EUU, Alm.del - 2009-10 - Bilag 12: Kopi af brev til udenrigsministeren samt slutdokumentet fra den 18. parlamentariske Østersøkonference i Nyborg

Kære ministerFolketinget var vært for den 18. parlamentariske Østersøkonference, som blev afholdt i Nyborgden 30. august – 1. september 2009 med deltagelse af repræsentanter fra parlamenterne ilandene omkring Østersøen. Folketingets formand Thor Petersen var vært ved konferencen. Iden danske delegation deltog Jeppe Kofod, Bente Dahl, Per Bisgaard, Marion Pedersen, AnneGrete Holmsgaard og undertegnede.Konferencen antog det vedlagte slutdokument. Dette slutdokument får naturligvis sin styrkeigennem den opfølgning, regeringerne giver det nationalt samt i samarbejdet i Østersørådet,Nordisk Ministerråd, EU og FN.Jeg tillader mig derfor – i lighed med tidligere år – at bede om, at Folketinget (att. NordiskRåds Danske Delegation) må få en generel beskrivelse af, hvorledes regeringen forholder sig tildet anførte i slutdokumentet.

Conference ResolutionAdopted by the 18 Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC)The participants*, elected representatives from the Baltic Sea States, assembling in Nyborg,Denmark, 31 August – 1 September 2009,discussing Co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region, Maritime Safety and Security, Civil Security,Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, and Labour Market and Social Affairs,A.emphasizing the significance of a parliamentary dimension and parliamentary in-volvement in the strategies and efforts to develop the Baltic Sea Region, thereby contributingto a broad debate, transparency, legitimacy and support of the work;B.reaffirming the mutually beneficial contacts and exchange between BSPC andCBSS, and recognizing the important role of the CBSS in initiating and coordinating actionsagainst the challenges of the Baltic Sea Region;C.reiterating their support to the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) as a centraltool for restoring a good environmental status of the Baltic Sea by 2021, and underlining thatgovernments must fulfill their pledges to implement the plan according to its agreed timetable;D.supporting the design and development of strategies and programs for the BalticSea Region as important instruments for setting priorities, while also maintaining the necessityto coordinate the strategies with the Northern Dimension policy;E.stressing that the present economic downturn must not be taken as an excuse forlowering environmental goals, cutting environmental resources or delaying timetables for envi-ronmental plans and projects;call on the governments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSS and the EU,Regarding Co-operation in the Region, to1.define and pursue a common political agenda for the Baltic Sea Region, e.g. bydevising a joint understanding of governance, leadership and division of labour among theleading regional and sub-regional actors in the Region, and by enhancing coordination betweenthem;2.proceed with strong and sustained measures to fulfill the overall environmentalgoals and objectives of the HELCOM BSAP, and to assure that the obligations to produce na-tional action plans to the HELCOM Ministerial meeting in Moscow in May 2010, as well as toimplement them prudently, are honored;th

3.ensure a close linkage between the forthcoming strategies and programs for theBaltic Sea Region and the HELCOM BSAP;4.take concrete steps to ensure that strategies and programs for the Baltic Sea Re-gion, such as the emerging so-called EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, are closely attunedto and coordinated with the Northern Dimension, in order to secure a mutual cooperation onan equal basis between Russia, Iceland, Norway and EU, and to incorporate the interests of thenon-EU Baltic Sea Regions states in the strategies;5.Support the abilities to develop bankable projects for the implementation of theHELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, involving the financial support to the project development fundmanaged by Nordic Investment Bank (NiB) and Nordic Environment Finance Corporation(NEFCO);6.ensure that citizens are kept informed and involved in the planning and imple-mentation of strategies and projects that influence the development of the Baltic Sea Region;NGO´s play an invaluable role both as opinion-makers and independent experts, and theirviews, warnings and advice should be taken seriously;7.take concerted and solidaric measures to deal with the causes and consequencesof the current economic recession; a mutually supportive and successful regional approachwould also contribute to the positive branding of the Baltic Sea Region and to the credibilityand usefulness of regional cooperation;Regarding Maritime Safety and Security in the Region, to8.encourage active cooperation within the International Maritime Organization(IMO)on the development of relevant measures to reduce the environmental impacts of shipping inthe Baltic Sea, recognizing that IMO rules and regulations are the basis for maritime develop-ment of any region, and that the regulations should be developed according to current chal-lenges;9.promote continuous initiatives, support and concrete measures within the field ofMaritime Safety, such as increasing the use of pilots in narrow and difficult international ship-ping lanes, and enhancing the joint preparedness to tackle spills of oil and hazardous sub-stances;10.promote and support concrete projects to implement maritime spatial planning inthe Baltic Sea Region, encouraging cross-sectoral and transnational coordination of resources,and thereby holding up the Baltic Sea Region as a model region;11.support the BSSSC Five Point Action Plan “Clean Baltic Shipping”, aimed at, i.a.,reducing nitrogen and sulphur oxides emissions in ports by using shore-to-ship power supply,minimizing sewage discharge from ships, reducing the environmental load from cruise ship-ping, encouraging sustainable port management, and stimulating research and development ofgreen and clean maritime technologies;12.support the designation of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the North-EastAtlantic and the Irish Sea as Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA), as is already the casewith the Channel, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, provided the criteria for such a designationare fulfilled;

13.consolidate and further develop the progress made within the fields of maritimesafety and ship traffic monitoring, on the one hand with a view to improving monitoring andseparation of the growing maritime traffic, especially in connection with hazardous cargo andsevere winter conditions, and on the other hand with a view to monitoring the Baltic Sea forthe purpose of environmental protection, fishing and combating crime;14.join and support the Surveillance Cooperation Baltic Sea (SUCBAS) with the pur-pose of improving maritime situational awareness across the entire Baltic Sea and approachesin support of maritime safety, maritime security, protection of the environment and counteringillegal activities in the maritime environment;15.contribute to the efforts of the Baltic Sea Region Harmonisation Working Group onVessel Traffic Services (VTS) and Ship Reporting Systems (SRS) established to harmonise andintegrate VTS and SRS operation to ensure that all systems assist safe navigation of ships inan optimised and uniform manner;16.join and support the initiatives under the Single Hull Tanker and Banned Vesselmonitoring project, developed jointly by HELCOM and the European Maritime Safety Agency,for the purpose of further improving maritime safety and supporting the Port State Controlauthorities with the aim to eliminate the operation of sub-standard ships in the Baltic, and en-sure that the maritime transport operates in a safe, secure and environmentally friendly way;Regarding Civil Security in the Region, to17.enhance cooperation and coordination on civil security issues in general, in orderto foster a joint and comprehensive understanding of the risks and threats facing the BalticSea Region, as well as strategies and measures to counter them;18.step up strategic and operational cooperation between law enforcement authori-ties and other relevant actors in order to strengthen the joint capacity to identify, monitor andtake forceful action against organized cross-border crime, such as trafficking in human beings,drug trafficking, illicit trade, corruption, money laundering, illegal migration, illegal labour,hate crimes, and others;19.intensify cooperation against trafficking in human beings, placing emphasis on,i.a., preventive measures, protection and support – by means of e.g. safehouses – for victimsand people at risk, as well as strategies and measures against the root causes of trafficking;20.improve and coordinate data collection concerning the scale of the problems oftrafficking in human beings in order to provide a realistic basis for the development of ade-quate measures to fight the problem;21.carry out the adoption, implementation and coordination of proper legislation – inaccordance with relevant UN and Council of Europe protocols and conventions of which theyare parties – against trafficking in human beings, which targets allforms of exploitation and includes measures to assist victims;22.strengthen cooperation on crisis management and civil protection against natural,technological and man-made risks and emergencies, e.g. by coordinating planning, preventionand resources, and by streamlining existing arrangements within a comprehensive region-wideframework;

23.take concerted action to reinforce IT security by analyzing, detecting and manag-ing cyber crimes, and by launching defensive and protective measures against the disruptionof critical infrastructure systems;Regarding Climate Change and Energy Issues in the Region, to24.actively work for a new international climate agreement, addressing all relevantclimate change risk factors in accordance with their impact;25.develop a coherent energy strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, in order to enhancesecurity of energy supply, increase the use of renewable energy, and strengthen interconnec-tion between countries, for instance by interconnected transmission lines that will graduallydevelop into a smart grid between the countries and the off-shore windmill parks;26.launch action plans for the propagation of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) andfor building renovation and housing innovation, for the purpose of improving energy efficiencyand energy-saving;27.use the present economic crisis as an opportunity to promote qualitative growthin the Baltic Sea Region, for instance by directing financial packages, investment plans andsubsidies, as well as international financial resources, towards renewable energy production,energy efficiency investments, CHP, efficient district heating systems and interconnecting theelectricity grid;28.establish a common regional training programme to strengthen the joint capaci-ties in energy planning, for instance by developing the exchange of experiences and promotingbest practices among officials at local and national level;Regarding Labour Market and Social Affairs, to29.make systematic and coordinated efforts to identify barriers to the developmentof cross-border labour markets and mobility, in accordance with the political recommendationsin the final report of the BSPC Working Group on Labour Market and Social Welfare, and tocarry out practical measures to dismantle and prevent such barriers;30.make labour market and social welfare issues a priority task on the agenda of theCBSS, taking into account the work and results of the Baltic Sea Labour Network (BSLN);31.strengthen the existing information centres in the Baltic Sea Region and to estab-lish new centres in locations where the number of cross-border commuting is growing butwhere centres do not exist; the information centres should have the capacity and mandate toprovide comprehensive and official information on social security, employment legislation andtax legislation in all the languages spoken on both sides of the border, including, where appli-cable, minority languages;32.foster regular dialogue between associations representing cross-border workers,trade unions, employers and political decision-makers, and strengthen cooperation regardingcross-border labour markets via the establishment of councils for border regions and the de-velopment of networks; likewise, an exchange of experience should be organised regarding thework of the information centres throughout the Baltic Sea Region;

33.enhance transport and logistic capacities in border regions, especially as regardspublic transport, in order to facilitate cross-border commuting and to promote economicgrowth; efforts undertaken should be compatible with the overall objectives of the NorthernDimension Partnership on Transport and Logistics;34.take concerted action to exchange and implement best practices regarding train-ing and employment of young people in the Baltic Sea Region, including cooperative activitiesbetween schools, social partners, public authorities and civil society, and paying special atten-tion to disadvantaged groups;35.begin giving pupils an introduction to the world of work two years before theyleave secondary school, propose agreements between governments and the social partners toensure sufficient training places are created, and ensure that, in the case of youth unemploy-ment, the employment agencies offer integration plans and, after three months of unemploy-ment at the latest, further training, the opportunity to gain additional qualifications, trainingplaces or jobs;Furthermore the Conference36.confirms its support to the CBSS in its transformation towards a more focussedand target-oriented organization, and in realizing the political and operational priorities of theCBSS, hence looks forward to ongoing cooperation with CBSS;37.agrees – concering the year 2009-2010 – that the Enlarged Standing Committeeshould convene twice a year and the Standing Committee convene twice a year with theStanding Committee open for observers from national and regional parliaments that are notrepresented in the Standing Committee;38.asks the Standing Committee to establish a Working Group on Integrated Mari-time Policy, especially infrastructure and logistics, and a Working Group on Civil Security, es-pecially trafficking in human beings, to submit reports to the 20thBSPC;41.BSPC;adopts the amended Rules of Procedure, to take effect after the closure of 18th