At the 23rd General Assembly of the CPMR Baltic Sea Commission, held on 16 May in Oulu, member regions adopted a political declaration in light of the negotiations on the future of the EU budget and policies, and ahead of the revision of the Action Plan of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR).

The political declaration conveys messages aimed at EU decisions-makers and stakeholders, with a particular focus on a strong post-2020 EU budget delivering sustainable regional growth and a more resilient EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

The Oulu declaration calls for:

CPMR news

 

Jari Nahkanen, member of the board in the Regional Council of Oulu and newly elected President of the CPMR Baltic Sea Commission, stressed the further commitment to the EUSBSR and transnational cooperation in his final speech of the General Assembly. He also stressed that if local and regional stakeholders are to take further ownership of the strategy, multi-level governance and adequate funding programmes are a nescessity:

“According to preliminary information, existing internal cross border programmes could be merged which is very worrying. Regions are part of the governing structure and the projects funded are enabling local and regional stakeholders to link their own regional development with stakeholders from other countries. A necessity in the fields of transport, innovation and environment.

If we want to achieve a stronger ownership and more action on local and regional level for the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, these programmes are important. The transnational programmes are different in nature. At its worst a merger could leave subregional level cooperation without funding”.


Read the Oulu Declaration here.

 

40380073110 582d4e53a1 zPhoto by CPMR Baltic Sea Commission

More photos from the General Assembly available on Flickr.