Strengthening the EU Agenda for Baltic Sea Cooperation

Brussels, 29 November 2005

A new momentum for Baltic Sea Cooperation is actively being generated in Europe today. The strong economic performance of the region and the development of the EU-Russia partnership provide an excellent platform for the promotion of the EU agenda for Baltic Sea cooperation as part of the Northern Dimension. 

Europe's Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region prepared by the "Baltic Europe intergroup" of the European Parliament was published in Strasbourg on 15 November, and the future of the Northern Dimension was discussed in the Northern Dimension Ministerial meeting in Brussels on 21 November.

Following these events, the Baltic Institute of Finland organized a seminar on "Strengthening the EU Agenda for Baltic Sea Cooperation" in the European Parliament, Brussels on 29 November. The seminar gathered together over 40 MEPs and experts on the Baltic Sea region to discuss the latest developments and future challenges of Baltic Sea cooperation and the Northern Dimension. The main themes of the seminar were environment, innovation and competitiveness in the Baltic Sea region. The EU Northern Dimension policy was discussed especially from the Northwest Russian perspective.

Programme

Summary of the seminar

Presentations:
Tapani Kohonen,
Ministry of the Environment of Finland
Tapani Kohonen 2 (text)
Satu Hassi, Finnish MEP
Tatiana Romanova, St. Petersburg State University 
Christian Ketels, Harvard Business School; Stockholm School of Economics
Adam Kanne, Baltic Development Forum

Further information: Director Esa Kokkonen,
mob. +358 50 516 9111

Seminar on Finnish-Latvian Business Cooperation

Tampere Hall, 14 November 2005

Latvia is at the moment the fastest growing economy in Europe. The strategic location of Latvia at the Baltic Sea Region together with rapidly developing transport connections form the basis for Latvia’s economic success and attractiveness. Latvia is an increasingly attractive destination also for the Finnish businesses and tourists.

The seminar provided an outlook on the recent development of Latvian economy and business environment, future prospects as well as possibilities for Finnish-Latvian business cooperation in the enlarged European Union.

The Baltic Institute of Finland organized the seminar in cooperation with Friends of Latvia Association as part of the Latvian week in Finland. Over 40 representatives of Finnish companies and other organisations participated in the seminar.

Programme of the seminar

Further Information: Johanna Pollari, 050-556 4229, johanna.pollari@tampere.fi

Baltic Sea Roundtable with Finnish MEPs, 21 June 2005

The Baltic Insitute of Finland organised a Baltic Sea Roundtable discussion in the European Parliament, Brussels on 21 June 2005. Finnish members of the parliament and other interested parties were invited to discuss the state and development of cooperation in the Baltic Sea region as well as expectations for the upcoming Finnish EU presidency in the second half of 2006.

In the event BIF presented its ongoing projects and own experiences from cooperation with Russia, Baltic States and Poland. 

The main speakers of the event were:

- Esa Kokkonen, Director of the Baltic Institute of Finland
- Alexander Stubb, MEP (The National Coalition Party)
- Ms Satu Hassi, MEP (The Green Party)
- Ms Riitta Myller, MEP (The Finnish Social Democratic Party)

Summary of the event (in Finnish)

eCITIZEN PROJECT

KICK-OFF MEETING IN TAMPERE, FINLAND, 18 - 20 MAY 2005

The kick-off meeting of the Challenge of eCitizen - Promoting eGovernment Actions in Europe project was organized in Tampere, Finland, from 18 to 20 May 2005.  In connection of the kick-off meeting, the project steering committee met for the first time.

All the project partners made presentations on their on-going activities on eGovernment as well as their Action Plans for their project related activities. The partners had specific Component meetings to introduce their own activities as well as to prepare Component Action Plans.

More information and summary of the meeting from the eCitizen website