The Committee on Regional Development adopted an own-initiative report drafted by Wojciech Michał OLEJNICZAK (S&D, PL) on the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the role of macro-regions in the future cohesion policy, in response to the Commission communication on the same subject.
Members welcome the approval of the European Commission and the support of the Council for the Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, which Parliament has been calling for since 2006. They welcome the fact that the Strategy is the result of broad consultation with interested parties in the Member States and welcome, in this regard, the establishment of a civil society forum in the region such as the Baltic Sea Action Summit. The Commission is called upon to create a special web portal devoted to the Baltic Sea Strategy, which would act as a forum for the exchange of experiences regarding current and future projects.
The committee calls on the Member States and regions to take advantage of the Structural Funds available for 2007-2013 in order to ensure maximum support for the Strategy, in particular to promote job creation and economic growth in areas most affected by the economic crisis. It notes that implementation of the Baltic Sea Strategy has as yet been very slow. It considers that the appropriations earmarked in the 2010 EU budget may be used to improve implementation and reminds the Commission of the importance of this money being allocated as soon as possible for purposes in line with the targets of the Baltic Sea Strategy.
The report states that the overriding goal is to find optimal mechanisms that can be transferred to future macro-regional strategies. Members point to the need to promote new areas with development and innovation potential and to take the opportunity ofusing the added value of theBaltic Sea Strategy and other future macro-regional strategies to reach new level of synergywhich can reduce existing disparities.
The European Commission is called upon to analyse the first results and experiences in connection with the implementation of the Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, which will help to map out possible sources and methods for financing macro-regional strategies and help in using the example of the Strategy as a pilot project for other macro-regional strategies to demonstrate their functionality.
Members believe that the Strategy’s territorial dimension will lead to the concrete development of the idea of territorial cohesion, which the Treaty of Lisbon places on an equal footing with economic and social cohesion, and with this in mind calls on the Commission to engage in active dialogue on the role and impact of EU macro-regional policies after 2013.
External dimension: Members call for improvement, in the context of the Strategy for Baltic Sea Region as well as of the future macro-regional strategies, of the relations between the European Union and the non-EU states, particularly in the implementation of large-scale projects with significant environmental impact. Furthermore, they call for cooperation between the EU and non-EU states to strengthen security within the region and support the fight against cross-border crime.
The report draws attention to the need to seek greater cooperation particularly between Russia and Belarus, and the Baltic States when constructing the energy network, and to take greater advantage of the energy dialogue between the EU and Russia for this purpose, which would at the same time open up opportunities for involving Russia in the Baltic Sea Strategy.
Stressing the need to reduce the region’s dependence on Russian energy, Members welcome the European Commission’s statement on the need for more interconnections between Member States in the region and greater diversification of energy supplies. They call in this regard for increased support for the creation of LNG ports.
Members believe that the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Russia should take account of the cooperation in the Baltic Sea Area. They believe that the EU-Russia common spaces will provide a valuable framework in this regard, and call on Russia to play an equal part in such cooperation. The report also considers that Baltic Sea Region Cooperation should be prioritised and should take place at the highest political level of Heads of State and Government, since it is crucial in driving forward cooperation between the Baltic Sea countries and ensuring that political ambitions are realised.
Environmental and energy aspects: the report emphasises the need for an environmental impact assessment of energy infrastructure projects (currently under construction and in the future), taking into account, in particular international conventions. It calls on the Commission to design an adequate reaction plan for technical accidents and any other possible catastrophes, providing also for ways of dealing with these events from an economic point of view.
Members emphasise the need to establish a Baltic Sea Environmental Monitoring Centre, an early-warning system for accidents and serious cross-border pollution, and a joint action force to deal with such situations.
The report draws attention to the strategic significance of the Baltic Sea region for the development of joint projects on energy infrastructure that improve diversification of energy production and supply. It also emphasises that, in view of the intended expansion of nuclear energy in the Baltic Sea region, EU countries have to follow the strictest safety and environmental standards and the European Commission has to watch and monitor whether the same approach and international conventions are followed in the neighbouring countries, especially in those which are planning to build nuclear power plants near external EU borders.
Recalling that the Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted sea areas in the world, Members emphasise the need for the EU and its Member States surrounding the Baltic Sea Region urgently to address the serious environmental problems affecting the Region, principal among which are eutrophication, the impact of hazardous substances deposited on the seabed and threats to aquatic biodiversity, with particular regard to endangered fish populations.
Transport and tourism aspects: Members emphasise that it is a priority to create an effective and environmentally friendly sea, land and inland transport and communication network, taking account of the provisions of the updated version of the Natura 2000 document and paying particular attention to links between the Baltic Sea region and other European regions through the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor and the Central European Transport Corridor.
The report highlights the following issues:
Lastly, Members welcome the inclusion in the Commission’s action plan of the objective of making the Baltic Sea a model region for clean shipping and a world leader in maritime safety and security.