Sehr geehrter Herr Vorsitzender, meine Damen und Herren Parlamentarier, Eure Exzellenzen, meine Damen und Herren,
Mit großer Freude wende ich mich an die 16. Ostseeparlamentarierkonferenz.
Ich möchte mich zunächst bei Herrn Bundestagspräsident Dr. Norbert Lammert für seine Gastfreundlichkeit und die uns gegebene Möglichkeit, diese Konferenz hier in Berlin abzuhalten, bedanken.
Es ist für mich sehr ermutigend zu beobachten, wie die beginnende Kooperation mit den Parlamentariern fortgesetzt wird. Und noch mehr freue ich mich auf eine noch nähere Zusammenarbeit in Zukunft, denn wir verfolgen die gleichen Ziele: die Stärkung einer gemeinsamen Identität in der Ostseeregion und die Förderung der sozialen, der ökonomischen und der demokratischen Entwicklung in der Region. Und wir haben die gleiche Ambition: Unsere Region an die Spitze Europas zu führen.
Let me continue in English.
In order to achieve this, closer cooperation, better coordination of actions and regular dialogue among BSPC, CBSS and other regional organizations, intergovernmental actors should be introduced. In the 15 years since the foundation of the CBSS umbrella forum, our inter-governmental cooperation has changed dramatically.
Today, governments alone are no longer in the driving seat. Instead businesses, local authorities, universities, non-governmental organizations and independent organisations are the actors who cooperate and lead the way - this is most encouraging.
Therefore this reality must be reflected in the way in which we design regional cooperation today as well as in the future - and this also applies to the CBSS. This is why the Foreign Ministers of the CBSS, at their meeting in Malmö, Sweden on 13 June 2007, welcomed the reform of the CBSS and a development of an overall strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.
BSPC has expressed its support to the development of the Strategy for the Baltic Sea region and I consider it encouraging moving forward this idea during Latvian presidency in the CBSS.
We urgently need a strategy providing guidance for our region's everyday needs, problems and challenges with a long-term vision for a successful collective future.
Moreover, this strategy should be an evidence of political commitment of the region's governments addressing the needs and challenges of the region and also as a reference or guidelines for the organizations, institutions, both public and private, governmental, intergovernmental or non-governmental working in the region to conform their goals, initiatives and activities to broader region's long-term development goals. Also, every regional actor in this strategy should find its unique role in implementation of the goals we will be agreed upon.
Obviously it is a task that cannot be completed within a year, and it must be seen in the wider context of the general development of the EU. That is why we are aiming at an active involvement from the European Commission. We, of course, would also expect and welcome input from the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference.
According to the Malmo Declaration CBSS under Latvian presidency will develop its reform proposal to be presented in June next year, where redefinition of priorities, institutional restructuring and reconsideration of financial resources will be the main issues.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Regarding Latvian presidency in the CBSS, reform of organization and strategy for the Baltic Sea region is only one part. We have defined two goals of our CBSS presidency - sustainable development and competitiveness. To reach these goals we have 3 priorities - energy, education and civil security.
Sustainable development very much deals with energy, maritime policy, and environment, as well as with civil security issues, like trafficking of human beings, organized crime. But competitiveness keeps in step with education issues.
We share the same opinion on importance of energy issues in the region. We recognize that it is, indeed, a very hot issue in the global debate, because everyone acknowledges the crucial role of energy in sustaining rapid economic growth.
However, energy also can have a negative impact, because it is asserted that energy consumption contributes to global warming. Power industries mean economic security and at the same time a responsibility towards the coming generations.
Therefore a competitive energy market, the development of energy infrastructure and the active use of the evolving renewable energy resources are crucial questions for the further development of our region, but we cannot forget about environmental protection. Taking into account that energy questions are more and more connected with security issues, I believe that we have to think of the interconnectivity of our power grid.
During our Presidency we will be working actively with BASREC and Baltic 21 to monitor the situation and give positive input to the relevant policy frameworks that are under constant review in our region. I am glad that this topic will also be given priority here in the next hours.
The Latvian Presidency agrees with BSPC on devoting more attention to the field of maritime policy. Latvia has included a task of establishment of a new Ad-hoc Task Force on Maritime Safety in our presidency action plan and again we thank for support from the BSPC side.
Latvia and other BSR countries are concerned about safety issues of increased shipping in the region, like double hulling and improved logistics and therefore these issues should be placed on the political table as priority issues.
Falling in line with EU ideas on maritime safety, but trying to move ahead and enact a more reliable mechanism for controlling the cleanliness and reliability of shipping in the most trafficked sea area of Europe is our intention.
Our joint efforts, and here I stress again that we are looking forward to your active participation and input, going in some cases against short-term national interests in the name of long-term sustainable region's development. That will determine the level of political involvement by the member countries.
Trafficking in human beings is another important issue, because the Baltic Sea Region encompasses places of origin, transit and destination for many trafficked persons. Latvia for example is now experiencing a switch from being an origin country to a destination country.
We plan to organise several training seminars where state officials, diplomats, experts and NGOs will discuss and learn about both preventive and operational measures for dealing with this issue. There is still a need to improve legislation in this field.
Therefore we attach high importance to the CBSS Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings in combating this problem through efficient and constructive cooperation.
In the field of civil security we will continue the work started by Poland within the Working group of Democratic Institutions tackling corruption issues.
We will concentrate specifically on corruption in the context of good governance, state of public officials, especially such issues like conflicts of interest, recruitment and post-recruitment and anti-corruption tools in public institutions.
The second goal of our presidency is competitiveness and in this context I would like to stress importance of education.
I see education as the main tool for creating knowledge based society and developing high value added production. It is very promising that almost all governments in the region have a clear vision that we should invest into education, science and creative industries in order to enhance productivity.
For example, our neighbors in Northern European countries have a whole set of outstanding companies, like Nokia, Volvo, Saab, IKEA, Lego, Ericsson, etc., and there is no reasonable argument why the 'new' countries, by having wise policy and proper investments, could not create world-class brands of their own.
The first good example of this is Skype, created by Danes and Estonians working together. So, CBSS has to look closely on the competitiveness of higher education, the infrastructure of science, student mobility, and, broadly speaking, on the process of bringing the innovations into education and science.
Finally, I return to one of our common goals - regional identity of the Baltic Sea region, which should be recognized, strengthened and used for our own common good. We don't look alike, we don't speak one language, we don't live in one country and we don't have a joint team in world ice hockey championship.
But we share the Baltic Sea, a common history, values and spirit of dynamism, skillfulness and creativity. However, what is more important - we share the same dreams about our region's future: to be competitive, stable, advanced and always a developing region.
Therefore one of the largest initiatives of Latvian presidency in the CBSS is the project Balticness which is a year long series of public events taking place in 11 Baltic Sea Region cities to promote the notion of Balticness, awareness of the region's unique comparative advantages and values and the Baltic Sea as the life artery for the people living around it. The project Balticness should be our contribution to the branding of the region.
Project will initiate discussions among students in all the CBSS countries about challenges and opportunities that we in the region are now facing, and what can we do about them.
Moreover, a photo exhibition showing uniting symbol of our region - the Baltic Sea - by young photographers' eyes and jazz performances of musicians from all our countries will underline our Balticness, belonging to the region, common understanding and advantages of our cooperation.
I would like to wish this conference instructive and thorough discussion and look forward to the outcomes that I hope will present a solid platform for the collaborative work that we will need to embark on over the next ten months.
Thank you for your attention.