The Nordic institutions – of which we have around twenty - are currently active in many areas of the EU strategy. They may very well be useful in supporting actions within the framework of the strategy.

Halldór Ásgrímsson, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers

Foto: norden.org
One of the key areas of operation of the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) is cross-border cooperation with the Baltic States. The NCM considers it important that the European Union (EU) and the funding opportunities it presents be involved in this cooperation.

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Since no new organisation or agency was created in order to implement the EU's Baltic Sea Strategy, the success of this ambitious project largely depends on regional intergovernmental organisations such as the NCM.

Secretary-General Halldór Ásgrímsson has stated that the NCM boasts a unique and very capable network of offices in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and north-western Russia with which to realise the strategy.

The NCM supports and is an active participant in the undertakings of all four 'pillars' of the strategy, which is led by the European Commission. These pillars are to make the region more:

1. Environmentally sustainable – among other activities, working with HELCOM to improve the maritime environment of the Baltic Sea
2. Prosperous – removing market obstacles, the 'fifth freedom', i.e. free movement of knowledge and reinforcing knowledge and competitive ability through the Top-Level Research Initiative
3. Accessible and attractive – developing an open, transparent and effective electricity market and working, amongst others, with BASREC on energy efficiency and renewable energy matters
4. Safe and secure – ensuring a more rapid response to health threats and combating human trafficking and severe cross-border crime

NCM's Office in Estonia is involved, for example, in the BEN operations of the Baltic Sea region's border area cooperation network. One of our biggest undertakings has been the 'Developing Enterprise in the Baltic Sea Region' project, which we launched in 2008 and which will come to an end this year. The project is designed to promote creative business and intercultural understanding and thus strengthen cooperation within the Baltic Sea region and stimulate joint, outward-bound communication. To this end we have been organising seminars, student exchanges, summer schools and more since 2008. The project can be seen as a preparatory 'pilot study' into the cultural differences and similarities in the region that both help and hinder enterprise.

This year we have been involved in the organisation of four conferences related to the Baltic Sea Strategy:

1. 'European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region – a new challenge for knowledge-based regional and local governance and cooperation' held at Tallinn University on 8 & 9 March 2010
2. 'Innovation at the regional level – the key to economic growth in the Baltic Sea region' held at the Narva College of the University of Tartu on 9 & 10 September 2010
3. 'EU Baltic Sea Strategy and the Internal Market' held in Tallinn on 16 & 17 September 2010
4. B7 and LEADER conference 'Planning Europe' held on Hiiumaa on 23 & 24 November 2010

In addition, the Nordic Council of Minister’s office in Estonia has supported the publication and distribution of the book The European Union Baltic Sea Region Strategy – a new challenge for knowledge-based regional and local cooperation together with Tallinn University, the European Commission Representation in Estonia and Swedish development agency SIDA. Furthermore, the Nordic Council of Minister’s office in Latvia has contributed to the printing and distribution of the evaluative book EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region: a year after and beyond.