Press release, 12 April 2013

The Seimas Committee on European Affairs (CEA) proposes to hold the parliamentary forum of eight EU Baltic Sea States that would discuss the implementation, cooperation principles and future trends of the macro-regional European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR).

“In December 2007, the European Council, attended by me as Prime Minister, charged the European Commission with submitting the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region by June 2009 at the latest. This initiative followed the Strategy on the Mediterranean Region. The EUSBSR was approved in October 2009. However, a political debate on the EUSBSR was practically absent at the European level. The parliamentary dimension could fill this gap,” said Gediminas Kirkilas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and CEA Chair.

It is suggested to name this forum “Baltic Parliamentary Club”. It would bring together members of the European affairs committees of the Danish, Estonian, German, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Swedish parliaments and a joint delegation of the European Parliament. This would be an informal annual event that would not require any new institutional capacities and would be organised each year in a different EU Baltic Sea State on a rotational basis.

“Strategic infrastructure, energy, environment, transport and other sectoral investment projects in the Baltic Sea Region will necessitate broader consensus among partners in future. [...] This can only be achieved through enhanced parliamentary cooperation among eight Baltic Sea States [...],” the letter by Petras Auštrevičius, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and CEA Deputy Chair, to the chairs of the parliamentary committees on European affairs of the EU Baltic Sea States reads.

“Obviously, joint discussions would allow to better balance regional interests at the EU level, assess the progress made by each country and exchange best practices,” the letter by Mr Auštrevičius reads further. “This would be a significant boost for shaping the EUSBSR policies in future while, at the EU level, our co-operation could become an example of preserving and developing macro-regional strategies.”

The intention is to initiate the signing of an agreement (in the form of a declaration) on the forum during the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU at the COSAC Plenary Meeting to be held in Vilnius.

The CEA decided to approve the draft Declaration on the Parliamentary Dimension of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region providing for the annual parliamentary forum and submit it to the parliamentary committees on European affairs of the EU Baltic Sea States.

The EUSBSR is the EU macro-regional strategy seeking to provide both a co-ordinated and inclusive framework in response to the key challenges facing the Baltic Sea Region and concrete solutions to these challenges. The Strategy sets out four cooperation tasks: to increase the levels of environmental sustainability, prosperity, accessibility and attractiveness as well as safety and security in the Region.

Jolita Šedauskienė, Adviser, Office of the Committee on European Affairs, tel: +370 5 239 6860, mobile: +370 620 90788; e-mail: [email protected]

Morta Vidūnaitė, Adviser to Gediminas Kirkilas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, tel: +370 5 239 6278, mobile: +370 612 01121; e-mail: [email protected])