Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-15-Speech-3-237"
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"en.20061115.18.3-237"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament plenary part-session is this week discussing several issues to do with the sea, as it is now with the Baltic Sea strategy. The Presidency is delighted that regional issues are being discussed as part of a wider whole. On Monday you held a debate on the EU marine environment strategy and directive, which again are a component in the EU’s maritime policy now being prepared. The parliamentary conference on the Northern Dimension planned for next spring is a welcome example of Parliament’s interest in Nordic issues.
The EU’s maritime policy will be a good opportunity for cooperation among the Member States. This is necessary, as the special characteristics of the northern and Arctic regions and exploitation of the region’s potential will require joint research projects and technological development on the part of the EU Member States. In cooperation with third countries typical of the region, existing international agreements and organisations are made use of. The large number of challenges in the Baltic Sea area, such as marine conservation, safety at sea, fishing, sustainable use of coastlines and the development of the region’s maritime sector, all call for effective, horizontal cooperation. The Baltic Sea area is a splendid opportunity to test the EU’s maritime policy now being drafted and make it beneficial to the entire Union.
The Baltic Sea issue is important, and it is a positive sign that serious attention is being paid to it in the European Union and here in Parliament. I just have to say that some of the rapporteur’s ideas, these Ten Commandments, are already a reality. It is beneficial and vital to the Baltic question that all the countries in the region are involved in the programme of cooperation and that they are genuinely committed to resolving the challenges that they share. It is this kind of joint commitment that we need to strive to accomplish in cooperation on the Baltic Sea.
Baltic Sea issues affect the eight Member States of the Union that border the Baltic, as well as Russia, very directly. Norway and Iceland are also involved in Baltic Sea cooperation as members of the Council of Baltic Sea States. An important shipping waterway, the Baltic Sea is important for all EU countries.
Broad, horizontal cooperation is therefore needed both within the Union and between the EU and Russia and other partners on issues of the environment, energy, traffic, training, justice and home affairs and matters of health. The Union’s common maritime policy presently being drafted will also serve to strengthen this cooperation. To achieve concrete results, there will also have to be more effective use made of the Union’s internal funding programmes and external relations instruments. Furthermore, there will need to be opportunities for cross-border cooperation, which is also supported by the new Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument.
The rapporteur’s speech makes mention of the Northern Dimension, and it is proposed that the Baltic Sea Strategy is part of it, but the Northern Dimension is also a component in the EU’s external relations policy. It covers the operating sectors in the Four Common Spaces adopted by the EU and Russia, as well as environmental, social and public health issues. The Baltic Sea is one of the target areas for the Northern Dimension, along with northwest Russia, Kaliningrad and the Arctic regions.
One of the aims of the Finnish Presidency is the review of policy under the Northern Dimension on the basis of the decisions taken at the Northern Dimension ministerial meeting held in November last year. The new Framework Document for the Northern Dimension was negotiated this year between the EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland. The Framework Document and the Political Declaration connected with it are to be adopted on Friday next week in Helsinki. We believe that the new, jointly agreed policy is likely to strengthen the commitment of partners to the Northern Dimension and to provide a firm basis for practical cooperation in the Baltic Region. We also hope that a reinforced Northern Dimension will help clarify the work and division of labour associated with the diverse network of cooperation in the Baltic and Arctic Regions.
The Baltic Sea’s ecological state is worrying, and calls for urgent action in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. The European Union, individual countries and international financial institutions have pooled their resources within a framework of environmental partnership under the Northern Dimension. Several governments, organisations, in particular HELCOM (the Helsinki Commission), and other players are working to rescue the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. Northern Dimension environmental partnership projects mainly focus on northwest Russia, but their impact benefits all the countries in the region. As a result, the Baltic Sea is, fortunately, already a crucial area for the Northern Dimension.
A key instrument in the future for improving the state of all European seas, the Baltic included, will be the EU’s Marine Strategy Directive. Its aim is the achievement of ‘good environmental status’ by the year 2021. It is an ambitious goal, and efforts to attain it must be started immediately. The Finnish Presidency will try to find political consensus on the directive in the Council in December.
The Partnership in Public Health and Social Wellbeing also functions within the framework of the Northern Dimension, and this is aimed at preventing contagious diseases and lifestyle illnesses as well as reducing social problems. A new element in the Northern Dimension is also being drafted in the shape of a Transport and Logistics Partnership. The importance of viable transport communications and efficient logistics for economic growth and competitiveness is underlined more than ever when our economies are interlinked.
Right now the European Commission is drafting a new and wide-ranging European maritime policy, one which takes account of the economic, political and environmental values associated with Europe’s seas and coastal areas. The Baltic Sea is one important sea area in Europe, and special attention should be paid to its special problems. That is also true when it comes to developing the EU’s maritime policy. This evening’s debate certainly serves this purpose."@en1
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