From September 20-22 in Potsdam, Germany, the Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation (BSSSC) invited stakeholders from all over the Baltic Sea Region to discuss the Cohesion Policy and the future of the Baltic Sea Region under the title “Cohesion = Togetherness”.

 

About 200 representatives from all levels of governance from the whole Baltic Sea Region participated in the 25th Annual Conference of the BSSSC. The conference had a number of interesting speakers from the EU level, regional level, national level, as well as municipal and, of course, sub-regional level. During the conference, there were also a number of representatives present from various NGOs related to policy areas such as culture, transport, innovation and the UN's sustainability goals.

Chairman of BSSSC and Mayor of Buskerud County, Roger Ryberg, opened the conference: "The global situation is becoming increasingly tense and we must therefore stand together to decide upon how we want the future of Europe to look like." Photo by Andreas Franke - panabild.de

EUSBSR highlighted as important framework for BSSSC

During the conference the BSSSC adopted its resolution where it acknowledges the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) as an important basis/framework for its policy work and actions and will continue to promote the principles of subsidiarity and multi-level governance in the implementation of the EUSBSR.

BSSSC also called for better alignment of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) funding instruments with macro-regional strategies and better access to EU funding programmes for macro-regional projects.

It also confirmed its commitment to strengthen the voice of the young people in the framework of the EUSBSR and highlighted the importance of participation of municipalities, non-governmental organisations and citizens in developing and implementing the EUSBSR.

BSSSC welcomed the first Participation Day carried out during the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2017 in Berlin, and encouraged the organisers to continue their efforts in the future.

Read more about the 25th Annual Conference on BSSSC website.