Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
| Reflection Paper on the Vilnius Declaration: A Vision for the Baltic Sea Region by 2020 |
Lithuanian Presidency 2020 - 2021
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Lithuania took over the Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States on July 1, with Covid-19 related challenges to the security, integrity, and the openness of our societies in the region being in full force. The CBSS will continue to adjust to this new reality and as its Presidency we will carry on working remotely, if need be, adjusting and taking up relevant topics as necessary. The Presidency will focus on achievable, practical, and visible 4 priorities:
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The Presidency also offers to assess the achievements of the region where the CBSS was involved, to evaluate organization‘s role over the last decade since Vilnius Declaration „A Vision of the Baltic Sea Region until 2020“. The Declaration was adopted by our Prime Ministers in Vilnius on June 3, 2010. We have already gathered a group of experts who earlier worked on the CBSS „Vision Group“, and they prepared such an evaluation for us. This reflection paper is available on the site of the CBSS Secretariat.
Thereafter we intend to ask the CSO to work on a new forward-looking Vilnius Declaration „A Vision of the Baltic Sea Region until 2030“ which is to be ready, hopefully, by the next high-level meeting at the end of our Presidency.
Our strategic partner VASAB (Vision Around the Baltic Sea) will be working on the renewed long term perspective of the territorial development of the Baltic Sea Region until 2030.
The forum of the Baltic Sea Youth Platfom and the Baltic Sea NGO Forum will prepare their declarations – visions of the future of our region.
The International Tourism Forum will be devoted to the future of tourism in the Baltic Sea Region.
We look forward to a new Director General of the organisation to making adjustments to the organisation‘s agenda to adapt to post-Covid period, and direct the organization into a more challenging future.
SCHEDULED PRESIDENCY EVENTS (dates subject to change)
Secretariat of the Lithuanian presidency of the CBSS:
- Ms. Kornelija Jurgaitienė, Chair of the CSO, Ambassador, European Affairs Department;
- Mr. Tomas Irnius, Lithuanian Representative to the CSO, Head of the Division of the Baltic Sea States;
- Mr. Adomas Leonavičius, Administrator.
Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS)
The creation of macro regions is trending in today’s European Union. The first instance of this trend has been the empowerment of the Baltic Sea region, which is considered the most promising in Europe by virtue of having a dedicated strategy of the EU Baltic Sea Region. The reasons underpinning a successful partnership between the countries of the region relate to close regional co-operation politics, which sprung from the Council of the Baltic Sea States.
The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) was established as an informal regional political forum in Copenhagen in 1992. The main idea was to promote integration in the region characterized by a great diversity looking from the economic and social viewpoint. With the fall of iron curtain states like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, rejuvenated Russian Federation and also the part of Germany previously called the German Democratic Republic, have made their comeback to the Baltic Sea region. Today, the Baltic Sea region is recognized as the most successful example of regional co-operation, and not only in the European Union. By now the CBSS has reached its main goals and objectives, and retains its importance to Lithuania in a wide spectrum of activities coinciding with Lithuania’s national interests.
Activities of the CBSS include every aspect of Baltic Sea region’s intergovernmental co-operation but military defense.
CBSS is made up of 11 member states: Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Norway, the Russian Federation, Finland, Sweden, and Germany, with EU having a special status.
Observers are: Belarus, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, the USA, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Hungary.
The Council is the highest body of the CBSS and consists of Foreign Affairs Ministers of its member states and the representative of the European Union. The meetings of Foreign Affairs Ministers are arranged every two years since 1992, as well as meetings of the Heads of the Governments, (first such meeting took place in Sweden in 1996). This tradition was put on hold since 2014 after the annexation of Crimea by the CBSS member state Russia. Currently Baltic Sea Region high level meetings are being held annually. The last one (video conference) took place on May 19, 2020. All the ministers of the foreign affairs of the region took part at the meeting.
The chairmanship by each member state rotates on an annual basis (from July 1st until June 30th). The Minister of the Foreign Affairs of the chairing state is also responsible for co-ordination of the work of the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO), which in turn assists and represents the Minister in between the Ministerial meetings. The CSO consists of high-ranking representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the 11 CBSS Member States as well as a representative of the European Union. The chairperson of the CSO is delegated by a country holding the Presidency that year. In between the high-level meetings, the CSO works as the main discussion and decision-making body.
In 2014, three long-term priorities of co-operation were approved of: fostering regional identity, aiming at sustainable and prosperous development of the region, and ensuring the safety and security of its citizens and infrastructure. The chairing state - the Presidency - is free to choose additionally its activity priorities for the year.
In 2017, in the light of the changing political situation in the region as well as in Europe, the members of the Council decided to reform the organization so that it could better match current needs. The Latvian and Danish Presidencies developed proposals for the implementation of a large-scale organizational reform. The final reform documents (revised Terms of Reference of the CBSS and of the CBSS Secretariat and the Bornholm Declaration) were adopted in May 2020.
In the Bornholm Declaration, the Foreign Ministers and high-level representatives reaffirmed the role of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) as a platform uniquely suited to add value to the development of the Baltic Sea region, through intergovernmental dialogue and practical cooperation between all countries in the region, by fostering mutual understanding, building trust, ensuring stability and promoting people-to-people contacts. The reforms should increase the relevance, efficiency, transparency and visibility of the organization. In particular, they should foster more focus and flexibility in the work of the CBSS, improve CBSS co-operation with other international fora and formats active in the region, and enable concrete results in areas in which the CBSS is uniquely suited to add value.
As concerns topical issues for the Baltic Sea Region, and also regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, the Ministers underlined the importance of strengthened cooperation in the field of civil protection and encouraged the CBSS Civil Protection Network to focus on prevention, preparedness and relevant research actions.
Regarding the engagement of young people, they underlined the need to foster active and meaningful youth participation and representation in institutions and decision-making processes in the region.
Regarding environment and climate-related challenges, they welcomed important ongoing regional initiatives in line with the 2030 Agenda to promote sustainable development, address climate change and protect the marine environment, notably the promotion of increased use in the region of off-shore wind power, carbon capture storage and shore-side power supply for ferries and cruise ships, as well as the current updating of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan.
Regarding the fight against cross-border organised crime, they underlined the persistent common challenges for the region and the need for strong cooperation in this field.
Lithuania chaired the CBSS in 1989-1999 and in 2009-2010. The Summit of the CBSS Heads of State took place in Vilnius in 2010. It has adopted a highly significant Vilnius Declaration “A Vision for the Baltic Sea Region by 2020”, which established development ideas for further co-operation in the region within the upcoming decade. It emphasized the potential of the Baltic Sea Region to become one of the most prosperous, innovative and competitive regions in the world. The declaration remains the basic document for regional co-operation until 2020. The third period of the chairmanship starts on July 1, 2020 and will continue until June 30, 2021.
The CBSS member states co-operate in various expert and work groups, inter alia:
- Expert Group on Nuclear and Radiation Safety (EGNRS),
- Expert Group on Sustainable Maritime Economy (EGSME)
- Task-Force Against Trafficking in Human Beings (TF-THB),
- The Expert Group on Children at Risk ( CAR),
- The Expert Group “Baltic 2030” on Sustainable Development (EGSD),
- The Baltic Sea Task-Force on Organized Crime (BSTF) – Heads of the government are in charge,
- Monitoring Group on Cultural Heritage in the Baltic Sea Region (BSMGHC),
- Ars Baltica Organizing Committee (ABOC) on Cultural Cooperation,
- Vision and Strategies around the Baltic Sea (VASAB).
CBSS works closely with other regional organizations ant its strategic partners:
- Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC),
- Baltic Islands Network (B7)
- The Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation (BSSSC),
- The Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC),
- Baltic Sea NGO Network,
- Baltic Sea Trade Union Network (BASTUN),
- The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM),
- Baltic Sea Region University Network (BSRUN).
New organizations are constantly added to those lists. The CBSS has established a special Project Support Fond to assist regional cooperation projects. The Fund is supported by all the member states.
Many prominent organizations became CBSS project partners.
Swedish Institute (SI) is a project partner that has worked closely with the CBSS for many years across all priority areas. The strongest collaboration has been across the various leadership programs on topics such as low carbon economy, labor and employment and civil security.
Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) is a sister Council and collaboration has most recently focused on counter trafficking in human beings and children’s rights in joint programs.
Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is a regional organisation that the CBSS has collaborated with on the topic of Climate Adaptation.
Central European Initiative (CEI) is a regional organisation where CBSS has a long history of institutional relations.
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is where the CBSS Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings alongside with the Children at Risk group is a member of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons. More recently the civil security portfolio has given input to the EFF Economic and Environmental Forum.
CBSS participates in three activities of EUSBSR: Policy Area Secure, Horizontal Action Climate, Horizontal Action Neighbours.
In 1998 the Permanent International Secretariat of the CBSS was established in Stockholm. It provides technical and organizational support to the Chairperson of the CBSS, the CSO and the structures and working bodies of the Council, ensures continuity and enhances co-ordination of CBSS activities, implements the CBSS Information and Communication Strategy. The Permanent International Secretariat maintains the CBSS archives and information database.
More information: www.cbss.org
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