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Bo Lindroos,
Unit for the Northern Dimension,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Distinguished participants of the conference,
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you about the Northern Dimension, something that today fills my workingday completely.
I assume that you all are familiar with the content of the Finnish initiative of the Northern Dimension and the development after the Finnish Prime Ministers speech in Rovaniemi in September 1997. Academic research and round table discussions like this here, will as I see it contribute to the same goal that all of us have, a peaceful evolution of the region.
During the preparations of the Northern Dimension initiative some comparisons were made with the so called Barcelona-process with one important distinction, in the ND-initiative no new EU instruments or programs were to be created. This was a political precondition for the success of the initiative that today is an integral part of the European Union external and cross-border policies. The European Union has given, for the first time, a comprehensive and detailed position on the Northern Dimension region. The Action Plan endorsed at the summit in Feira in June sets out the objectives and perspectives for actions during the years 2000-2003 in those sectors where expected added value is greatest. In the Feira summit conclusions, special attention is given to the environment, nuclear safety, the fight against international crime and Kaliningrad.
Of the priority areas Finland wanted to be included in the Action Plan information society (IT) is the most important. What worries Finland most is the emerging digital division between the EU and NW-Russia. The union is creating its “eEurope” and Finland together with the Nordic countries are leading IT-countries. We have to find solutions and concrete actions have to be taken to tackle the problem and diminish the gap. The main role of the governments is to create favourable legislation for the telecommunication and IT sectors to develop. The applicant countries are well on their way to accept and implement the EU legislation in these fields in a few year's time. A good example is the Estonian governments decision making process without papers. New challenges are also the rapid development of wireless (mobile) communications, the growing demand for high-speed services, rapidly growing e-commerce and globalisation of telecommunications. Finland together with Estonia are leading the IT-work that now is going on in the CBSS regime.
In the near future we should try to identify what the EU, the Commission and the partners jointly can do in order to promote implementation of the Action Plan. We should encourage all actors to initiate projects for programmes in line with the Action Plan. The overall role of the Commission is crucial but all member- and partner countries have to contribute. The Commissions tools are within the existing legal frameworks and budgetary instruments such as Phare, Ispa, Sapard, Tacis and Interreg III programmes and relevant sector programmes. The implementation of the Action Plan would benefit from enhanced co-operation and joint financing from these Community funds and national programmes together with the International Financial Institutions and the private sector. The keywords here are synergy, efficiency and better co-ordination.
The Commission is now working within an Inter Service Group on the implementation of the Action Plan and with the identification of appropriate follow up proposals in all sectors where expected added value is greatest, as they describe the process themselves. The sectors would at least as far as we know include environment, nuclear safety, telecommunication and Kaliningrad. Finland do not want to concentrate only on these sectors but wants to continue developing the initiative also in all the other sectors mentioned in the Action Plan.
The Northern Dimension partner countries’ stand on the Action Plan has been positive and very constructive. It is also important and necessary to maintain the openness and close cooperation with the partner countries and especially towards Russia. Russia has also seen the benefits of this approach. The Northern Dimension was for example yesterday on the agenda of the European Union and Russia Cooperation Committee meeting in Moscow. The outcome of the discussions I do not know yet. It is although encouraging that the Commission in its work will seek to involve the Russians in discussions, so that the work is developed together with them. To avoid frustration among the partners, as many are also beneficiaries in many of the planned projects, it is of out most importance that the Commission continues the dialogue it so well kept up with them during the preparations of the Action Plan. The Commission has to be given resources enough to do this work. Now is the time to identify common concrete projects, find the financing and in that sense take a step forward. One that Finland already considers as a ND-project is the waste water treatment plant in St. Petersburg around which it has been possible to collect a good co-financing structure. This kind of co-operation contributes to sustainable development of the region.
Co-operation on Kaliningrad was singled out in the Feira conclusions. You could also say that it has been single out by the Russian side itself as a pilot project in the co-operation between EU and Russia. You all know that the region will become an enclave inside the union as the enlargement takes place. The Northern Dimension concept offers the possibility to address the needs and challenges of Kaliningrad. We have to keep in mind that the responsibility to develop Kaliningrad lies on Russia and the region itself. EU and the partner countries can contribute but cannot alone solve the problems. The ND-conference on Kaliningrad in Copenhagen in May 2000 highlighted the EU's and the partner countries will to support Russia and Kaliningrad in promoting the region's competitiveness. On the basis of the Action Plan, the Copenhagen conclusions and the joint Russo-Lithuanian Nida list, new concrete actions on Kaliningrad should be planned, especially for the time period after the up-coming gubernatorial elections in November.
I visited Kaliningrad myself a week ago. The region has developed but still a lot of problems remain. The active approach at the City Hall and the Governors office to develop the region is promising. Already established twinning arrangements with regions and cities in north Europe is surely benefiting Kaliningrad.
The Commission is preparing a study paper on Kaliningrad that should be ready by the end of the year. Also the incoming EU-Presidency Sweden has put Kaliningrad high on their ND-agenda. A study will be prepared by the Kommerskollegium in Stockholm and SIDA to be presented in spring 2001.
Although the Northern Dimension initiative is a part of the Unions external policies it creates, like also the EU-enlargement does, new opportunities for all regional actors. The Regional Councils such as the CBSS (Council of the Baltic Sea States), the BEAC (Barents Euro-Arctic Council) and the Arctic Council (which Finland will chair the next two years) could serve as co-ordination, information and follow-up fora and help in the identification of joint priorities in the region. The German CBSS-presidency has already started co-operation with sub-regional actors around the Baltic Sea in order to identify feasible project ideas. Also in Germany the northern lдnders have been very active, for example a diskussionforum on Northern Dimension was organised in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern last august. The main speaker was the Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen. The next forum will be held according to the plans in Hamburg next year. To keep the process going we need this kind of initiatives that promote cooperation between actors on different levels.
As I said before now when the Union has endorsed the Action Plan, efficient implementation and systematic follow-up is of utmost importance. We have to find concrete projects and put them into the pipeline. One that we already consider as a ND-project is the waste water treatment plant in St. Petersburg around which it has been possible to collect a good co-financing structure. This kind of co-operation contributes to sustainable development of the region.
Sweden plans to organise a ministerial level follow-up conference on the Northern Dimension on 9 April 2001, in Luxembourg. In this way, Sweden will guarantee continuity and contribute to the effective implementation of the Action Plan. Sweden will also as is mentioned in the Feira conclusions prepare, together with the Commission, a full report on the Northern Dimension policies for the Gцteborg European Council.
Finland is also looking forward to academic studies prepared by the Russian part. We have understood that one analytic paper will be presented by the Russian Academy of Sciences in the near future. The author is Mr. Jurij Derjabin, earlier ambassador of Russia to Finland. Also in the regime of TEPSA (Trans European Policy Studies Association) professor Bertel Heurlin from DUPI in Copenhagen is preparing a paper on the Northern Dimension and the US, Baltic States and Russia.
Finland very much appreciates the work researchers do under the umbrella of the Northern Dimension. The researchers have in many cases broad-minded the scope by involving also “hard security issues” under the umbrella. As you all know the Finnish initiative singled this part out and will do it also in the future. The line between hard and soft security is many times difficult to discover. The goal is the same, to maintain peace and stability and good cooperation in the region.
The Finnish government trusts in the future of the initiative and gives as an active member of the union its full support to all actors developing Northern Dimension policies. It is now up to all parties to continue the process.
Thank You.