Speech
Blatic Sea Festival, Stockholm 02 September 2009
Cecilia Malmström, Minister for EU Affairs
Taking the Baltic Sea Strategy forward during the Swedish presidency
Your Royal highnessess, Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to begin by thanking the World Wide Fund for Nature for the opportunity to speak at this seminar. It's an honour to be here and I am convinced that this seminar - and the whole week - serves as an important opportunity to focus on and to discuss important matters relating to the Baltic Sea.
Our part of Europe has seen a remarkable transition in the past 30 years. The Baltic Sea has transformed from being a dividing Sea during the Cold war, into a unifying Sea, once again serving as one of the major trading routes of the world. Indeed, this sea transports some 90 per cent of all trade within the region. In total, some 2000 ships are in transit in the Baltic Sea every day.
The Baltic Sea Region is the home of some of the most competitive companies in the world but also a host to highly renowned universities and research institutes in various fields.
We want to make best benefit of what the region as a whole has to offer. This is particularly important in the globalised world of today.
But although the region has great potential, there are also great challenges ahead. Two areas of particular concern are the state of the Baltic sea and the economic crisis.
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There is an old Latin saying that goes something like this: "Nature has given man one tongue, but two ears so that we will listen twice as much as he speaks".
It's high time we start listening to nature itself.
That is why the severe environmental challenges facing the Baltic Sea are at the core of a EU strategy for the region.
The Baltic Sea is unique in the way that it is a very large sea with brackish water. It embraces 9 coastal states and its drainage area covers as much as 13 countries. The Baltic Sea is very important as a resource for fishing, business, trade, transport and recreation. In all these areas there are a number of environmental issues to take into consideration. Therefore we have to manage the Baltic Sea with great care.
By this I am thinking particularly of the serious condition of the Baltic Sea, and the very special features of this sea: a shallow, brackish, inland sea. Since eight of the nine Baltic Sea States are members of the EU, the Baltic Sea has become something of an EU inland sea. This makes the Baltic Sea's state of health a matter of concern for the entire EU.
Today it's September 2nd and you can feel that the summer has come to an end. Unfortunately also this summer and bathing season also brought with it reports of algal blooms and oxygen-deficient sea-beds that become more widespread with each passing year. This is a result of eutrophication, pollution and ecological imbalances.
Traffic on the Baltic Sea has doubled in the last ten years. As I mentioned earlier, this is, in broad terms, a result of increased integration and interaction between the countries of the Baltic Sea region. This is a very positive development.
At the same time increased traffic poses new risks for the environment and challenges for the maritime supervisory authorities and emergency preparedness organisations.
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But the condition of the Baltic Sea is not the only challenge we must tackle in our region.
The economic crisis has made the question of how we can increase growth and safeguard jobs and welfare a burning issue. How can we make the Baltic Sea region a strong motor for growth, for the sake of welfare and jobs? Many of its countries are small and dependent on exports. There are still differences among the Baltic Sea countries in terms of development and economic situation. Some of the countries are ranked among the most competitive in the world, while others still are among the poorest in the EU, despite the fact that they are developing at an impressive pace. As we all know the economic crisis has hit several of the new economies particularly hard, especially Latvia.
We must deal with the economic crisis by increasing cooperation with, and commitment to, the countries in our region. We must counter proposals that lead to closed markets and that assert national special interests. Protectionism can never be the solution; it merely risks making an already serious situation worse.
Global competitiveness requires cross-border cooperation between countries and companies, within the research sector and through innovations. The activities of major companies and research institutions are not hindered by geographical boundaries, while cooperation between small and medium-sized actors is often based on a local or regional perspective.
What is important now is to integrate the region better so as to strengthen the competitiveness. We all stand to gain from this.
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The idea of a joint strategy for the Baltic Sea is indeed very timely. Five years after the enlargement which saw Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland join the EU and 20 years after the fall of the iron curtain, it is high time to adapt ourselves to the new realities and make use of the opportunities offered by the fact that eight out of nine states round the Baltic Sea are functioning democracies, market economies and also members of the EU.
The cold war divided us - the iron curtain cut right through the Baltic sea. Now the sea can be a unifier again.
More than 100 million people live and work in the Baltic Sea region. If we manage to "think more macro", and not think so much along national borders, we can pool resources and be complementary to each other.
The strategy should not replace or double, but rather be complementary to existing cooperation. The purpose is to support activities that are already in force, to give signals for new initiatives and to identify common priorities. We should work towards increasing the level of ambition in different fields, aiming for a deeper integration.
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The Commission presented a paper on the Baltic Sea Strategy in June, outlining a focus on four different goals which corresponds to issues that are common to all Baltic countries and that requires joint action.
The goals are:
- To make the Baltic Sea region environmentally sustainable
- To make the Baltic Sea region prosperous
- To make the Baltic Sea region accessible and attractive
- To make the Baltic Sea region safe and secure
These challenges are transformed into a number of concrete projects, outlined in an action plan. An interesting - and unique - feature of this new strategy is that different Member States will take responsibility for different priority areas, and also be responsible for coordinating various "flagship projects", with deadlines attached. Regional organizations can also take the lead. I find this type of governance really smart. I am convinced that it will make a difference, because we really put pressure on ourselves.
For example - Sweden is responsible for a so called flagship project that is aimed to remove phosphates in detergents in countries where this is not yet the case. The aim is of course to reduce eutrophication in the Baltic Sea.
There are other projects aimed to secure capital for small and medium enterprises, for example through involving cross-border venture capital funds and there are projects aiming at promoting young entrepreneurs, for example by making financial resources available to them. The ambition here is naturally to contribute to growth and increased competitiveness
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I am convinced that the Baltic Sea Strategy can be beneficial to the EU as a whole. The cooperative character of the strategy, has the potential, if implemented effectively, to improve the possibilities of the EU to achieve several of its common policy objectives.
Thanks to the strategy our region has the opportunity to show how we can work together to meet common challenges. Other countries have already shown interest and wants to draw on our experiences. I am glad to say that a similar initiative has been taken in the Danube region.
I would like to assure you that the Government will assume the leadership needed during the Swedish Presidency of the EU to initiate the unique, long-term work that the EU Baltic Sea Strategy will entail. This is one of our main priorities this fall.
The Baltic Sea Strategy was on the agenda of the General Affairs Council in July.
Prime Minister Reinfeldt and myself will convene a ministerial conference on 17-18 September at the City Hall in Stockholm. The theme of this conference will be the EU Baltic Sea Strategy as a model for similar EU strategies in the future.
Our ambition to adopt the strategy at the European Council in October and that will enable us to immediately afterwards begin the actual implementation of the strategy in various working groups and within the areas of responsibility of specific ministers.
Most of the work will however not require further decisions at Council level, but can be carried out in a decentralized fashion in the EU member states, through existing structures, existing authorities and agencies.
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Will we make the strategy work?
I see the key to a successful Baltic Sea Strategy as being twofold.
On the one hand, we need true commitment, we need to work hard at all levels and we need an even closer cooperation between our countries. The preparatory work done by the Commission, the high level of interest, participation and contribution at the stakeholders meetings in the region, render me comfort that the necessary commitment will continue to be broad and sustainable. I feel very comfortable with the basis on which this Strategy has been developed on. We have met, discussed and exchanged views in Stockholm, Kaunas, Gdansk, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Rostock and the Commission has collected contributions, opinions and input from local and regional authorities, civil society and the business community.
On the other hand, the Strategy will only work in practise if we make it work. Here, I consider the Action Plan to be a cornerstone to ensure both a continued broad commitment and to make sure that the abstract strategy melts down to concrete, visible and tangible projects. All countries across the region have pledged to take lead responsibilities for certain issues, thus demonstrating a broad ownership not only in the formulating but also the implementing phase of the Strategy.
The pilot project character of this first EU macro-regional strategy will be important to gain the support of European institutions and the other 19 Member States. This macro-regional approach does not lead to a regionalisation and division of EU but it offers a new tool to reach our common goals.
The Commission will continue to play a vital role to develop a sustainable governance model for the implementation and follow-up of the strategy, in particular with regard to monitoring and proposing amendments and updates of the strategy.
Again - the Baltic Sea Region has undergone a tremendous development the last decades. A closely integrated Baltic Sea Region has been a clear vision for our generation, and it is now high time for us politicians to take integration and cooperation even further. I think the Baltic Sea Strategy can and will serve as a model for regional cooperation in Europe. And I'm convinced that the strategy can and will contribute to make the Baltic sea more healthy and to promote growth and strengthen competitiveness in the Baltic Sea region.
Thank You
