• The three nationally supportedmigration integration services (IFDM)advise, accompany and support, inclose coordination with the job centers,adult migrants with access to the labormarket individually on questions ofvocational integration. This rangesfrom an individual competence13Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 16Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiodeassessment, to advice on the nextintegration steps (language support,measures for sponsors, integrationprojects, internships) up to inductioncoaching. At the same time, the IFDMworks closely with employmentservices / job centers, employers, othercounseling centers such as the IQNetwork, NAFplus, the Migration SocialCounseling Service, the education /integration course organizers and otherstakeholders. As a result of increasedimmigration, the three IFDMs wererealigned and increased in number asof July 1, 2016 in order to meet theincreased demand at around thirtylocations across the state.• In particular, the SLALOM + projectsat various locations throughout thecountry, for example in Rostock,Güstrow, Bad Doberan and Stralsund,are implementing the idea of dualintegration. The integration intoGerman culture with the focus onlanguage (BAMF integration course) iscombined with the integration into theGerman labor market (SLALOM +).Participants with an escapebackground will learn the basis for theirexistence on the German job marketwith a language course. Once thenecessary basic language level hasbeen attained, these participants willbe offered parallel, tailor-made offersfor integration into the German labormarket in SLALOM +.• Accompanying the implementation ofthe professional recognition laws of thefederal and state governments throughcounseling and support for recognitionseekers is a central task of thenationwide funding program Integrationthrough Qualification (IQ). The aim ofthe program is the sustainableimprovement of labor marketintegration of adult immigrants, interalia through the coordination ofregional support services and thestrengthening of the intercultural14Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 17Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/3496competence of labor market integrationactors. The program is funded by theFederal Ministry of Labor and SocialAffairs (BMAS) with funds from theEuropean Social Fund (ESF).22 enlarge projects for advising and Since 1990 the sports organization ofsupporting volunteers, local the state, the “Landessportbundinstitutions and civil society Mecklenburg-Vorpommern”, supportsorganizations working in the field the bringing together of people in ourof integration and taking into state as part of the Federal Integrationaccount the unifying and through Sport program and with theintegrating role of sports; support of the state government, inparticular the Ministry of Education,Science and Culture. The unsalariedand full-time employees createencounters and bring movement intothe integration process. They operateintegration through sport with a varietyof measures.Special club offers for people with amigration background are just aseffective as mobile sports offers or theexercise of sports offers from thecountries of origin in order to promoteintercultural opening.The Integration through Sport programinitiates the opening up of sports clubsand associations for migrants, asylumseekers and socially disadvantagedpeople, and helps to win them over asnew club members.The Landessportbund Mecklenburg-Vorpommern provides sportsassociations and associations withfunds from the Federal Office forMigration and Refugees as well as theMinistry of Education, Science andCulture Mecklenburg-Vorpommern forthe implementation of integrativemeasures. In particular, fees forinstructors, hall rents, travel expenses,small sports equipment, languagemediators, program costs andexpenses of volunteers in sports aresubsidized.23 consider migration and security The main objective of the labor market15Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 18Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiodeperspectives in relevant other and employment policy of the statepolitical agendas such as trade, government of Mecklenburg-labour rights and environmental Vorpommern is the non-discriminatory,preservation; equal participation in the working livesof as many native and immigrantpeople in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,regardless of their age, gender,religion, nationality and ethnic origin.The aim is to exploit and use thequalificational potential of all potentialemployees and self-employed personsand to reduce barriers to integration inorder to increase the employment ratein a sustainable manner and at thesame time counteract a shortage ofskilled workers and apprentices in thestate.The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Federal EmploymentAgency and the job centers are jointlypursuing the goal of optimizing andaccelerating the professionalintegration process of migrants and ofachieving sustainability.24 seek holistic and multi-facetted As part of the integration ministers'solutions to the challenges posed conference and / or of federal andby current refugee and migration state meetings on the topic ofpolicies which include a well- integration, refugee and migrationcoordinated combination of policy issues are discussed.migration management,humanitarian assistance, political The European Commission hassolutions, European and already put forward legislativeinternational collaboration, fair proposals to strengthen the Commontrade agreements and European Asylum System (CEAS) anddevelopment assistance; proposed measures in the areas oflegal immigration and integration,which the country welcomes. Thefollowing improvements are planned inthe area of the Common EuropeanAsylum System:• Establishment of a viable, fair systemfor determining the Member Stateresponsible for examining applicationsfor asylum;• making greater convergence in theEU asylum system and reducing16Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 19Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/3496asylum hopping: The Commission willpropose further harmonization ofasylum procedures to eliminate moreequal treatment and incentives acrossthe EU to seek asylum, especially in afew Member States;• preventing secondary movementswithin the EU;• new mandate for the EU AsylumAgency;• strengthening the Eurodac system forbetter storage and transfer offingerprints.The European Commission will alsotackle several legal immigration andintegration policies, including:• A structured resettlement system:The Commission will present aproposal for the design of the EUresettlement policy. It provides for ahorizontal mechanism with commonEU rules on reception and distribution,the status of resettled persons,financial support and measures to curbsecondary movements.• A reform of the "EU Blue Card"Directive: The role of the Directive inan EU-wide immigration policy couldbe consolidated through commonrules, including more flexible eligibilityrequirements, improved licensingprocedures and more rights for highlyqualified third-country nationals.• The Commission will present an EUaction plan for integration.Migration pressure remains a centralconcern of European citizens despitethe crisis that has been overcome.Adequate migration management willcontinue to be a challenge for manyyears and requires a comprehensiveresponse.17Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 20Drucksache 7/3496 Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. WahlperiodeRegarding Economic development and growth in the Baltic Sea RegionPara Conference Resolution Statement of the GovernmentMecklenburg-Vorpommern25 support the Implementation Reference is made to the comments inStrategy for the sustainable Blue section 8.Growth Agenda for the Baltic SeaRegion;26 acknowledge, that the Baltic Sea The state government sees the Balticis a crucial line of sea Sea as an important influencing factortransportation (a motorway of the for the economic and regionalsea) for all its neighbours, a development of Mecklenburg-resource for nutrition (fishing) and Vorpommern.energy (oil, gas, wind and wave)as well as a recreation area for The state government is active in themillions of tourists, therefore use individual areas within the scope ofall opportunities of Baltic Sea their respective responsibilities, but atcooperation to enable managing the same time attaches importance toand considering all interests and the fact that Baltic Sea cooperation isaspects of economy, environment holistic. This is also reflected in theand the neighbours; State Government's report on BalticSea cooperation 2018. In this, thevarious cooperations become visibleand development possibilities arepointed out.Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, forexample, plays a key role in thetourism development of the Baltic Searegion through the coordinator functionfor the tourism policy area within theframework of the EU Baltic SeaStrategy. Today, it can point to aninternational network and successfulproject cooperation. In the future, it willbe important to strengthen theinternational position of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, especially in the BalticSea region. The establishment of theBaltic Sea Tourism Center (BSTC) inRostock achieves this.27 further develop the Trans- The transnational INTERREG BalticEuropean Networks for transport Sea Region project InterGreen Nodes,in the Baltic Sea region, take which should facilitate further regionalinitiatives to synchronize toll development in the Scandria®systems in Europe, in particular Corridor, the north-south corridor fromthe Baltic Sea neighbours, to Scandinavia to the Adriatic, can18Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Page 21Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 7. Wahlperiode Drucksache 7/3496make transport via sea and rail contribute to the further expansion ofmost economic compared to trans-European transport networks intrucking; the Baltic Sea region. In addition to theMinistry of Energy, Infrastructure andDigitalization of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Port DevelopmentCompany Rostock is a partner in theproject.The project objective is to improve theorganization of growing freight flowsand terminal processes in enterprisesfrom an environmental point of viewby:1) improving coordination betweenplanning authorities and freighttransport operators in order toincrease multimodal mobility, and2) harmonizing planning methods(Spatial planning requirements) aswell as the intermodal terminalprocesses and the requirements of theimmediate spatial environment.28 aim to make the Baltic Sea a For the shipping on the Baltic Sea thepioneer area for automatic federal government and not the stateshipping. is responsible in Germany. Withoutprejudice to this, the state governmentof Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, withinthe scope of its responsibility, iscommitted to making shippingefficient, economical andenvironmentally friendly - andtherefore sustainable. To this end, itencourages investments in theinfrastructure of the ports, so that, forexample, large ship units can becleared, the ships can be supplied withclean energy or ship waste can bedisposed environmentally friendly.Insofar as the conceivable long-termuse of automated ships serves thesepurposes, the state government willprovide appropriate support.19Norway Page 1NorwayNorway Page 2Norwegian comments to the resolution of the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference(BSPC) in Mariehamn on 26-28 August 2018With reference to the resolution adopted by the 27th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference inMariehamn, Åland, on 26-28 August 2018, Norway has the following comments:Cooperation in the regionNorway shares the emphasis put by the BSPC on the importance of ensuring that the BalticSea Region remains a region of peaceful and close neighborly cooperation. Norway is com-mitted to cooperation in this region and takes an active part in a number of cooperationstructures and programs. Norway is a member of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and ofthe Northern Dimension, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and the Arctic Council, the Nordiccooperation and the Nordic-Baltic cooperation: structures and formats that together con-stitute a very broad network of cooperation covering this region in full or in part. Norwayalso contributes considerably to the economic and social cohesion and development in thisregion through the EEA and Norway Grants scheme.Norway welcomes the report by the CBSS Vision Group presented in June 2018, and has tak-en an active part in the ensuing reform discussions within the CBSS with a view to ensuringimproved focus and flexibility in the work of the organization, as well as improved synergieswith other cooperation structures in the region. As underlined by Norway at the StockholmMinisterial Meeting, we should ensure the relevance of the CBSS as an arena for politicaldialogue and practical cooperation in the time ahead. Norway appreciates that these discus-sions could be concluded at the High Level meeting in Jurmala (Latvia) on 3 June 2019.Labor and employmentIn the area of labor and employment, Norway works closely with countries in the Baltic Searegion within different frameworks for cooperation, most importantly as a member of theEuropean Economic Area (EEA). Norway works actively to realize the objectives of equalopportunities and equal access to the labor market, and to achieve good and fair workingconditions, social security and inclusion in our region. Under the EEA and Norway Grantsscheme, Norway funds important projects in several of the countries in the region, promot-ing decent work and cooperation between social partners as well as combating work relatedcrime.The vision of a Healthy Baltic SeaNorway welcomes the particular focus in the BSPC resolution this year on the importance ofstronger action in order to address the challenges regarding the state of the Baltic Sea.Norway’s Prime Minister last year initiated the establishment of an international High-Lev-el Panel for Sustainable Ocean Economy. The Panel, which consists of 14 serving heads ofstates and governments, will work towards presenting a report with recommendationsat the UN Ocean Conference in Portugal in 2020, underlining the relationship between aNorway Page 3healthy and clean ocean, sustainable use of ocean resources, economic growth and devel-opment.In October 2019, Norway will host the Our Ocean Conference in Oslo. The conference willhighlight the importance of knowledge as the basis of our actions and policies to ensuresustainable future economic growth, with a view to contribute also to the UN Decade forOcean Sciences for Sustainable Development. Ecosystem based integrated management ofthe sea and coastal areas will be underlined as the key to both protection and sustainableuse of the oceans.Marine litter is one of the fastest growing environmental concerns. Litter knows no bordersand collective action is crucial. In order to fulfill our joint commitment from the UN Environ-ment Assembly in 2017; to eliminate all discharge of plastic litter into the ocean, Norway isworking towards an international agreement to combat marine litter.Norway has launched a development aid program amounting to 200 million USD over thenext four years to combat marine litter. Norway is furthermore one of the co-founders ofPROBLUE, a multi-donor trust fund in the World Bank with the aim of contributing to sus-tainable management of marine resource and protection of the marine environment.Sustainable EnergyNorway is an important producer of clean, sustainable hydroelectric energy. Through inter-national transmission cables, Norway is an integrated part of the common Nordic and Euro-pean electricity market, and connected to countries in the Baltic Sea region.Migration and IntegrationNorway attaches great importance to developing and implementing policies that ensuregood integration of migrant workers who live and work in Norway for shorter or longer pe-riods, as well as of refugees who are granted legal residence in the country. Norway worksclosely with other countries in the region in this respect, both in a Nordic and a broadercontext, in particular within the framework of the European Economic Area and the Schen-gen cooperation.Norway Page 4Norway Page 5Norway Page 6Poland Page 1PolandPoland Page 2Information on activities carried out by Polish institutions in order to implement specificareas of Baltic Cooperation, which were indicated in the Resolution of the 27th Baltic SeaParliamentary Conference (Mariehamn, 26-28.08.2018)Regarding Cooperation in the RegionThe Polish Border Guard (mainly the Maritime Regional Unit) cooperates with border services of the BalticSea region in the framework of Baltic Sea Region Border Control Cooperation – BSRBCC. The scopeof activities includes i.a. joint international exercises and operations, expert meetings and seminars, dailyexchange of information concerning the matters of the security of maritime borders and the surveillanceof maritime areas, joint trainings, contributing to annual risk analysis reports (BSRBCC Annual ThreatAssessment).The State Fire Service of Poland participates in the:- FIRE-IN project, which has the EUSBSR flagship project status of the EU Strategy for the Baltic SeaRegion. This initiative aims to establish a pan-European network of fire and rescue practitioners. The PolishInstitutions taking part in the initiative are the Main School of Fire Service (SGSP) and Scientific andResearch Centre for Fire Protection - National Research Institute;- CASCADE project - "Community safety action for supporting climate adaptation and development”.Foreseen results of the initiative include the development of risk assessment methods in relationto the risks connected to the climate change. Guidelines will be prepared and issued for local authorities,which will allow them to undertake activities related to risk assessment. Partners in the project include mostof the BSR states and the Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The Main School of Fire Service(SGSP) is taking part in the initiative from the Polish side.The Main School of Fire Service (SGSP), along with partners from other BSR states and the Secretariatof the Council of the Baltic Sea States, has also started work on the application which is supposed to helpbring together civil protection scientific institutions of the region. In addition, representatives of the NationalHeadquarters of the State Fire Service of Poland (KG PSP) regularly participate in meetings of HELCOMexpert groups, which work contributes to the improvement of the coordination of response to oil pollutionrelated events on sea (including the shoreline).extending the scope of transnational programs covering the whole area of the Baltic Sea and including sucha possibility and adequate financing to all macro-regional strategies in order to improve the relationsbetween neighbouring countriesPoland participates in two maritime programmes under the European Territorial Cooperation goal:1) The transnational cooperation programme Interreg Baltic Sea Region 2014-2020 links Denmark,Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and the northern parts of Germany as well as partnercountries Norway, Belarus and the northwest regions of Russia. The mail objective of the participatingparties is “to strengthen the integrated territorial development and cooperation for a more innovative, betteraccessible and sustainable Baltic Sea Region”. With budget of 234,8 mln (total budget available) euro fromEuropean Regional Development Fund, the programme funds 111 projects in three thematic prioritiesrelated to:Capacity for innovation: market uptake of innovation based on improved capacity of research andinnovation infrastructures and their users (14 projects), enhanced growth opportunities to apply smart1Poland Page 3specialization approach (8 projects) and to advance the Baltic Sea Region performance in non-technologicalinnovation (23 projects). For example, approved in 2018 project BaltSe@nioR 2.0 will enhance publicinstitutions’ and producers’ capacity to create more innovative and accessible public spaces adapted to seniorneeds (in line with point 6 of the Resolution).Efficient management of natural resources: to increase efficiency of water management for reducednutrient inflows and decreased discharges of hazardous substances to the Baltic Sea and the regional waters(18 projects so far), to increase production and use of sustainable renewable energy (5 projects) and supplyand to increase energy efficiency (6 projects) and to advance sustainable and resource-efficient blue growth(8 projects). For example, approved in 2018 project Non Plastic Sea aims at providing concrete measures totackle the pollution by developing potential Best Available Technology solutions to collect and separateplastic pollutants from natural water basins, such as rivers, lakes and Baltic Sea (in line with point 16 of theResolution).Sustainable transport: interoperability in transporting goods and persons in north-south and east-westconnections (8 projects), improvement of accessibility of the most remote areas and regions affected bydemographic change (3 projects), the increase in maritime safety and security (6 projects), enhancementof clean shipping (6 projects) and environmentally friendly transport systems in urban areas (6 projects). Forexample, approved in 2015 project EMMA improves the competitiveness of inland waterway transport inthe Baltic Sea region by changing the mind-set of relevant stakeholders through pilot demonstrations andlobby work (in line with points 27 and 28 of the Resolution).The Programme also supports the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR)and ensures cooperation with the neighbouring countries. Out of 111 approved projects 54 have theEUSBSR’s flagship status. The Programme provides financial support to Policy Area Coordinators (PACs)and Horizontal Action Coordinators (HACs) of the EUSBSR in carrying out the tasks related to their roles inimplementation of the EUSBSR and co-finances annual EUSBSR Forum (this year it will take place inGdańsk in June). In addition, Interreg BSR provides co-financing for seed money project preparing EUBSRrelevant undertakings (25 seed money projects so far, next call to be open in November 2019). For example,seed money project BSR SMART LIFE sees a great potential for cooperation and knowledge sharing amongcountries in the Baltic Sea region when it comes to lifelong learning, the ageing society and educationsystems better corresponding to the labour market expectations (in line with point 5 of the Resolution).2) The cross-border South Baltic Programme 2014-2020 is driven by the overall objective: "To increase theblue and green growth potential of the South Baltic area through cross-border cooperation". The eligible areaof the South Baltic Programme covers the coastal territory of five EU Member States: to the north-west ofthe programme area, Denmark and Sweden; on the southern rim, Germany and Poland; and on the easternshore, Lithuania. The South Baltic Programme’s budget includes EUR 82.9 million of ERDF co-financing,out of which nearly 89% had already been distributed among the beneficiaries of 83 financed projects.The remaining available co-financing is expected to be distributed in May 2019.Practically, the programme finances projects grouped within the following priorities: SME Development,Sustainable Tourism, Green Technologies, Sustainable Transport, Skilled Labour Force, CooperationCapacity.As regards the exchange among young people and establishment of closer cooperation between youthorganizations, the South Baltic programme has its contribution to bringing youth of the eligible areatogether:South Baltic Programme’s “SOUTH BALTIC YOUTH CORE GROUPS NETWORK “ project intends toincrease the participation of young people in the decision-making processes at a local level. The project’sobjective is to increase the potential of local and regional authorities in creating policies aimed at youth(young persons). The project will also create a cross-border network, which will be organizing events forbuilding cooperation capacity. The target groups of the project are local youth councils, youth non-2Poland Page 4governmental and local organizations, youth and persons working in the field of youth problems. The projectwas granted co-financing in 2018 and will be under implementation until September 2019.Moreover, through co-financed projects, the Programme supports the issues of better connection betweenthe needs of the labour market and education and training. For instance, the projects “SB Nature GuideNetwork”, “SB Bridge” or “Baltic For All”, which were granted co-financing in 2018, respond the potentialor needs of the local labour market and contribute to creation of new training programmes for futureemployees.South Baltic programme also contributes to the improvement of waste-water quality and treatment ofdischarges to the sea (mentioned in point 15 of the Resolution). Specific Objective 2.2 (“Greentechnologies”) of the programme concentrates of increased use of green technologies in order to decrease thepollution discharges in the South Baltic area. The following co-financed projects are examples of actionstaken towards the improvement in this field: “South Baltic OIL spill response through clean-up with biogenicoil binders”, “RBR - Reviving Baltic Resilience, “MORPHEUS - Model Areas for Removal ofPharmaceutical Substances in the South Baltic”, “LiveLagoons - The use of active barriers for the nutrientremoval and local water quality improvement in Baltic lagoons”, “LESS IS MORE - Energy-efficienttechnologies for removal of pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern”, “STEP - SludgeTechnological Ecological Progress - increasing the quality and reuse of sewage sludge”, “WASTEMAN -Integrated Sustainable Waste Management Systems decreasing pollution discharges in the South Balticarea”. The two last of the mentioned projects were granted co-financing in 2018.The South Baltic Programme’s project “SEAPLANSPACE”, co-financed since 2018, also contributes toincrease of cooperation in the themes mentioned in point 9 of the Resolution. The aims of the project is toimprove the quality of work of the entities involved in sea spatial planning and increase the use ofknowledge from the field of sea management in the branches of the “blue economy”.The South Baltic Programme seeks to contribute actively to the EUSBSR and its action plan through theimplementation of its projects. In general, there is a clear thematic connection between the specificobjectives of the South Baltic Programme 2014-2020 and the EUSBSR. Numerous South Baltic Programmeprojects have significantly contribute to the implementation of EUSBSR and 7 of them received the status ofthe EUSBSR’s “flagship projects”.strengthening cooperation in the field of migration and integration, taking into account all Baltic countriesto better meet similar tasksThe Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy of the Republic of Poland does not cooperate in the fieldof integration only with the countries of the Baltic Sea Region, since there is no specific working group orplatform dedicated to this issues. Therefore the cooperation is carried out with countries of the EuropeanUnion in frame of the existing structures.The dialog on integration between European countries has been intensified recently under EuropeanIntegration Network. While data basis on integration measures and conditions has been developed in 2009 asEuropean Website on Integration. The offer of migration-specific advisory services and language training inorder to intensify integration efforts has increased, since implementation of the Asylum, Migration andIntegration Found (AMIF) in Poland. From mid-2018 all voivodships have been carrying out on theirterritory integration projects. The projects include among others: Polish language courses, providingcounselling and assistance in matters like legalization of stay, legal rights and obligations, health,psychological and social care, childcare and family reunification, providing adaptation courses for foreignersregarding Polish values and rights, providing support for schools in the field of working with foreignchildren, as well as activities supporting independence and self-sufficiency of foreigners.3Poland Page 5Projects for advising and supporting volunteers, local institutions and civil society organizations working inthe field of integration and taking into account the unifying and integration role of sports will be enlarged inthe nearest future. New open call for proposals under AMIF has been published on the governmentalwebsites. It is addresses to all potentially interested stakeholders on the local level, including civil societyorganizations. It is expected that new projects will start to be implemented at the turn of 2019 and 2020.meet the challenges of an aging population, social cohesion and sustainable development in the Baltic Searegion through strengthening cooperation on incentive measures and practical lifelong learning systems,adaptation of conditions and jobs to the needs of elderly people, policies to combat discrimination based onage, measures to promote good health and flexible and gradual retirement programsthe elderly policySocial policy towards the elderly is one of the priorities of the public policy pursued for the entire Councilof Ministers of the Republic of Poland. Social policy towards the elderly has been defined as a deliberate,long-term and systemic impact of the state and other public and non-public entities on shaping legal,economic and social conditions in order to create an advantageous life situation for older people, adapted tothe changing social needs with age, economic and health care and care at any time during the life of anelderly person.To meet the diverse needs of seniors in Poland on October 26, 2018, the Council of Ministersadopted a document entitled Social policy towards the elderly 2030. Security - Participation - Solidarity wasadopted by the Council of Ministers (Resolution No. 161 of the Council of Ministers of October 26, 2018regarding the adoption of the document Social Policy for Older People 2030. Safety. Participation.Solidarity, MP from 2018 r. item 1169). The Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy of the Republic ofPoland is the entity responsible for coordinating the activities planned in the document. The effects of theimplementation of the assumptions contained in this document will be assessed as part of subsequent editionsof the "Information on the situation of older people". The entities responsible for the implementationof individual activities will be required to collect and present information on the status of theirimplementation.One of the key parts of the document is a summary of individual activities, which includes both thecoordinating entity and the entities cooperating in the implementation of the particular sub-measure, theplanned date of implementation and the method of monitoring. The document provides forthe implementation of a series of actions in favor of all older people in the following areas:1. Shaping a positive perception of old age in society.2. Participation in social life and supporting all forms of civic, social, cultural, artistic, sport and religiousactivity.3. Creating conditions enabling the use of the potential of older people as active participants of economic lifeand the labor market, adapted to their psychophysical abilities and family situation.4. Health promotion, disease prevention, access to diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation.5. Enhancing physical security - preventing violence and neglect of the elderly.6. Creating conditions for solidarity and intergenerational integration.7. Activities for education for old age (care and medical staff), old age (the whole society), old age (from theyoungest generation) and education in old age (older people).In addition, in the "Social Policy for Older People 2030. Safety. Participation. Solidarity" activities aimed atdependent older people were designed for the first time:1. Reducing the scale of dependence on others by facilitating access to services that strengthen independenceand adjusting the living environment to the functional capabilities of dependent older people.2. Ensuring optimal access to health, rehabilitation and care and care services tailored to the needsof dependent older people.4Poland Page 63. A network of environmental and institutional services provided to dependent older people.4. Support system for informal carers of dependent elderly by public institutions.The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy is implementing a number of measures for the benefitof the older people, including:Establishment of day care centres for older peopleThis is e.g. an aim of the Multi-Annual Programme Senior+ for 2015-2020, which is addressed to localgovernment units and consists in expansion of day care centre network for older people: Senior+ Day CareCentres and Senior+ Clubs. Under the programme, authorised entities can apply for financing necessary toestablish or furnish a centre or to maintain an existing centre under an open competitive procedure;Security of older personsIn addition, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy has been implementing the Secure and ActiveSenior informational campaign, whose objective is to raise public awareness of issues related to security andactive life of older people;Support for innovative measures of non-governmental organizations for older peopleA programme that improves quality of life and the living standard of older people is the GovernmentProgramme for Social Participation of Senior Citizens for 2014-2020 (ASOS). Measures taken by non-governmental organisations for the benefit of older people are also supported under the Civic Initiatives FundProgramme implemented by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy.Multi-annual Programme Senior+ for 2015-2020The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy is implementing Multi-annual Programme Senior+ for2015-2020 whose aim is to develop day care centres for older people. The Programme allows localgovernment units to apply for funding for establishing and furnishing centres and to maintaining the existingones. In the former case, the grant amounts to PLN 300,000 for a Senior+ Day Care Centre and PLN 150,000for a Senior+ Club. The existing Senior+ Day Care Centres may receive up to PLN 300 and the Senior+ Clubmay receive up to PLN 200 to maintain a place. At the end of 2018, there will be about 500 Senior+ centresand clubs offering day care to 13 000 elderly people.Through participation in activities organized at the centers, senior citizens are provided with an opportunityto develop their physical, mental and social potential, meet their peers, encouraged to fully take part in sociallife according to their needs, wishes and abilities.Since 2012, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has been implementing the GovernmentProgramme for Social Participation of Senior Citizens (ASOS) which aims at improving the qualityof older people’s lives and make better use of their potential in many social roles. The total of PLN 280million will be allocated from the state budget until 2020, which amounts to PLN 40 million a year. Non-governmental organizations and other authorized entities carrying out activities for the benefit of olderpeople may count on grants between PLN 20,000 and PLN 200,000. They may apply for co-financing ofprojects under 4 priorities:I. Education for older people, which covers measures aimed at developing educational offeraddressed to senior citizens, using their mutual learning potential, developing innovative formsof education including informal and non-formal education, promoting voluntary knowledge andexperience sharing; developing use of new technologies, and preventing digital exclusion;II. Social activity promoting integration within and between generations, which aims at developingvarious forms of older people’s activity using the existing social infrastructure (e.g. public libraries,cultural centres) and involving the younger generations in joint action, which will make it possible tobuild mutual understanding and develop social skills;5Poland Page 7III. Social participation of older people, which involves measures aimed at increasing the involvementof older people in the public, social, economic, cultural and political life, thus contributing to thedevelopment of civil society. An important role in this regard is played by organisations representingthe interests and needs of older people, which facilitate their participation in the life of localcommunities, e.g. senior citizens’ councils at local governments;IV. Social services for older people – measures aimed at developing various forms of support throughincreasing the availability and improving the quality of social services for older people. What iscrucial here is the creation of local support networks based on voluntary work aimed at creating self-help environment.activities conducted by the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of PolandSince 2011, a project initiated by WWF Poland to remove lost fishing gear, the so-called "ghost nets" hasbeen developed. Supported by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Maritime Economy andInland Navigation, the project is carried out in cooperation with fishermen and the scientific community.A map has been created to warn of places where nets can be lost due to wrecks or rocks at the bottom of thesea. Electronic tagging of the nets enabling identification of their owner is being implemented.In 2016, WWF Poland joined another international initiative called MARELITT BALTIC dedicatedto the removal of abandoned fishing nets. Moreover, in 2017, Polish fishermen with the MARE Foundationactively joined the action of removing abandoned fishing nets from the Baltic Sea. Estimates carried out onbehalf of WWF have shown that there may be as much as 800 tons of ghost nets in the Polish Baltic Seazone only. So far, WWF and its partners have fished out 300 tons of nets in their activities.For years, during international meetings such as ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservationof Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and) or HELCOM (Baltic Marine EnvironmentProtection Convention), the Ministry of the Environment has informed about the positive impact of theproject of removing abandoned fishing nets. Thanks to this, the problem has been recognized and includedboth in EU law (by granting funds in EU programmes for abandoned fishing nets removal) and in documentsdrawn up by international organizations such as the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference.The Ministry of the Environment established and coordinates the work of the inter-ministerial Team forrespond to impacts of oil pollution on animals . This team was established in compliance with the decisionsof the HELCOM Convention. Training was held as part of the Team's work and equipment necessary torescue birds that were contaminated with oily substances was purchased. Further initiatives in this area areplanned.In 2018, once again, the Ministry of the Environment participated in the jury of the “Baltic Sea RegionFarmer of the Year” competition organized by WWF.The aim of the competition is to support pro-environmental actions and attitudes among farmers. Regardlessof the distance between the agricultural holding and the seashore, the farm is located in the Baltic Sea basin,and the excess of organic substances used in fertilizers and plant protection products finally enters the seaand causes its pollution and eutrophication.Krzysztof Kowalski from the Mazowieckie Voivodeship won the 2018 national edition. Both plant andanimal production is carried out in his agricultural holding. Fattening pigs of the Złotnicka White, a breed ofPolish origin covered by the Programme for the Protection of Genetic Resources, is based on own feed, i.e.cereals, peas and linseed and rapeseed oil cakes, which are produced after pressing linseed oil and rapeseedoil. The holding implements the agri-environmental programme "Sustainable agriculture", consequently, it is6Poland Page 8obliged to minimize the use of pesticides. Moreover, it implements the "Sustainable agriculture" package,which is a management system based on rational use of natural resources and reducing negative impact onthe environment. The holding has numerous buffer zones, mid-field balks, trees, bushes, midfield refugehabitats, small ponds (small water retention), wet meadows and ponds, vegetable and herb garden, smallorchard next to the house with old varieties of trees and mixed forest with common pine and deciduousspecies such as: alder, oak, aspen and birch.Moreover, the Ministry of the Environment participates in the work of the Baltic Sea 2030 Expert Group onSustainable Development (EGSD). Participation in the work of EGSD is an added valuein the process of strengthening the implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Duringthe Polish Presidency in the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) 2015 - 2016, the Ministry has madean attempt to strengthen the activities of the EGSD group. It has become possible to extend the group'smandate for another three years. This mandate expired at the end of last year. A new mandateis currently being drafted within the priorities of the Latvian Presidency of the CBSS.Regarding the vision of healthy Baltic Seaa call for more actionPoland actively participates and cooperates in the activities carried out by the Baltic Marine EnvironmentProtection Commission (Helsinki Commission/HELCOM), in order to fulfill legal obligations in field ofprotection of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. HELCOM work is conducted within 5 permanentgroups, 3 time groups and a number of task groups, in order to make the most of the experts potential andfocus on the superior objective that is achieving good environmental status of the Baltic Sea until 2021. Aspart of achieving the above mentioned goal the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) has been developed. BSAPwas adopted by all nine Baltic countries and the European Commission at the HELCOM Ministerial Meetingin November 2007 in Krakow. The vision of the Plan is to achieve a healthy sea ecosystem and sustainabledevelopment in its region by 2021.According to the HELCOM report published in 2018 "State of the Baltic Sea" good environmental status ofmarine waters, established in BSAP, will not be achieved by 2021, therefore it is important to undertake andintensify works aimed at verifying the measures proposed in the BSAP and assessing their sufficiency. Inview of the above, in the coming years the Helsinki Commission together with the parties to the HelsinkiConvention will undertake intensive work related to BSAP update.The strategic plan for the BSAP Update includes such tasks as: analysis of the implementation status ofcurrent measures and commitments made within HELCOM, analysis of the sufficiency of measures toachieve HELCOM objectives, development of the regional Business as Usual (BAU) scenario, proposingnew measures and improving current and analysing the cost-effectiveness of these activities.These tasks will require the cooperation of experts from various fields, in particular environmentalresearchers, environmental economists and policy makers. Therefore, in order to ensure goal-oriented andinterdisciplinary research cooperation HELCOM established Platform on sufficiency of measures (SOMPlatform) and started the EU-funded project - HELCOM ACTION that will complement each other.Poland actively participates in updating the BSAP, as well as in all the meetings of HELCOM groups,including meetings of heads of delegations in the HELCOM (HOD) and annual meetings summarizing theactivities of the Helsinki Commission and its working groups. At the 40th annual HELCOM meeting held on6-7 March 2019 in Helsinki, it was agreed that the next meeting of the Helsinki Commission would also be ahigh-level meeting with the participation of the Ministers and will be held on 4-5 March 2020 in Helsinki.Regarding sustainable energy and platforms of intelligent energy’ distribution7Poland Page 9Efficient applying of cross-border transmission connections through the construction and development of thesmoothly operating energy networks in order to support more efficient integration of renewable energy onthe new energy markets, also by using new forms of energy products and services and using of submarineelectrical connections for network integration.Poland cooperates with regional partners and the European Commission towards achieving thesynchronization of Baltic States electricity grid by 2025 through Polish grid with the Continental EuropeSynchronous Area. On 28 June 2018 Baltic countries and Poland came to a political agreement forsynchronizing the Baltic States' electricity grid with the continental European network. The PoliticalRoadmap signed by Heads of States and Governments of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and President of theEuropean Commission defined the process and put forward an optimal solution for synchronizing the Balticgrids with the European continental network.The Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP) High-Level Group's endorsement of 14September 2018 allowed the Polish and Baltic States' Transmission System Operators (TSOs) to launcha formal procedure to undertake the synchronization. The formal application to ENTSO-E onenlargement of Continental Europe synchronous area by three Baltic grids was send in September 2018.The process of preparation of Baltic system to synchronous operation with continental Europe now iscarried by ENTSO E special regional task force group.A set of projects were launched in the framework of this initiative to reinforce the electricityinterconnections between the countries around the Baltic Sea. The construction of a new offshore highvoltage direct current (HVDC) link between Poland and Lithuania named HARMONY Link is mandatory toensure successful implementation of the synchronization process.Regarding economic development and growth in the Baltic Sea RegionSupporting strategy of implementation of “blue growth” in the Baltic Sea regionThe Baltic Sea region is the most important and natural area of implementation of the Polish maritimepolicy. Poland is constantly involved in the development of blue economy, which offers strong opportunitiesfor sustainable growth and is satisfied with the maritime sector moving towards cleaner technologies andpractices. From the Polish point of view, the Blue Growth will be in the near future the main impulse for thedevelopment of Integrated Maritime Policy, as well as the foundation for the development of the Baltic Searegion. In order to properly answer the current challenges of the Baltic Sea Region, Baltic states should focuson the expansion of the Blue Growth sectors, and need to indicate synergies between emerging sectors suchas maritime energy, blue biotechnology or aquaculture on the one hand, and existing industries such asshipbuilding, transport and fishing on the other hand.It is worth emphasizing that the maritime economy has the greatest opportunity to attract innovativetechnologies and investments. Activities in the sectors associated with Blue Growth should contribute to thegreatest extent to sustainable economic growth, improve the competitiveness of the economies of the BalticStates and create the potential for new jobs in the region. In Polish opinion close cooperation in these areasshould also take place in the CBSS Expert Group on Sustainable Maritime Economy, which could givea new impetus to future constructive cooperation within this group.Recognizing that the route through the Baltic Sea is extremely important in the maritime transport network(is a maritime highway) for all countries that have access to it, is a source of food (fishing) and energy (oil,gas, wind energy and waves ), as well as a place of rest for millions of tourists, and therefore make use of allopportunities in the Baltic Sea cooperation with a view to taking into account all economic, environmentaland neighboring interests and interests of neighboring countries8Poland Page 10In order to further improve the functioning of Polish seaports, strengthen their development process and fullyuse the potential they have - in the Ministry of Maritime Economy and Inland Shipping there are works onthe draft of a strategic government document entitled "Program for the development of Polish seaports until2030". This document will comprehensively address the development of Polish seaports. The program willspecify, among others goals and development priorities of ports, will indicate the most important directionsof their development, as well as designate specific investment projects to be implemented. The documentclearly emphasizes that the development of international initiatives based on sea motorways connectingPolish seaports is an opportunity for port development. In addition, it indicates the importance of access tothe Baltic Sea, how important is the proper functioning of the seaports.Further development of trans-European transport networks in the Baltic Sea region, taking initiatives tosynchronize tolling systems in Europe, especially in countries with access to the Baltic Sea, to make sea andrail transport the most economical solution compared to truckingCurrently in the TEN-T core network there is the Port of Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin-Świnoujście, and PortPolice (in the TEN-T comprehensive network). Ministry of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigationproposes the inclusion of smaller seaports into the TEN-T comprehensive network, which will increase theirrank and importance and enable the use of EU funds for development and increasing competitiveness. Therevision of the TEN-T network will take place in the next few years. The seaports are important links of theTEN-T network. Ministry of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation conducts investment and non-investment activities for their development.Undertaking activities aimed at making the Baltic Sea a pioneer area in the field of automated transportlogistics systemsAt the initiative of Mr. Marek Gróbarczyk - Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, a specialpurpose company of Poland PCS Ltd. was established, whose shareholders are the management boardsof Polish seaports of fundamental importance for the national economy, i.e. Port of Gdansk Authority, Portof Gdynia Authority and the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority. The company was established inorder to create the Polish Port Community System (PPCS) - a neutral, secure and open electronic platformfor a wide range of Polish seaport stakeholders, to improve broadly understood cargo and ship services inPolish ports using digitally processed data. Work on the system is underway.9Russia Page 1RussiaRussia Page 2Re.: Implementation by Russian Federation of the 27th Resolution of BSPCInformation on the progress of the Federal Service for Labour and Employment in theactivities of the Council of the Baltic sea States (CBSS)on the subject of labour and employmentOn 15 June 2017, the first meeting of the Ministers of labour of the Council of the Balticsea States (CBSS) was held in Berlin (Germany). On behalf of the Ministry of labor and so-cial protection of the Russian Federation Rostrud took part in the event. Based on the prioritydirections and challenges of the labor market, fixed in the Declaration of labor Ministers ofthe Group of 20 countries, taking into account the priorities set in the recommendations of theBaltic labor forum (BTF), as well as in coordination with the Ministry of labor of Russia andthe Ministry of foreign Affairs of Russia, the text of the final Declaration of the event was pro-posed a number of formulations from the Russian Federation. Rostrud’s proposals were fullyincluded in the final version of the document and formed the basis of the agreements of highrepresentatives of the ministries of labor of the CBSS States. The Russian side also activelysupported the initiative to establish a working group on labour and employment within theCBSS, put forward by the CBSS Secretariat and recorded in the final Declaration.In the period 2017-2018, the Fes participated in internal and external format in the workto discuss and Refine the draft Provisions on the working group, further on the coordinatinggroup, the CBSS and BTF on issues of labor and employment prepared by the Secretariat ofthe CBSS. In particular, in the framework of participation in meetings of this topic in Stock-holm in October 2017 in Riga in April 2018 was announced by the Russian support for thestrengthening cooperation in the field of labour and employment in the Region, and Russianpriorities in the framework of the overall theme: forecasting of the labour market, including inpart to the demographic problems and youth employment and the problems of employment ofemployees approaching retirement age.During this period, Rostrud repeatedly confirmed the interest of the Russian side inworking out within the framework of the coordination group of project topics on improvingthe quality of services provided by public employment services, as well as training, taking intoaccount the features and requirements of the modern labor market, specialists for the publicemployment service, including the development of a modular educational course for special-ists of the GSS of the CBSS region.Russia Page 3On September 27, 2018, the first meeting of the CBSS and BTF coordination group onlabor and employment was held, where the readiness of the Russian Federation to work in theabove areas was confirmed, as well as the readiness to organize an appropriate thematic eventon the territory of the Russian Federation. In addition, taking into account the approved tripar-tite format of the Coordination group and the high interest of the CBSS Secretariat, agreementswere reached on the Russian side to study the issue of enhancing the participation of socialpartners representing the Russian Federation in the CBSS activities on labor and employmentin General and, in particular, in the Coordination group.Rostrud also expressed readiness for expert work within the framework of the project“BTF for a stable working life”, the terms of reference of which were developed by the CBSSSecretariat with the support of the European strategy of the Baltic sea Region (EUSBSR)and the expert participation of CBSS member countries, including Russia. The project wasapproved and received funding from the European social Fund (ESF). The project will be im-plemented in three stages and until November 2021. The main objectives of the project are:identification, recognition, development and application of positive practices and innovativeideas in the field of “active ageing” and continuous training of employees on the basis oftransnational, multi-level and multilateral cooperation in the framework of thematic workinggroups and training platforms supported by advanced research on the forecast and analysis ofdemographic and economic aspects, including such issues of the labor market as “the futureof the sphere of labor”, the prospects of demand for qualifications, technological developmentand trends. The first preparatory stage of the Project is planned for 2019.It should be noted that the CBSS Secretariat ensures the participation of representativesof the Northern dimension Partnership in the field of health and social welfare and the EUBaltic sea Strategy on a regular basis in the activities of this topic.Thus, in the period of 2017-2018, the Secretariat of the CBSS worked on building asystem of cooperation in the CBSS format in the field of labor and employment, identifiedpriorities, created a professional expert pool of representatives of state bodies, employers ‘as-sociations, workers’ associations, the scientific community of CBSS member States, interna-tional associations of the Region, created a working coordination body (Coordination group),launched the first project.Information is currently available on two activities planned by the CBSS Secretariat for2019:- high-level meeting on social policy at the annual EUSBSR Forum in Gdansk (Poland), 12-13June 2019 (postponed);- another BTF round table dedicated to the meeting of the Baltic Region trade Union (BAS-TUN) and the Coordination group in Hamburg (Germany), April 2019.Russia Page 4Environment related issuesThe Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation has consid-ered the 27th Resolution of the Parliamentary Conference of the Baltic Sea (hereinafter — theresolution).Regarding the paragraph 15 of the resolution:.The Federal law of 21.07.2014 No. 219-FZ “On amendments to the Federal law “Onenvironmental protection” and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” (hereinafter— the Law No. 219-FZ) introduced norms providing for the transition of the Russian industryto the principles of the best available technologies (hereinafter-BAT) with the use of equip-ment and technologies that meet the latest achievements of science, with a minimum level ofenvironmental pollution and at the same time economically accessible to businesses.Law No. 219-FZ introduced a new term “best available technology”, which means thetechnology of production of products (goods), performance of works, provision of services,determined on the basis of modern science and technology and the best combination of criteriafor achieving the objectives of environmental protection, subject to the availability of techni-cal capabilities of its application.From 01.012020 comes into effect the provision of article 38 of the Federal law of 10.012002No 7-FZ “On environmental protection”, which provides for a ban on the issuance of permitsfor the commissioning of capital construction, which is an object that has a negative impact onthe environment, and refers to the areas of application of BAT, in operation in the event thatthe specified object used processes with technological indicators exceeding the technologicalindicators of bat.In addition, the Law No 219-FZ provides state support for the implementation of BATand other measures to reduce the negative impact on the environment can be carried out by:- provision of tax benefits in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation ofthe Russian Federation on taxes and fees; provision of benefits in respect of payment fornegative impact on the environment in accordance with the procedure established by thisFederal law and the normative legal acts of the Russian Federation adopted in accordancewith it; allocation of funds of the Federal budget and budgets of the subjects of the RussianFederation in accordance with the budget legislation of the Russian Federation.Russia Page 5In particular, measures have been introduced to economically stimulate environmentalmodernization, which provide for the offset of costs for the implementation of measures to re-duce the negative impact and the introduction of BAT at the expense of payments for negativeimpact on the environment, as well as the use of an additional depreciation factor - 2 for BATequipment.The implementation of Law No. 219-FZ is related to the implementation of the set ofmeasures approved by the government of the Russian Federation dated 19.03.2014 No. 398-Raimed at eliminating the use of outdated and inefficient technologies, transition to the princi-ples of BAT and the introduction of modern technologies (hereinafter — the Set of measures).The Package of measures also includes measures aimed at creating additional economicmechanisms, as well as additional conditions for the introduction of NDT by Russian en-terprises, primarily based on the achievements of domestic science and technology. A set ofmeasures the transition to BAT is considered as a mechanism of structural modernization ofthe economy as a whole.Given that enterprises need time to implement such modernization, Law No. 219-FZ pro-vides for a phased transition to a new regulatory system.The list of areas of application of BAT approved by the government of the Russian Federationfrom 24.12.2014 No 2674-R.In accordance with the phased schedule for the creation in 2015 2017 PDT directoriesapproved by the order of the Government of the Russian Federation from 31.10.2014 No 2178-R, developed and approved by the orders of RosStandart 51 NDT Handbook.The government resolution No. 1458 of December 23, 2014 approved the Rules for de-termining technology as BAT, as well as for developing, updating and publishing informationtechnology handbooks on bat.To implement this system, Law No. 219-FZ provides for the development and publi-cation of handbooks describing BAT. For the selected BAT, emission, discharge per unit ofoutput or other indicators are defined in the directories for marker substances.Enterprises that have an impact in excess of such indicators will be required to developa program to improve environmental efficiency, containing measures to modernize production,the implementation period of which for the city-forming enterprises (the number of employ-ees is not less than 25 % of the working population of the settlement or more than 5 thousandpeople), as well as enterprises producing strategic products is not more than 14 years, for otherenterprises - not more than 7 years.Russia Page 6Also, the Law No 219-FZ provides for the establishment of a closed list of controlledsubstances, clarification of lists of objects of Federal and regional state environmental super-vision, the revival of the Institute of state environmental expertise.In order to properly monitor the implementation of these requirements, Law No. 219-FZalso establishes requirements for:- maintenance of the state account of the objects having negative impact on environment;implementation of production environmental control and reporting on results of its car-rying out; equipment of a number of sources of objects of the I category with devices ofcontinuous automatic supervision and devices of data transfer to Supervisory authorities.The Federal project “Introduction of the best available technologies” was approvedwithin the framework of the national project “Ecology”.Within the framework of the project, work will be carried out simultaneously in three direc-tions.The first relates to the establishment of an integrated regulatory framework for the tran-sition to BAT, including:completion of the formation of the regulatory legal framework governing the procedure forissuing integrated environmental permits, including the creation of a system of automatic con-trol of emissions, discharges; improvement of the regulatory framework for the development,updating and application of handbooks on BAT.The second direction includes a number of measures aimed at stimulating the produc-tion of environmental equipment and, in fact, the creation of a new industry — environmentalengineering.The third direction is focused on the accelerated growth of investments in fixed assets due to alarge-scale program of technical re-equipment, which can take part up to 7 thousand enterpris-es of industry and fuel and energy complex.It is expected that the implementation of all measures provided for by Law No. 219-FZwill lead to a radical modernization of the Russian economy and reduce the negative impacton the environment, including as a result of wastewater discharge.Additionally, we inform the following.The Ministry of natural resources of Russia takes part in the sessions of the Commissionfor the protection of the Baltic sea marine environment (HELCOM), as well as actively par-ticipates in the discussion and formation of decisions on topical issues of improving the Balticsea.Russia Page 7During a number of meetings held in the second half of 2018, the Ministry of naturalresources of Russia has repeatedly drawn the attention of the Polish side to the need to take thenecessary measures to protect the environment in the construction of a sea canal connectingthe port city of Elblong with the Baltic sea and passing in close proximity to the Baltic citydistrict of the Kaliningrad region.As a result of the discussion of this issue, the parties noted the possibility of compliance withall requirements for the preservation of a unique environment.environment and biodiversity the area of the Vistula lagoon in the framework of the Commis-sion on the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic sea (HELCOM).The delegation of the Ministry of natural resources of Russia took part in the world wa-ter week in Stockholm (Sweden).During this event, the participants noted the need for further cooperation and imple-mentation of the projects planned for the next 2 years within the framework of the currentRussian-Swedish Working group on water resources and the marine environment.In addition, a meeting of the Russian-Swedish Working group on water resources andthe marine environment was held at the Swedish environmental protection Agency. The meet-ing discussed the development of a pilot project on marine spatial planning in the adjacentsea areas of Sweden and Russia in the Central part of the Baltic sea, which has been jointlyimplemented since 2016.Cooperation with Sweden in this area is of interest to the Russian Federation in order to unifythe procedure of marine spatial planning in the adjacent sea areas of Sweden and Russia in theCentral part of the Baltic sea and to develop a pilot project of the marine spatial plan in thenational sea area.During the meeting of the Working group, the parties discussed amendments to the co-operation Program for 2019-2020. In particular, the projects “Assessment of the effectivenessof measures to reduce the nutrient load in order to update the action plan for the Baltic sea2007 of The Commission for the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic sea, in thecontext of achieving the sustainable development goals of the UN sustainable developmentAgenda for the period up to 2030” and “Comprehensive assessment of the receipt of nutrientsfrom the Russian part of the catchment area of the Gulf of Finland to fully meet the require-ments of HELCOM Guidelines for the Compilation of the load of pollutants” were considered.Also, during the meetings with the Swedish side, a new direction of bilateral coopera-tion on the elimination of marine debris was outlined, including the exchange of experience inthe field of purification of water bodies from garbage.Russia Page 8Re.: Implementation by Russian Federation of the 27th Resolution of BSPCIn regard of security, migration, trafficking in the Baltic Sea RegionThe Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia with the States of the Baltic Sea region in amultilateral format is carried out within the framework of a Group of personal representativesof the heads of government of the CBSS member States for cooperation in the fight againstorganized crime. (further - group of representatives).In 2017-2019, the Russian delegation took part in seven meetings of the operationalCommittee and two annual strategic meetings of the Group of personal representatives.During the past events with foreign partners the fight against cross-border organizedcrime in the region, illegal migration and human trafficking, drug trafficking, and also touchedupon the issues of cooperation of customs services were discussed.The basis of the activities of the Russian Federation in the Group of personal represen-tatives is active cross-border law enforcement cooperation and operational actions with par-ticipation in the activities of the main Russian competent authorities - the Ministry of internalAffairs of Russia, the FCS of Russia, the FSB of Russia.Expert meetings on combating drug trafficking are being held under the auspices of theoperational Committee, as well as an expert group on combating illegal migration.Russia Page 9Re.: Implementation by Russian Federation of the 27th Resolution of BSPCEnergy related issuesIn the Resolution paragraph 17 (“to expand and make effective use of cross-bordertransmission lines”) seems to be directly relevant to energy.At the same time, in practice, Estonia and Latvia artificially restricted the export ofRussian electricity via Russia-Estonia (three 330 kV high-voltage lines) and Russia-Latvia(one 330 kV high-voltage line) to the Scandinavian market NordPool since 2013. Despite thefact that the lines are in working condition and have a large capacity, the system operatorsof Estonia and Latvia publish on the trading floor zero capacity sections. We believe thatsuch actions by our neighbours are at odds with the content and spirit of this paragraph ofthe Resolution.The agreement on parallel operation of the power systems of Belarus, Russia, Estonia,Latvia, Lithuania of 07.02.2001 (hereinafter — the BRELL Agreement) establishes Generalprinciples for the organization of joint work of the participants. Paragraph 1.3 of the BRELLAgreement provides that the Parties undertake not to cause economic damage to otherParties, not to reduce the quality of electricity and the reliability of parallel operation of thepower systems of the energy ring formed by the networks of these countries by their actionsnot agreed with all the Parties.At the same time, we note the positive direction of the Resolution with regard to thedevelopment of cooperation in the Baltic sea region, including the development of relationsin the field of ecology and transport infrastructure.In the General context of the Resolution, it should be noted that the Baltic historicallyoccupies one of the most important positions in Russia’s foreign trade. Through the Balticsea gate the traditional export of oil products, coal, gas, metals, timber and mineral fertilizersto the European market is carried out.In the Baltic sea there are six Russian cargo sea ports: the Big port of St. Petersburg,Vysotsk, Primorsk, Vyborg, Kaliningrad and the commercial port of Ust-Luga. At the sametime in the ports of Ust-Luga, Vysotsk, Vyborg and Kaliningrad are including coal terminals.We believe it is appropriate to note that the Port of Ust-Luga, located in the North-Westof Russia, in the Leningrad region, in the Luga Bay of the Gulf of Finland of the Balticsea, 130 km from the border of St. Petersburg has the largest coal terminal in Russia on theBaltic sea. The port began its work with the opening of the coal terminal in December 2001.Regular shipments at the coal terminal began in 2002, after the commissioning of the firststage with a capacity of 4 million tons. The second stage complex received the first vessel inJanuary 2006. The coal terminal can handle up to 700 wagons per day. The total capacity ofthe terminal is 12 million tons of coal per year. Currently, it is the most modern specializedautomated port complex for coal transshipment in Russia.At the enterprises of the Baltic coal industry, an information system has been introducedthat allows for effective control of the production process, to keep operational records ofcargo, exchange of information with JSC “RZD” and customers in real time, and an electronicdocument management system has been introduced.Russia Page 10Solving the problems of minimizing the negative impact on the environment during thetransshipment of coal in sea ports are solved by introducing modern technologies aimed atreducing and preventing the negative impact on the environment.By order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 24.05.2018 No 968-pthe list of areas of application of the best available technologies, approved by the order ofthe Government of the Russian Federation dated 24.12.2014 No 2674-p, supplemented byactivities to reduce emissions of pollutants during coal transshipment.The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia together with the interested FederalExecutive authorities updated the Handbook of the best available technologies its 46-2017 “Reduction of emissions of pollutants, discharges of pollutants during storage andwarehousing of goods (goods)”, approved by the order of Rosstandart from 10.10.2017 No2141 (hereinafter — its 46), which has passed the necessary approval procedures and iscurrently prepared for approval.After the approval of its 46, all stevedoring companies involved in coal transshipmentwill rely on the provisions of the Handbook in their activities.Each seaport that has a specialized terminal for coal transshipment will be required toobtain a special environmental permit.During the period from two to three years, almost all major coal ports at their productionsites should introduce a set of the best available technologies, the use of which will minimizethe negative impact on the environment, improve sanitary and environmental safety in theterritories of sea ports and adjacent territories.Thus, the necessary regulatory framework is currently being formed to regulate theobligation to apply modern coal handling technologies that comply with internationalstandards for dust collection and dust suppression, as well as the timing and procedure forthe phased transition to the use of these technologies, the establishment of requirementsfor the equipment of marine terminals used for handling dusty and harmful bulk cargo,including special means of protection, which will contribute, including the maintenance ofenvironmental standards of the Baltic region.In addition, the Russian Ministry of energy is currently working on the possibility oforganizing an expert seminar (conference) on the development of the gas motor fuel market,including liquefied natural gas, under the auspices of the Council of the Baltic Sea Statesand (or) the Northern Dimension. One of the tasks is to develop the infrastructure for the useof natural gas fuel, which is defined in the Address of the President of Russia to the FederalAssembly of the Russian Federation of 20.02.2019, and also in the main activities of theGovernment of the Russian Federation for the period till 2024 approved by the Governmentof the Russian Federation of 29.09.2018.Support for this work through inter-parliamentary cooperation is also necessary.Russia Page 11Re.: Implementation by Russian Federation of the 27th Resolution of BSPCIn regard the Transport issues, Environment protection, including plastic wasteThe BSPC in its 27th Resolution supports the Ministerial Declaration of the Commissionfor the protection of the sea among the Baltic sea region (hereinafter-HELCOM), adopted inBrussels on March 2018 (hereinafter - the Brussels Declaration), and calls for more activeactions to implement the decisions contained therein, notes the need to intensify efforts toimplement the action Plan for the Baltic sea (hereinafter-the BPM), as well as to hold regularMinisterial meetings of HELCOM, to strengthen cooperation on General spatial planning inthe Baltic sea region.The Russian Ministry of Transport is actively working on the implementation of theBrussels Declaration, including the revision of the BPM adopted at the HELCOM Ministerialsession in 2007. Representatives of the Ministry of transport of Russia and RosMorRechFlotparticipate in the HELCOM Subgroup on Green Technologies and Alternative Fuels, themain purpose of which is to discuss the issues of stimulating ships entering the Baltic portsfor their modernization and the establishment of modern ship equipment in order to preventpollution from ships, especially to reduce emissions of pollutants.We believe it is appropriate to note that in the framework of the regular HELCOMsessions, including at the Ministerial level, only one Declaration directly related to the safetyof navigation was adopted - the Declaration on the safety of navigation and emergencyresponse in the Baltic sea region of 2001 (the Copenhagen HELCOM Declaration).Subsequent HELCOM declarations, as well as the MBP, generally address the preventionof marine pollution from the possible adverse effects of international shipping as one of thefour main areas/priorities of activities aimed at improving the ecological status of the Balticsea, among eutrophication, hazardous substances and biodiversity conservation.Also we believe that it is possible to note that for the successful implementationof some decisions of the Brussels Declaration, especially in the context of the issues ofunderwater noise and violations of the integrity of the seabed, it is necessary to conductspecial research with the aim of obtaining scientific obosnovanny data for decision-makingand argumentation to defend the interests of the Russian Federation at carrying out furtherwork on the revision of pdbm.We note that significant efforts to prevent pollution of the marine environment frominternational navigation are being made not only in the framework of the implementation ofthe provisions of the Brussels Declaration and the scbm Resolution, but also in the frameworkof the activities of the International Maritime organization (hereinafter - IMO).In particular, the Baltic sea area is given the status of a “control area for nitrogen oxideemissions from ships” under Annex VI “Regulations for the prevention of air pollutionfrom ships” to the International Convention for the prevention of pollution from ships 1973(hereinafter - the MARPOL Convention), as well as the status of a “special area” under AnnexIV “Regulations for the prevention of pollution from ships” to the MARPOL Convention.Russia Page 12The relevant regulations of the said annexes establish stricter requirements for emissionsof nitrogen oxides from ships and discharges of sewage from passenger ships in the Balticsea area than in other areas of the World ocean. It is worth noting that the Baltic sea is a“control area for sulphur oxide emissions from ships” under Annex VI to the MARPOLConvention, which implies the strictest standards for sulphur emissions from ships. Theabove regulations have been adopted to reduce air pollution in the Baltic sea area.In terms of paragraph 16 of the BSPC Resolution regarding the adoption of effectivemeasures and immediate action for the reduction of critical level of plastic and micro-plasticin the sea, and also to find solutions to the problems of plastic waste on a global scale, theRussian Federation took an active part in the work of the Working group on the developmentof an action Plan to tackle the problem of plastic pollution of the sea by garbage fromships (hereafter the working group action Plan) in the framework of the 73rd session of theCommittee on the protection of the marine environment IMO.The Russian Federation also submitted a document with comments to the proposal forthe development of the action Plan, the document also pointed to the unreasonableness ofthe regulation of the dumping of grey water from vessels to obtain reliable scientific dataabout the negative impact on the marine environment, and also about the possibility of acoastal wastewater treatment plants to provide treatment of such waters from the micro-plastic before it is discharged into the marine environment.With the active participation of the Russian Federation in the framework of the Workinggroup held a discussion of the possible regulation of dumping grey water from vessels inthe area of micro-plastic in the grey waters. The absence at this stage to quantify the micro-plastic in the grey waters, the coast, and not marine origin of micro-plastic, and the inabilityto effectively filter grey water containing microplastics, onshore receiving facilities raisesserious questions.Following the discussion, the opinion of the Russian Federation on the prematureconsideration of the measures until the results of full-scale studies was supported and it wasdecided to call upon interested member States and international organizations to conductstudies for a better understanding of the problems of detecting micro-plastic (not just greywater) from ships for further work.The result of the work of the Working group was the adoption of an action Plan toaddress the problem of marine pollution with plastic debris from ships at a meeting of theCommittee for the protection of the marine environment on 26 October 2018 (resolutionMEPC.310(73). It was also decided to review the action Plan on an annual basis and toconduct a comprehensive review 5 years after its adoption (2023).The adopted action Plan meets the goals set out in the UN Declaration 2030 “Sustainabledevelopment” 14 ( SDG 14) on oceans. Thus, work is being carried out to implement thesustainable development strategy to achieve the goals of the UN agenda for the period up to2030 in accordance with paragraph 12 Of the resolution of the BSPC.Sweden Page 1SwedenSweden Page 2Utrikesdepartementet2019-06-07Enheten för Östeu ropa och Centralasien (UD-EC)Eva EkmehagEva.ekmehag@gov.seTel. 076 76 54 463Uppföljning 27 BSPC resolutionen 2018N edan de svar som inkommit från fackdepartementen pårReekgoamrdminengd Caotioopneerrantai ofrnå nin B tShPeC R, Megairoienh, atom n, i augusti 2018.1. intensify the interaction between the Northern Dimensionpolicy and the EU. Strategy for the Baltic Sea and the RussianStrategy of social and economic development of the North-Westfederal district.SB EU-kansliet och NäringsdepartementetThe EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) is open tocooperation with EU neighbouring countries and recognizes theimportance of their involvement e.g. as partners in different projects. Ahorizontal action area within the EUSBSR is focusing on promotingdialogue and facilitating cooperation across the borders and with otherneighbouring regions, thus enabling Baltic Sea region actors to findcommon solutions to mutual challenges and to seek synergies and linksbetween various regions. The main purpose is to bring togetherstakeholders in the EU and neighbouring countries: Norway, Belarus,Iceland and especially the North-Western territories of the RussianFederation. HA Neighbours is coordinated by the City of Turku(Finland) and CBSS.Cooperation has also taken place with other macro-regional strategies,especially between EUSBSR and EU Strategy for the Danube Region(EUSDR). Steps has been taken by the Commission to bring the differentcooperation platforms closer (Northern Dimension, the EUSBSR and theR ussian Strategy of social and economic development of the North-W2. eesxtt feendde rtahle d sisctorpicet) o. f transnational programmes covering thewhole Baltic Sea area and anchor this possibility and thecorresponding funding in all macroregional strategies on a formallevel to improve relations between neighbouring countries.SB EU-kanslietSweden Page 32Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme invites Russian organisations tobe involved as project partners as they may apply for the Programmefunding. Belarusian organisations may join as associated partners. TheProgram is an agreement between EU member states Denmark, Estonia,Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and the northern parts ofG ermany as well as partner countries Norway, Belarus and thenRoergtahrwdeinstg r tehgeio vniss ioofn R oufs sai aH. ealthy Baltic Sea - a call for more action,to7. - as the BSPC supports the HELCOM Ministerial Declaration of 6March 2018 in Brussels and shares its critical view on the state ofthe Baltic Sea under various aspects - vigorously implement thedecisions contained in the Ministerial Declaration.Miljö- och energidepartementet, Implement HELCOM MinisterialDeclarationThe Swedish government is supporting the ongoing preparatory workto update the BSAP. This is done both through direct support for aproject manager for the Sufficiency of measures work where a GAPanalysis is made to compare decided measures to the target of thepresent BSAP. It also includes ambitious participation in the differentwork strands under this preparatory work from Swedish experts andauthorities. The updated BSAP is planned to address new pressures onthe environment such an underwater noise, marine litter and fish thatare not presently covered by the BSAP as well as the Ocean relatedSustainable development goals. To come closer to the BSAP goals willdeliver economic and social benefits such as better opportunities fort ourism and improved fish stocks as well as strengthen resilience of thee8c. oe-sstyasbtelimsh t oe fcfleimctaivtee cchoaonrgdei.n ation processes and policies tosupport the Implementation Strategy for the sustainable BlueGrowth Agenda for the Baltic Sea Region.Miljö- och energidepartementet, Implementation strategy for BluegrowthSweden has adopted a Maritime Strategy with an integrated ecosystemapproach structure where a sustainable Blue economy that integratesenvironmental aspects, Maritime development and attractive coastala9n. edn mhaarnincee acroenassu ilnt aotnioe ntrsu alyn dsu csotaoipnearbaleti bolnu er eggraorwdtihn sgt raa stepgayt.i a lmaster planning in the Baltic Sea region, considering all interestsand aspects of economy (shipping, fishing, energy, tourism, etc.),environment and the neighbours.Miljö- och energidepartementet, Marine spatial planningSweden Page 43Sweden has a lead role in the present HELCOM related project VASABproject to push a coordinated and harmonised planning of the Baltic Seaarea. Sweden has also initiated a national centre regarding climateadaptation that supports Swedish actors including the marine spatialp1l0a.n cnoinngsi odne rcilnimg atthea atd, dapetpaetniodni.n g on the country, only 25 to 60percent of the targets of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to beimplemented by 2021 are currently met at the national level -urgently intensify efforts at the national and regional level to setappropriate policy priorities to achieve the objectives of the BSAPby 2021 as far as possible on schedule.Miljö-och energidepartementetIncreased ambition to reach targets of the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP)by 2021. Sweden supports the present targets and an increaseda1m1.b hitoioldn roeng iumlaprle HmEeLnCtOatMio nM inisterial Meetings - including allresponsible ministers of each member state in the meetings - andcome to binding rules under international law - as was the casewith the measures to increase maritime safety with theinvolvement of the transport ministers -, thus bringing the issue ofa clean Baltic Sea more strongly into the political debate of eachnation and region and to achieve a more binding enforcement ofthe agreements reached.Miljö-och energidepartementet, Regular Ministerial meetingsThe last meeting was in 2018 and the next is planned for 2021 when thenew updated BSAP will be decided. It is now important that nationaladministrations hold an open communication to the ministerial level onthe ambition necessary to improve the environmental status of theB12al.t dice Sveeal otop porre epnahrea nfocre a b hoitghh jaominbti taionnd oafd tdhiet iroenvaisle nda BtiSoAnPa. l andregional sustainability strategies to achieve the UN-Agenda 2030goals and realise the vision of a clean Baltic Sea free from marinelitter whilst promoting sustainable agricultural practices, moresustainable shipping and tackling eutrophication and underwaternoise.Miljö-och energidepartementet, Realise the vision of a clean Baltic SeaSweden Page 54Sweden has highly supported the newly adopted EU directive on singleuse plastics. On condition they are implemented in an ambitious wasthey will strongly deliver on this target. The directive includes the• ban on selected single-use products made of plasticfollowing parts.A forwhich alternatives exist on the market: cotton bud sticks,cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, sticks for balloons, as well ascups, food and beverage containers made of expanded• pMoelyasstuyrreesn eto a nredd ounc ael lc opnrosduumctpst mioande of oxo-degradableplastic.of food containers and• bEexvteenradgeed c Pupros dmuacdeer oRfe pslpasotnics iabnidli tsyp esccihfiecm measr king andlabelling of certain products.covering the• cost to clean-up lciottleler,c atipopnli etadr tgoe pt rfoodr upcltass stuicc hb oatst tloebsaccofilters and fishing gear.A 90% separate by 2029(77% by 2025) and the introduction of design requirements toconnect caps to bottles, as well as target to incorporate 25% ofrecycled plastic in PET bottles as from 2025 and 30% in allplastic bottles as from 2030.Agriculture is the largest source for nutrient loads from land to theBaltic Sea. To tackle the eutrophication the Swedish government istherefore supporting the increased ambition about environmental- andclimate-related objectives in the legislative proposals from theEuropean Commission on the common agricultural policy (CAP) beyond2020.The Swedish government also support the work with implementing theWater Framework Directive as a tool to improve the management andprotection of waters related to the pressures causing eutrophication.The work in HELCOM developing a nutrient recycling strategy can alsobe a tool to promote sustainable agricultural practices and to alleviatet1h3e. epurterpoaprheic faotrio ann pdr heseslupr seh. ape the "Decade of Ocean Science forSustainable Development" from 2021-2030 proclaimed by theUnited Nations, to reach the goal of delivering the ocean we needfor the future we want.Miljö- och energidepartementet, Decade of Ocean ScienceSweden is supporting the development of the Decade of Ocean sciencenationally, through HELCOM but also by supporting developingcountries contributions.Sweden Page 6515. take preventative measures and immediate actions to improvethe quality of waste-water effluents and halt untreated dischargeswithout delay and to show determination to clean up the heavilypolluted sea.Miljö-och energidepartementet, Preventive measures and immediateactions to improve the quality of waste water effluent.The Swedish Government has promoted investments in the installationof advanced waste water treatment techniques. Funds of appr. 25million euro will be available for three years. Interested parties canapply for funding up to 90 % of the cost of the project. All funds for2018 have been used, and SEK 85 million have been granted to 16different projects. Sweden also investigates, as well as the recoversenvironmentally hazardous substances and lost fishing gear (ghostnets) from shipwrecks in Swedish waters. This is financed from the 50million Euro per year set aside to treat heavily polluted areas inS1w6.e tdaekne. urgent efficient action on the worrying levels of plasticsand microplastics in the seas. support and implement theregulations on reducing or banning single-use plastic as quickly aspossible. promote public awareness of microplastic pollutionthroughout the Baltic ecosystem and encourage customers toavoid personal care products containing plastic microbeads.Miljö-och energidepartementet, Support and implement the regulationson reducing or banning single use plastics as quickly as possible.The Government decided in February 2018 to ban cosmetic productsthat are intended to be rinsed off or spat out and contain plasticparticles that have been added to cleanse, exfoliate or polish. The banapplies to products such as toothpaste, body exfoliators, face scrubs,shower gels, shampoos and conditioners containing microplastics.The Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate has supported the EuropeanChemicals Agency (ECHA) in developing their recent proposal torestrict intentionally added microplastic particles in all articles.In May 2017, the Government presented a package of measures tocombat plastic pollution of over SEK 100 million per year until 2020,with the aim of reducing the spread of microplastics and other plasticproducts, reducing littering from plastic products, and carrying outbeach clean-ups. The package includes funding for municipalities andother stakeholders for mitigating releases of microplastics via stormwater systems. During 2018, SEK 10 million were granted to 14different projects, 6 of which are targeting.Sweden Page 76Regarding Migration and Integration, to23. consider migration and security perspectives in relevant otherpolitical agendas such as trade, labour rights and environmentalpreservationArbetsmarknadsdepartmentetWe are looking forward to participating in the upcoming projectCompetence building, Assistance provision and Prosecution of labourexploitation cases in the Baltic Sea Region (CAPE). A key aspect in theproject is that both local and national authorities in the Baltic SeaRegion will be involved. The main aim of the project is to supportrelevant national and local authorities in combating and prosecutingforced labour and assist victims.