Berth Sundström, the Director of the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in EstoniaAt such politically and economically complicated times as the European Union is currently living through, those in the Baltic Sea region should be looking to one another more, boldly setting priorities and making better use of the opportunities presented by research and funding schemes. So said Berth Sundström, the director of the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia, in his address at the Tallinn University conference on the implementation of the European Union's Baltic Sea Strategy.

Sundström highlighted the example of the loans offered by the Nordic Investment Bank, which to date have been underused. The countries on the Baltic Sea could also give more consideration to the resources offered by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation.

Attention should likewise be turned to ways in which the Nordic countries and Baltic States can work more closely together on research, since cooperation between scientists, entrepreneurs and the public sector could produce lasting solutions to the challenges currently being faced. The example given by Sundström here was the research partnership between Nordic Innovation, the Top-Level Research Initiative and Nordforsk. His full address can be viewed here.

Conference on the EU Baltic Sea Strategy and the Internal Market, held in Tallinn on 17 Sept 2010. Photo: Väino Silm/norden.eeEstonia has already started making preparations for its presidency of the European Union in the first six months of 2018, writes Marko Mihkelson, Chairman of the EU Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia). Although the world is a dynamically changing place, as the after-effects of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks have shown, it is always beneficial to maintain a longer-term vision and to set objectives. One such vision is undoubtedly Estonia's activity within the European Union, especially in areas which may well prove topical during our period of presidency in eight years' time.

The Baltic Sea Strategy represents a wish to boost cooperation between the citizens, business operators, scientists, officials, interest groups and politicians in the countries within the region so as to maximise its combined potential, which to date has been underused, and to counter skepticism in terms of cross-border undertakings. Six of the eight European Union Members States with coastlines on the Baltic Sea are small countries. But what makes them big is their allies – and where better to find them than among their neighbours? Your neighbours are the people you meet and talk to most often, which is why it is easier to appreciate their problems. By working together, you can implement more ambitious goals.

Ott Pärna, CEO of the Estonian Development Fund. Photo: Jakob Sjövall/norden.ee"Instead of competing internationally, we should compete locally," noted Ott Pärna, CEO of the Estonian Development Fund, at a conference "Communicating entrepreneurship in the Baltic Sea region" held on 10 September in Narva.

Pärna listed a number of factors that hinder the development of innovative entrepreneurship in Estonia, such as lack of genuine ambition, a small number of success stories and poor debating skills. The CEO of the Estonian Development Fund said that at the same time foreign investors are actively looking for opportunities to grow their money. For example, a large international company invested in Lithuania and is now hiring hundreds of well-prepared IT-specialists. However, there are not so many to be found. So, the combination of a high unemployment rate and the shortage of highly qualified labour makes investors turn to other markets.

Differences in the tax systems, in roles concerning health and social care, in pensions, in education create problems when people are active in more than one country.

Ole Norrback, Chairman of the Nordic Freedom of Movement Forum

The Eu Baltic Sea Strategy and the internal market

Services in the European Union should enjoy the same freedom of movement as people and goods. Experience has shown, however, that the movement of services is often hindered by market obstacles and is difficult to implement. This in turn stifles economic growth and the creation of jobs, particularly now in these financially complex times.

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How such market obstacles can be removed in the Baltic Sea region as part of the Baltic Sea Strategy – including through cooperation between e-signatures and information technology – is the theme of a high-level conference being held at Swissôtel Tallinn on 17 September 2010. The issue will be discussed by a group of experts led by Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services of the European Commission, and former EC commissioner Mario Monti.

In 2007, the prime ministers of the Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland – charged the Nordic Council of Ministers with the task of mapping the market obstacles restricting the economic development of and the free movement of people within the Nordic region.

"Differences in the tax systems, in roles concerning health and social care, in pensions, in education create problems when people are active in more than one country," explained Ole Norrback, the chairman of the Nordic Freedom of Movement Forum, who will be presenting the Nordic experience at the conference. Other experts from the region will also be presenting their plans for unified certification, the eScience project and more.

The Baltic Sea Strategy, adopted by the European Council in 2009, is an initiative within the European Union which is designed to find solutions to the principal bottlenecks hampering the development of the Baltic Sea region. The strategy focuses on the environment, competitive ability, infrastructure and the safety of the maritime environment.

Estonia's objectives are to implement the strategy in as smooth a way as possible one project at a time and to launch the active management of the projects, including in the internal market area, which Estonia is coordinating.

The conference is being organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication of Estonia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia and the Estonian office of the European Commission.

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.

Click here for presentations, booklets, research papers etc on Cross-border cooperation and the contribution of the Nordic countries to the Baltic Sea Strategy!

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.

Research. Photo: Johannes Jansson/norden.orgEne Ergma, the speaker of the Estonian parliament, is one of the people who has suggested that a common research space be created between the Baltic Sea countries, part of which could be a Baltic Sea Technology Institute studying such areas as information, bio- and nanotechnology. "Instead of competing against one another, we should be working more closely together and rivalling the research centres of bigger countries," Ergma proposed at an international conference held in Tallinn in early March. The conference focussed on research, development and regional cooperation within the framework of the European Union's Baltic Sea Strategy.

The conference, titled "Baltic Sea Strategy – a new opportunity for science-based regional and local management and integrated cooperation", was designed to contribute to the transformation of the Baltic Sea Strategy into a document which works in practice: one which people do not see as yet another unfathomable initiative symptomatic of EU bureaucracy.

Danish national coat of arms made of ice and flag. Photo: Nikolaj Bock/norden.org"We have the courage to invest strategically and offensively so that Nordic co-operation continues to generate added value for our citizens and binds or nations even more closely together," emphasises Prime Minister of Denmark Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the leader of the country that took over the presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers from Iceland on 1 January.

Globalisation and the associated challenges and opportunities and creation of a sustainable and green Nordic region are the main key words during the presidency of Denmark. It means that Denmark will continue with the globalisation work, which was approved by the Nordic prime ministers in Punkaharju, Finland, in 2007.

The financial crisis, which also affected the Nordic countries, became a worrying factor of globalisation in the last year. Production decreased in the whole world and unemployment increased. The crisis is not likely to end this year and it will leave its mark on Denmark's presidency. However, Denmark as the presiding country of the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) in 2010 emphasises that economic and social development must in balance with environmental protection and the fight against climate change irrespective of the economic difficulties. All people must have good living conditions.