Struk speech at 29 BSPC

29 BSPCYEARSBaltic Sea Parliamentary ConferenceTHIRD SESSIONAddresses by observers of the BSPCMr. Mieczysław StrukAddress by Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation,Chairman of the BSSSC, Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship29th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference – digital – August 24th; 9:00 – 12:00Address by Mr Mieczysław Struk – BSSSC Chairman – 11:00 – 11:30 sessionMr President, Ministers, representatives of the Baltic Sea Region parliaments, friends from the Baltic SeaRegion institutions and organisations.First of all I would like to thank President Simulik for inviting the BSSSC to address this honourableforum. It is a pleasure to be here in the role of a partner organisation representing local and regionalauthorities as well as our youth.BSSSC as a platform: to voice the interests of regions, debate and lobby for issues most urgent to them,as well as to support and initiate projects and bottom-up cooperation, organises its activities against thebackground of European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, Sustainable Development Goals,Baltic 2030 Action Plan, Helcom Baltic Sea Action Plan, Northern Dimension, European Green Dealand EU Digital Agenda to mention just the key policies and visions.Having a nearly 30- year history behind us we see how much has already been done for this part of Europeand its citizens. But the current challenges: climate crises, ageing societies, digitalisation and all sorts ofcyber threats, decrease in trust in traditional democratic mechanisms, to mention just a few, demand aneven more active and concerted approach. When we add the experience from COVID – 19 we see thatwe have to rethink and remodel many areas of our life and prepare better for what comes next. We haveto act together to stop society disruption, spread of fake news, increase of populisms and nationalisms andloss of trust in science and logic.To address those challenges successfully we need to follow good governance principles: rule of law,transparency, accountability and consensus. We need solidarity in all aspects: with those in need, includingmigrants, with future generations and with nature. That is definitely what we stand for in the BSSSC.As the Pomorskie Chairmanship in the BSSSC we opened this year’s work with a seminar on democracy:showing how important it is for all the aspects of our life to thrive. Discussing the need to redefine thedemocratic model, and showing new forms of deliberative democracy, like citizens’ assemblies involvingall levels of citizenship. In this respect we are looking forward to the Conference on the Future of Europebut also to the initiatives like “Citizens take over Europe”.Building on the past developments, we take care to involve the youth in all our activities and to providecooperation and discussion platforms for them. Examples are plenty: BSSSC Spring Youth Event (andhere I would like to thank the BSPC director for being with us) as well as the planned BSSSC AutumnYouth Event, involvement in the Baltic Sea Youth Camp and the Baltic Sea Youth Platform, where we arehappy to be partners of the CBSS. But we are also proud that both initiatives have originated among theBSSSC Youth.During our biggest event – the annual conference to be held this year in virtual form on September 29– October 1st we will discuss developments within the EUSBSR and the Strategy for the West NorthRegions of Russian Federation. We will look into the new Territorial Agenda and showcase best examplesof Interreg cooperation, preparing on this basis ideas for the future initiatives. This will be done in theareas of: Culture, creativity and Baltic Identity, Plastic Free Baltic, Intelligent Transport and Mobility,Energy Islands and Circular Economy. Talking about Interreg we cannot forget the 30th year anniversaryof this great financial instrument to be celebrated in October. We appreciate to have this importantfinancial support to be able to implement ambitious and necessary solutions. And in this respect we arelooking forward to the Youth Manifesto on European Territorial Cooperation to be presented there. Weare proud to be part of the discussions.Coming to the end I would like to convey a very strong plea from the regional and local level to thelegislative on the macroregional level but also within the nations to involve us and the youth in thedecision making processes. Only acting truly together we can have a success. I would also like to inviteyou to participate in our annual online conference and follow our other activities.Thank you