Among topics discussed in Espoo were:

1. State of play after the review of the EU Strategy
2. Communicating the EU Strategy
3. Targets and indicators for the EU Strategy
4. Seed money facilities in the Baltic Sea Region

It was concluded at the very useful meeting that the question of leadership and visibility of the EU strategy should be addressed as a priority. This also covers how to make the best use of existing structures on the ground (CBSS, Baltic Sea State Councils, Baltic Sea Summit), including the idea of a rotating Presidency for the Strategy. The role and involvement of National and European Parliaments should be considered, and Member States should ask sectorial councils to discuss how to include the macro-regional strategies in their work.

The responsible actors within the Strategy should work more closely with managing authorities of the Structural Fund programmes, in order to strengthen the overall coherence of the Strategy. The Swedish structure for implementation of the EU Strategy, was acknowledged as a good example of how to establish a consistent network as a link between the EU Strategy and the country’s needs.

When it comes to external communication, storytelling seminars (“emotional messages”) was recommended to help spreading information about the EU Strategy. The BDF initiative “newsWave”, www.newsvawe.eu, was mentioned in Espoo as one of the good examples of external communication, aiming at engaging citizens and civil society in topics related to the Baltic Sea Region.

“BDF supports the intention of strong commitments, high ambitions and clear responsibility for the Strategy, including a visible leadership”, says Torben Aaberg, Head of Public Affairs, who represented BDF in Espoo. “However, we should avoid bureaucratic structures around and within the Strategy. This region is built on informal co-operations and networks. Too many formalized governing structures will affect our flexible ways of working and communicating” he adds, recognising that leadership is crucial.

The Espoo meeting also addressed the fact that several seed money facilities now are available for projects within the Strategy: “Just one year ago everyone asked for seed money to support new project ideas and new ways of co-operating. Now four interesting funding facilities are available, a situation never seen before. Let’s make the most of these new opportunities” Torben Aaberg suggests.

Download Seed Money Facilities in the Baltic Sea Region Fact Sheet

EU Strategy to be discussed in Riga and Vilnius

The 2013 State of the Region Report points at the lack of private stakeholders as a weakness of the EU Strategy: “…the engagement of the private sector is still low; the argument for why Baltic Sea Region collaboration should be something companies in the Region should worry about has so far not been made successfully”. Engaging the business sector in the Strategy, especially in topics related to growth and competitiveness, is one of the priorities for BDF as a public-private platform for the regional stakeholders.

The same report addresses the question of leadership of the EU Strategy, suggesting “…the existing coordination mechanisms to be more visibly empowered. They need to be able to not only organize the activities directly focused on regional collaboration, but be able to achieve coordination across other policy areas as well”.

Also the 2013 Political State of the Region Report comments on the further institutionalization of the Strategy. The Commission’s proposals of a large number of steering committees and rotating presidencies may be indicating that “..the Commission wants to re-export the responsibility for the strategy to the region which would come too early”. One of the reasons being that ”…the regional organisations and bodies continuously do not seem sufficiently capable of taking full responsibility for the strategy”.

These and other questions related to the EU Strategy will be discussed at the 15^th BDF Summit in Riga. BDF has taken the opportunity to invite the participants in the NCP meeting in Riga 28 May to the Summit Early Arrival Reception immediately after the meeting.

This year’s Annual Forum for the EU Strategy is organized 11-12 Nov 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The NCP meeting concluded that next year’s Annual Forum will be located in Turku (Finland) on 3-4 June 2014. The Turku event will be co-organised with the 16^th Baltic Development Summit and the Finnish CBSS Presidency’s Ministerial meeting.

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Read the post: EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region: Where are we heading? / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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In the beginning of June, Kaliningrad region has particular political attention since the Russian Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States has convened the region’s Ministers for Foreign Affairs to meet in this part of Russia. The Round Table will be organised within this context and the framework of the 5th Forum of Kaliningrad Partner Regions. Furthermore the Round Table is part of the project “Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solutions in Kaliningrad Oblast” (RENSOL) (see www.rensol.eu), which Baltic Development Forum is the team leader of.

The project is partly funded by the European Union within the framework of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership that the EBDR is coordinating. The aim of the project is to identify the best available technical solutions and financing model for increased energy efficiency in Kaliningrad with the hope of being able to use the findings more widely in the Northwest Russia

Baltic Development Forum is presently analysing different available financing models that can facilitate greater use of energy efficiency in Kaliningrad region. The Round Table will feed into the final results of the analysis. We are inviting regional and local authorities to discuss various financing models and best practices in organising energy efficiency project in Russia. The topic is important in many ways and if a magic formula is found, Russia will become an even bigger market for energy efficiency. The potential and the needs are huge. Through partnership with Russian partners we hope to be able to transfer the knowledge in energy efficiency which the Baltic Sea Region countries, especially the Nordics and Germany are so rich in.

Join us in Kaliningrad and if you are interested in coming send us an email – bdf@bdforum.org

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Read the post: Financing models for energy efficiency in Russia: Do we have a magic formula? / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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Danish Minister for European Affairs, Nicolai Wammen, is main speaker on Monday 10 June 2013, 09.30 – 12.30 at the

The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is witnessing a dynamic development and the Northern Dimension is an important reference point for cooperation with Russia, Norway and Iceland. The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region has manifested itself as an important reference document when the Baltic Sea Region countries have to prioritize their cooperation objectives. With the agreement on the EU budget for the next 7 years in place, the partnership agreements with the European Commission have to be drafted. But which policy areas will Denmark prioritise and which funds are available. What are the Danish visions and objectives with the regional cooperation? These questions will be addressed at the conference.

All stakeholders are invited to take part. After the seminar you can attend a networking lunch. The conference is free of charge. For registration and more information in Danish please go to www.conferencemanager.dk/danskeprioriteringer where the detailed program is be presented. For questions contact Project Assistant Freja Klein (fk@bdforum.org / +45 70209394).

The seminar is organized in collaboration between Baltic Development Forum, the European Commission, the Ministry og Business and Growth, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Danish Regions.

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Read the post: Denmark and Baltic Sea Region cooperation – new objectives, new resources / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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In its first part, the report sketches and analyses shortly the recent political and economic developments in the eleven countries of the region, over the period September 2011 until April 2013: governments, recent general elections, policies (domestic, foreign and BSR) and measures to fight the economic crises. What have the BSR countries done differently and better in comparison to countries in particular in Southern Europe?

In its second part, the report analyses a number of specific issues: the highly controversial issue of nuclear energy, the challenging field of environment, tourism, the competiveness of maritime clusters and funding programmes. Furthermore, the BSR is compared with the Danube region as another European macro-region, and Baltic cooperation as a specific form of regional cooperation is analysed.

The report comes to the conclusion that the BSR and most of its countries are in possession of a very valuable good: ‘soft power’. They are economically prosperous, they have sustainable welfare systems and solid democratic manifestations and they work hard to treat their natural environment gently. The challenge for the near future is to use this ‘soft power’ potential effectively and wisely, not just in the regional but also, and perhaps even more importantly, in a wider European context.

Tobias Etzold, Bernd Henningsen, Anna-Lena Pohl

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Read the post: Political State of the Region Report 2013 – What is it all about? Word from the Editors / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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The aim of the new priority area under the EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is to promote a common cultural region because it has an outstandingly diverse and attractive cultural life and a cultural heritage of great value. BDF is a part of the stearing group for this area coordinated by Poland and Schleswig-Holstein. And as the subtitle for the area is: developing a common culture and regional identity it is of great importance for BDF to participate.

The first meeting of the PA Culture stearing group took place 17-17 April in Berlin back-to-back with three days of culture and media arranged by NDR – Nord Deutsche Rundfunk and Ars Baltica. It very much flagged the identity of the region together with the cultural development and coordination going on. Minister of Justice, Cultural and European Affairs in Schleswig –Holstein, Anke Spoorendonk, participated all three days in the event.

BDF – represented by Dan Axel, editor-in-chief of newsWave  - the daily news regional webpage under the ONE BSR  umbrella – made a visual presentation of the communication project underlining the importance of communicating cross border using news as a cultural and identity building tool. A panel debate showed a big interest in accepting communication and information as an important factor.

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Read the post: BDF takes part in building Priority Area Culture in Baltic Sea Region / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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Define the success factors and joint efforts in the FDI attraction.

The Baltic Sea Region is one of the world’s ICT Powerhouses and the countries of the region have demonstrated their attractiveness for foreign companies. As an example, Microsoft has invested more in the Nordic-Baltic region than in the US, India and China over the past 10 years.

In a unique EU supported initiative, the Investment Promotion Agencies of the region are coming together to discuss how this position can be maintained and expanded. The attraction of FDI to the ICT sector is a top priority to all Investment Promotion Agencies of the Baltic Sea Region (IPAs) and the third meeting of the Investment Promotion Agencies is taking place in connection with the 15^th Baltic Development Forum Summit in Riga 29 – 30 May, which this year will focus on investment, competitiveness and business development, including the ICT sector. The third IPAs meeting will take place at 10.00, 30 May in Riga at the BDF Summit venue.

The ICT sector and the digital market are key drivers for economic growth and the internationalisation of the economies of the Baltic Sea Region. Christian Ketels, the author of the State of the Region Report has documented this in his competitiveness report. Stockholm region has been successful in attracting investments to the capital and not least in the ICT sector and the digital industry. CEO of the Stockholm Business Region, Olle Zetterberg will share some of the success factors and address the question: Can the Baltic Sea Region present a convincing case through joint efforts and strong innovation networks?

The speakers and participants will investigate main success factors for the decision to place businesses and companies in the Baltic Sea Region as well as take up concrete collaboration initiatives between the BSR IPAs to promote the ICT sector on overseas markets. Baltic Development Forum is preparing this open session as well as the Investment Promotion Agencies closed meeting. Andris Ozols, CEO of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency is co-hosting the meeting and he invites the participants to a reception at the Latvian IT Demo Center on 29 May at 17.30.

The session discussion will be inspired by inputs from the speakers:

1. Andris Ozols, CEO of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency
2. Nicolas Albana, Managing Director, Atea Global Services SSC
3. Jorgen Bardenfleth, Strategy Director of Microsoft International
4. Olle Zetterberg, CEO, Stockholm Business Region.
5. Christian Ketels, Dr., Principal Associate at the Harvard Business School

The BSR IPAs initiative is a part of the ONE BSR project and its aim is to enable the IPAs to meet regularly to exchange best practice and information on how the investment promotion work is organised and pursued, as well as find areas where the IPAs should joint efforts, and through that increase the success in attracting investments to the region.

This will be the third BSR IPAs meeting as two previous took place in Stockholm and Hamburg. In a European perspective, it is rather unique that all of the region’s IPAs gather during the meetings, as most of them are each others’ biggest and strongest competitors. However tradition of cooperation in the region showed that it was possible to overcome these obstacles and find synergies. For more information about the BSR IPAs’ meetings and the ONE BSR project, please visit the BDF website

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Read the post: Investment Promotion Agencies of the Baltic Sea Region / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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That was one of the cross-cutting messages at the conference on the Nordic-Baltic ICT Powerhouse 15 April 2013 in Stockholm City Hall, organized by BDF and Microsoft, and generously hosted by the City of Stockholm.

Almost 100 representatives of private companies, public authorities, innovation agents, universities, entrepreneurs etc. were gathered in the beautiful “Gyllene Salen” to listen to inputs and lively discussions on how the Nordic/Baltic countries can sustain and further develop their unique position as digital frontrunners. An exclusive panel of speakers from Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Estonia shared their views and ideas on the following topics:

• What key measures should be taken to sustain and leverage on the position we have today? What are the barriers and threats to future development?
• How can the region become a magnet for top talents and entrepreneurs? How to stimulate students in today’s educational system to pursue a career in computer science and entrepreneurism?
• How can a Public-Private Partnerships in different areas of the digital economy stimulate further growth, cross-sector and cross-border solutions?

A brief summary of the discussions will soon be available. Below you can watch the various discussions at the conference.

The conference ended a series of round-tables and seminars during 2012 and 2013 in the Nordic countries, Estonia and Brussels. BDF is preparing a follow up process launching concrete initiatives in cooperation with key public and private stakeholders. Some of the topics from Stockholm will also be addressed at a high level session on ICT and regional growth at the BDF Summit in Riga, 29-30 May 2013.

BDF was represented by Vice Chairman Stephan Müchler, President of Baltic Sea Chambers of Commerce Association, and Head of Public Affairs Torben Aaberg.

See the Conference Programme

The report “Priorities towards a Digital Single Market in the Baltic Sea Region”

Contact person: Torben Aaberg, Head of Public Affairs, ta@bdforum.org

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Read the post: Let’s make cross-border digital solutions! / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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The conference was held as part of the Year of the Environment in Russia and as part of Russia’s presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in 2013.

Statement of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Baltic Sea States for Environmental Protection of the Baltic Sea

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, heads of government and high-ranking representatives of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Finland, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Iceland, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland, the Kingdom of Sweden and the European Union together with businesses and non-governmental organisations gathered at the Conference of Heads of Government of the Baltic Sea States for Environmental Protection of the Baltic Sea in St Petersburg on April 5-6, 2013 in order to assess progress in achieving the common goal of preserving the Baltic Sea environment, and to identify additional ways to strengthen cooperation in the interests of its sustainable development, including public-private partnership in the sphere of environmental protection of the Baltic Sea region.

The economic development of the Baltic Sea region should be environmentally responsible. The priceless inheritance of the Baltic Sea ecosystem should be protected, preserved and restored where practicable. Eventually, the Baltic Sea should be clean, healthy and productive.

The conference participants reaffirmed the importance and intrinsic value of the process started by the Baltic Sea Action Summit (BSAS) in 2010 in Helsinki with the participation of heads of state and government of the countries of the Baltic region, the European Commission, the business community and non-governmental organisations, and of the commitments adopted at the summit to preserve the environment of the Baltic Sea. The participants praised the work performed by the Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) and its contribution to launching the BSAS process.

The conference participants noted the importance of the existing mechanisms of cooperation in the Baltic Sea region and reaffirmed the role of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) as the main political forum for intergovernmental cooperation and dialogue in the region.

The conference participants stressed the key role of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area and its governing body – the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) – as a platform for improving cooperation between the countries of the Baltic Sea region and the driving force for the ecosystem approach. They have fully supported further implementation of the HELCOM Action Plan for the Baltic Sea and welcomed the forthcoming HELCOM Ministerial Session to be held in Copenhagen on October 3, 2013.

Press release from: Government of the Russian Federation 8. April 2013

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Read the post: Statement of Saint Petersburg Conference on Baltic Sea environment / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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The “…main goal is to pool the efforts of civil society, government agencies and business and financial circles. We are all aware of our growing interdependence and that we cannot resolve our domestic affairs without considering the interests of our neighbours. Naturally, we all bear responsibility for the future of the Baltic Sea and the people who live on the Baltic Sea coast”.

To all organizations working on Baltic Sea Region cooperation this is a very welcomed statement and commitment which is of course good news.

The current Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) seems to have had positively influenced Russia’s interests vis-à-vis the Baltic Sea Region. Looking at the list of activities during the 12 months of the Russian CBSS Presidency – that ends 1 July 2013 – one gets positively surprised. It is a good long list of events: An international Baltic week was organized in St. Petersburg 21-22 March, last week’s high-level Baltic Sea Forum, a Baltic Sea NGO Forum 16-17 April – all of it in St. Petersburg, which is Russia’s impressive Baltic metropolis.

The Kaliningrad is however not forgotten since the CBSS Foreign Ministers meeting will take place in the exclave 5-6 June 2013. At this occasion many other activities are foreseen that do not only take place behind closed doors, including a seminar organized by BDF, as part of the RENSOL project, on “Financing Energy Solutions”, where funding mechanisms and opportunities will be discussed with relevant stakeholders.

The Baltic Sea NGO Forum is going to be an interesting event where the grassroots from all parts of the Baltic area hopefully will have an open and frank exchange of views on all the sensitive issues including human rights. Prime Ministers Medvedev ‘s statement above underlines the importance of the civil society so nobody should apparently fear a rough treatment bearing in mind that the role of NGO in the Russian society is not always a walk in the park, to put it mildly.

Some Baltic observers of Russian foreign policy have been concerned about the draft of the new Russian Foreign Policy Concept (December 2012) and some recent “presidential statements” that put priority on the use of “soft power” as a Foreign policy instrument. What does that mean? And how the Russian CBSS Presidency would exercise this new instrument, the same observers ask.

According to Prof. Joseph Nye, the author of the soft power concept, this instrument is about being “attractive” and a role model for others to follow and for others to adopt similar (democratic and free market) values and cultural practices. It has also an economic aspect to it, namely to influence through the exercise of market forces, and here some might fear Russian energy influence in the Baltic Sea Region, not least in the Baltic States.

Nevertheless, the point to make at this stage and on the day of the Baltic Summit in St. Petersburg is that Russia’s new soft environmental power is welcomed. Russia’s neighbours are most likely already convinced and some will say that the logic probably is the reverse: finally Russia’s neighbours have succeeded with their soft power in convincing Russia to prioritize the environment.

The true testing ground of Russia’s attractiveness is still the Baltic Sea NGO Forum later this month. We will have to see how it goes.

BDF is doing its utmost to attract high-level speakers to our open Summit 29-30 May in Riga. Here the CBSS Presidency would also have the chance to meet business, civil society and governments. We are bidding all Russians welcome. We would have like to be present in St. Petersburg today. Hopefully we will be invited to Kaliningrad in June.

Hans Brask, Director of Baltic Development Forum

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Read the post: Russian soft power and the environment of the Baltic Sea / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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Here you can read his speech at the Conference:

“I will never forget my first day as EU Commissioner for Regional Policy. It was the Baltic Sea Action Summit in Helsinki back in February 2010. I could not have had a better introduction to the crucial impact regional action can have and the importance of regions working together to achieve common goals.

So I am delighted to be here once again to represent President Barroso, and we are all grateful to our Russian hosts for the excellent organisation of this important event.

It is important because environmental challenges do not recognise man-made borders. Climate change, pollution, and natural disasters all require that we join our efforts at local, regional and national level – and with our international partners.

The truth is that nature does not need mankind – but mankind cannot advance without nature. Good environmental management is central to modern economic development.

The marine environment of the fragile Baltic Sea is key to the prosperity and well-being of all our people. That is why it is at the heart of the European Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. And why it is the core of co-operation between the EU and Russia in this region, through HELCOM and the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership.

The EU Baltic Sea Strategy is a relatively young initiative providing a new form of co-operation between the countries of the region. It allows particularly the EU Member States around the sea basin to plan strategically together and maximise the impact they can achieve with the public and private funds available.

As we develop and refine this new way of working together, it is clear to me that the dominant focus must remain our common interest in saving the sea. Without this, our two other chief concerns, connecting the region and building prosperity, make little sense.

It is still early days, but we can already claim some important progress through the EU Strategy. We have stimulated commitments to phase out the phosphates in detergents that contribute to eutrophication. We have mobilised farmers to adopt better practice to avoid pollution of the sea. And we have launched pilot investments in nutrient removal in four key municipal wastewater treatment plants.

To be successful, we need to work together. We need the full support of all the stakeholders involved in areas that have an impact on the environmental condition of the sea.

Of course, co-operation with Russia is of paramount importance. We look forward to strengthening our work together – including through the Baltic Sea Region programme, in which I hope Russia will soon become a full partner.

Our cooperation has intensified in recent years as Russia has moved to modernise its environmental policies. The personal commitment of Prime Minister Medvedev and President Putin has been key in prioritising work in this field – with 2013 named a Year of Environmental Protection. The EU particularly welcomes the programme for environmental protection till 2020 adopted last year.

This is an essential partnership – driven by common interests and objectives. But it is one in which we will be judged by results. The high level participation here today speaks for the determination and political commitment there is to ensure we protect the heart of this region. However, our will to succeed must be translated into actions and I look forward to the next HELCOM ministerial meeting later this year that will review progress and decide on the next steps to be taken.

And, while we are thinking ahead, let me also invite you all to the next annual forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region which will be held in Vilnius on 11-12 November.

Prime minister, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen

We are all here today because we believe in co-operating across borders to find pragmatic solutions to the challenges we face. We have already achieved a lot. Let’s stay ambitious, and ensure that we pass a better place to live and work to those who come after us.”

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Read the post: Environmental Partnership remains core issue of Baltic Sea Strategy / Read the blog: Baltic Development Forum
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