Toespraak Eurocommissaris Samecki over samenwerking Baltische zeegebied (en)

Pawel SAMECKI i

European Commissioner responsible for Regional Policy

Keynote Address on EU Baltic Sea Strategy

Figures and graphics available in PDF and WORD PROCESSED

Ministerial conference on the EU Baltic Sea Strategy

Stockholm , 18 September 2009

Introduction

Prime Minister, Mr President, Ministers, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank you, Mr Prime Minister, for the opportunity to participate in this Conference. We, in the Commission, very much appreciate the support and encouragement that the Swedish Presidency has given to the preparation and formulation of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and to the concept of macro-regional strategies generally. For reasons I will explain in a moment, we find the topic of this conference very appropriate and well-timed.

Background

It is clear that we have come a long way in a very short time. It was only in 2007 that the European Council invited the Commission to prepare a Baltic Sea Region Strategy. I would underline the strong political support within the Commission from the outset, exemplified by President Barroso and my predecessor, Danuta Hübner i, which is one of the key reasons why we have been able to make such progess.

Thanks to the preparatory work undertaken by the inter-group in the European Parliament, and consistent support from Sweden, the broad lines that a strategy would have to cover were already clear. No one was in any doubt that the result would have to offer the prospect of real progress in dealing with the state of the Baltic Sea, with the economic situation, especially the disparities in matters such as innovation and research, and with the transport and energy linkages in the region. It quickly became evident that issues of safety and security, particularly in the maritime context, would also be indispensable.

It was not so easy to foresee the outburst of enthusiasm and constructive cooperation that we witnessed. Thanks to the whole-hearted support from all the Member States involved, from the regions and municipalities, and from the NGOs and other groups, the Commission could be confident that serious, workable proposals would be accepted and implemented. I must say also that the level of interest and cooperation within the Commission has been unprecedented, with the active participation of more than twenty Directorates-General.

Results

Thanks to this positive atmosphere it was possible to work in a consensual manner across a very wide range of issues. Because of an early decision – a pragmatic requirement really – that no new legislation at EU level would be proposed, we could put aside issues of competence and legal bases and focus on what needed to be done, how and by whom. So the strategy is not limited to the traditional areas of Community action, and we have been able to call upon EU, national and regional expertise to contribute across the range of concerns.

Implications

Ladies and gentlemen, I said at the beginning that this conference is very timely. Why? Because we have completed the preparatory work. We are now engaged with the Member States in setting up the implementation structure. More, we are now actively considering how to apply the lessons of this Strategy to other regions, and indeed starting to think about the longer-term implications of this approach. Every word said here today, therefore, will be a valuable input into our thinking and will help us – all of us – to learn from our experience and apply it in other regions.

Let me just share with you a few thoughts on how this macro-regional approach might develop. I must underline that I am thinking aloud here: this is by no means formal EU, or even Commission, policy. However, your reactions and comments during the day might help to decide whether we move in this direction.

Three questions seem to me to come to the fore:

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  Can the concept of macro-regions be applied widely across the EU?
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  Should macro-regions be comprehensive – I might say holistic – in their approach, covering all policy areas?
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  Could macro-regions become the medium to deliver significant EU funding, for example via the objective of territorial cooperation within the EU's Cohesion Policy?
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  I do not have time to explore these questions in depth now, but my colleagues and I would be extremely interested to discuss them with all of you, today and in the days to come. We would particularly like to hear the views of representatives of those countries that are not members of the two macro-regions currently under discussion: do you see this approach as being useful even if you don’t have a common sea or river to link you?

The question of funding, of course, is part of the wide-ranging review we are undertaking to prepare future proposals on cohesion policy. I will just say that there is unanimity about the importance and Community added value of territorial co-operation and that we need to look at further improving cross-border and transnational cooperation. So the issue is how to strengthen co-ordination within territorial cooperation. Could macro-regional strategies, coupled with an overall envelope (not pre-allocated to specific Member States or regions) be a solution? Perhaps this is also worth discussing.

Next steps

Finally, what must we do now?

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  We need to complete the move from words to action in the Baltic.

The Presidency has achieved agreement on how this should be done, and the Commission will play its part to the limit of its capacities. The European Parliament's continuing support, as demonstrated in yesterday's debate on the Strategy during the plenary session in Strasbourg, will also be crucial in this regard.

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  We must get moving on preparing the Danube Strategy as requested by the European Council last June.

With a mixture of Member States, candidate countries and non-members the Danube basin will be a very different, and in many ways harder, proposition. Nonetheless I am confident that, given the same level of enthusiastic support and assistance that we received in the Baltic, it will be possible to identify a fruitful way of working and achieve good results.

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  We should refine our approach for wider application in the long term.

To prepare one strategy is a challenge. To achieve two will be a successful experiment. We must draw on this experience and see how it could be practical to apply a macro-regional strategy to other areas of the Union and its neighbours. It’s less than two years since the first work started in the Commission, but already we see exciting possibilities for this approach. Working together, we can open the doors to new ways of making Europe more effective.

I am very much looking forward to the rest of this conference, and I trust that you are too.

Thank you very much for your attention.