Region gets a strategy

It takes at least 40 hours to travel 1,000 kilometres from Helsinki to Warsaw by train. The Baltic Sea is one of the most threatened marine ecosystems on the planet. The Baltic countries’ power grids are still essentially isolated from the rest of the EU. The Baltic Sea region needs integration, a common approach, a strategy.

The Baltic Sea region is the focus of the Swedish EU presidency in July-December 2009. It logically puts the adoption of the European Union’s Baltic Sea Strategy, proposed by the European Commission, at the top of the current presidency’s agenda. The agreement on the strategy is expected by the end of 2009.

The strategy aims at coordinating action by the EU and EU member countries as well as international organisations and financial institutions to promote a more balanced development of the region. The strategy has four main objectives: to improve the marine environment, enhance prosperity, make the region more accessible and attractive and improve safety and security.

Sweden is favouring the strategy during its presidency “not only because the Baltic Sea is important for our economy and the well-being of our citizens, but also because the status of the Baltic Sea depends very much on EU policies and legislation,” says Anders Alm of the Swedish Ministry of the Environment.

Mr Alm is sure that the political will to address the environmental degradation of the Baltic Sea is very strong in Sweden. Together with climate issues, this is the highest environmental priority for the government.

Why is such a strategy needed?

As the immediate reason for developing a regional strategy, its authors name the “increasingly visible degradation of the Baltic Sea itself but also the need to address the disparate development paths of the countries in the region and the potential benefi ts of more and better coordination.”

“Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2004, the challenges the Baltic Sea region is facing have escalated. Environmental threats, gaps in economic development and insufficient transport infrastructure can only be addressed through better coordination and joint action. The EU is well-placed to facilitate these efforts,” says Ann-Kerstin Myleus, Deputy Head of Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional Policy (DG Regio).

When the proposal for the EU strategy for the Baltic Sea region was finally made public, it had been preceded by some 18 months of preparation, led and coordinated by DG Regio. Many parties have been involved in building and debating it since the initiative for the strategy was taken in 2006. The implementation is now also being shared by many.

“With political commitment at the highest level within the EU we stand a great chance of meeting global challenges and opportunities-and being a strong global competitor. It will be easier to influence EU policies and to ensure that they, when needed, are adapted to the specifi c circumstances of the Baltic Sea region. I am convinced that the strategy is the next step for EU cooperation around the Baltic Sea, and that it will serve as a model for regional cooperation in Europe,” says Thomas Johansson, Team Director of the Baltic Sea Unit at the Swedish international aid agency-Sida.

Environment a priority in crisis?

Mr Alm acknowledges that it is more difficult to find financing for environmental investments during a financial crisis.

“On the other hand, investing in the environment is investing in the future,” he says and continues: “The socio-economic aspects and values of the marine environment are things Sweden will put in the forefront.”

In a recent study, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency established that out of 24 ecosystem services-or the natural resources and processes essential for human life-supplied by the Baltic Sea, only ten are working at an optimal level. Ecosystem services such as the provision of food and recreation are in poor condition. Seven, including the maintenance of biodiversity and the capacity of the sea to recover, are highly threatened.

“The costs of environmental investments should be considered in relation to what we would lose if these ecosystem services, for instance, climate regulation or the detoxification of waste, would collapse. In this perspective, investing in the environment is good business,” says Mr Alm.

Implementing the strategy

The strategy proposes an action plan of 80 flagship projects organised under 15 priorities (see the fact box). The action plan includes such initiatives as the removal of phosphates in detergent in order to reduce nutrients released into the sea and a plan to connect the Baltic countries to European power networks. The Rail Baltica project to build a railroad connecting Warsaw to Tallinn with a target speed of 120 kph (up from about 25 as of now), a joint maritime surveillance system and a fund for innovation are other examples of what’s in the new strategy’s action plan. In 2007-2013, the Baltic Sea region will benefit from more than EUR 50 billion of investment support under the EU cohesion policy and other funding.

A role for IFIs?

The strategy needs the support of international financial institutions (IFIs), such as NIB, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In tune with the objectives now also integrated in the EU strategy, in early 2008 NIB established the Baltic Sea Environment (BASE) lending facility with a framework of EUR 500 million as a financing source for projects with a positive effect on the Baltic Sea. The facility is aimed at assisting in the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan adopted by the Baltic Marine Environmental Protection Commission- HELCOM.

Like the environment, NIB’s other focus sectors-energy, transport and innovation-are directly linked to the priorities of the EU Baltic Sea strategy. “Apart from providing financial resources, the IFIs are good at going from ideas to concrete actions and projects,” Mr Alm says. For the time being, it looks like there will be a considerable number of project ideas in the national action plans which need to be implemented. “We really have the momentum to save the Baltic Sea. Our knowledge about the problems is sufficient to act, we know what we need to do and there are plenty of financial institutions and donors willing to help. We should really take this opportunity to invest in the future of the Baltic Sea!” says Mr Alm.

Think big, think region

The hopes are high that the strategy will pave the way for a better and happier region around the Baltic Sea, the EU’s Mare Nostrum. Now that eight out of the nine countries around the Baltic Sea are EU members, this region is in an unprecedentedly good position to develop synergies and best practices in dealing with the environment.

“The area could be a model of regional cooperation where new ideas and approaches can be tested and developed over time as best practice examples,” the strategy states.

The adoption of the strategy thus only marks the beginning. Thomas Johansson of Sida hopes that the political decision-makers in each country around the Baltic Sea will start thinking regionally when planning ahead. He advocates for more contacts and better awareness in the region:

“Awareness is a prerequisite for reaching a stage in which we intuitively see ourselves as a macroregion. We need to build relations to solve common problems-problems that actually can be described as possibilities for development and cooperation.”

Anders Lindholm of DG Regio also underscores the need for better awareness of the co-dependency in the region: “This goes across all the sectors, both for the environment, which is the most obvious, but also for prosperity.”

“We still see that it is hard to work together in a coordinated manner and take full advantage of all the opportunities. We will learn how to make better use of existing resources, institutions, policies and legislation. This is what we are trying to achieve with the Baltic Sea strategy,” Anders Alm of the Swedish Ministry of the Environment concludes.