The Northern Dimension

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THE NORTHERN DIMENSION

MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION

Markku Heikkilä

188c/2006

Published by EUROPE INFORMATION Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION

Contents

To the Reader 7

1. Introduction 9

2. The European Union reaches the North 11 2.1. Beginning of Arctic cooperation 11 2.2. The Barents and the Baltic Sea initiatives 13 2.3. Finland searches for the EU’s northern role 14 2.4. The Northern Dimension initiative in 1997 15 2.5. Part of EU’s external and cross-border policies 17 2.6. Programmes, not structures 18 2.7. Partnership as a tool 19 2.8. Russia’s problems with the Second ND Action Plan 20 2.9. Toward new thinking 21

3. Paavo Lipponen: Strong Commitment from Russia 25

4. A Success Story in Environmental Partnership 27 4.1. The Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant in St Petersburg 27 4.2. The project’s roots in the past 29 4.3. New philosophy for financing 31 4.4. Reducing waste in the Baltic Sea 33 4.5. The St Petersburg Flood Protection Barrier 34 4.6. Tackling nuclear waste in the Kola Peninsula 36

5. Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being 39 5.1. Partners from 13 countries and several organisations 39 © Markku Heikkilä and Ministry for Foreign 5.2. From Joensuu to Oslo 40 Affairs of Finland / Europe Information 5.3. Progress made 42 5.4. 44 Editor Päivi Toivanen The Barents HIV/AIDS programme 5.5. Great challenges remain 45 Translation Lionbridge Oy Layout and illustration Mika Launis 6. Regional Councils 47 6.1. The Arctic Council 47 Printed by Edita Oyj 2006 6.2. The Barents Euro-Arctic Council 50 ISBN 951-724-568-8 6.3. The Barents Regional Council 51

MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION

6.4. The Council of the Baltic Sea States 52 To the Reader 6.5. The Nordic Council of Ministers 53

7. Erkki Tuomioja: Wheels in Motion 55

8. Transport and Energy 59 After the accession of Finland and Sweden to the European Union 8.1. Towards new partnerships 59 in 1995, the Union’s geographical area enlarged northward and Rus- 8.2. East-west connections in the north 60 sia became one of its neighbouring countries. By introducing its ini- 8.3. Energy transport by sea 61 tiative on the Northern Dimension (ND), Finland wanted to bring 8.4. Northern eDimension 63 the new situation and its challenges and opportunities to the atten- 8.5. Accelerating the exploitation of energy resources 63 tion of the EU. The purpose was to increase cooperation between the Union and Russia, especially North-West Russia, and to bring the 9. North and South 66 Baltic States closer to the EU. This was fuelled by a wish to consoli- 9.1. A new financial instrument 67 date stability, welfare and sustainable development in Northern Eu- 9.2. Neighbourhood and partnership 68 rope, and thereby promote security and development throughout the Union and in its neighbouring areas. 10. Paula Lehtomäki: Commitment and Coordination 70 The Northern Dimension was one of the key issues on the agen- 11. Expectations of the European Parliament 73 da of Finland’s first Presidency of the EU in autumn 1999. The first 11.1. Towards a Baltic Sea Strategy 73 Northern Dimension Ministerial Conference was arranged then, 11.2. A higher profile and more attention 74 and the European Council in Helsinki in December 1999 invited the 11.3. Kauppi: Reviving the concept 75 Commission to prepare an action plan for the Northern Dimension policy. Since then, two Action Plans for the Northern Dimension have 12. Northern Policies and Finnish National Fora 78 been adopted, cross-border cooperation has been developed and the 12.1. Society for Northern Policies 78 Environmental Partnership as well as the Partnership for Public 12.2. Finnish national fora 79 Health and Social Wellbeing have been established. 80 12.3. Discussions and results After the adoption of the current Northern Dimension Action Plan, the Baltic States have become Member States of the EU. Co- 13. 82 Olli Rehn: Active Players in Demand operation between the EU and Russia has developed, but the need for cooperation between the countries of the region and the EU and Russia in issues related to North-West Russia, the Baltic Sea and the Arctic regions is even greater than earlier. The Finnish Government has been aware of all these issues and of the fact that the current Northern Dimension Action Plan will expire at the end of 2006, coinciding with the end of our EU Presidency. The Government therefore launched a thorough and extensive ‘brain- storming’ process in order to find out what has been achieved by means of the Northern Dimension policy to date and what decisions

MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION should possibly be reached during this Presidency. The results of the 1. Introduction analysis were clear: the Northern Dimension is needed also in future; cooperation between the EU and Russia – the EU and North-West Russia, in particular – is even more important that before for both parties. However, the policy for the Northern Dimension should be updated to correspond to the changed operational environment. As defined by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Northern Therefore, it is natural that the renewal of the Northern Dimension Dimension (ND) operates at two levels. constitutes one of the central themes of our EU Presidency. It is of particular importance that the Northern Dimension becomes a common At the higher level, it is a policy concept aiming to draw the EU’s policy of the EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland, to which all parties are attention to northern Europe and to develop cooperation especially genuinely committed. The adoption of a new joint Policy Framework with North-West Russia. Document for the Northern Dimension is on the agenda of Finland’s In practical terms, it encompasses Northern Dimension partner- EU Presidency in autumn 2006. It is scheduled to enter into force at the ships and all cross-border and trans-regional activities pursued in beginning of 2007, when the current Action Plan expires. the area: European Union projects, as well as the work of individual The Government’s analysis also proved that the Northern Dimen- countries, groups of countries, the European Commission, organisa- sion as a term is well known both in Finland and elsewhere in Europe, tions, provinces and local players. All of these are part of the overall even though its content and achievements have remained unknown concept. to general public. One could even say that the Northern Dimension This implies that the EU’s Northern Dimension may be difficult has suffered from a sort of ‘marketing and communications prob- to identify at times. On the one hand, it is scattered throughout the lem’. For example, few people are aware that environmental projects world in hundreds of projects largely unaware of one another. On worth as much as EUR 2 billion, which are crucial for Finland, Rus- the other hand, it is omnipresent as an umbrella term in policy and sia and the rest of Europe, are currently being implemented by the geographical discourse, covering pretty much everything. Even the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership. The input of indi- region itself lacks clear delineation. On maps it is usually drawn as an vidual countries constitutes only a fraction of this sum. The Partner- oval stretching from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains, covering all ship is an excellent example of the fact that by joining our forces we of northern Europe. can achieve more than we could on our own. A unified Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, was General Charles Journalist Markku Heikkilä’s book on the Northern Dimension de Gaulle’s vision in the late 1950s. While none of this is mentioned in answers the question of what the Northern Dimension is and tells the objectives set for the ND, the fact remains that the concept is used about what has been achieved. Moreover, it contains a comprehensive to address northern Europe as a whole. In the end, no other mechanism overview of the evolution of the Northern Dimension and presents exists for such extensive cooperation between the EU, Russia and other ideas on what it could be like in the future – renewed and reinforced. non-EU areas in the north such as Norway and Iceland. The Northern Dimension extends over the Arctic all the way to North America, with Helsinki, June 2006 the USA and Canada taking part as observers. Therein lies the original and most powerful vision of the Northern Matti Vanhanen Dimension: cooperation between northern regions that benefits all Prime Minister and aims at sustainable development, stability, prosperity and security.

MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION

But, as is often the case in the real world, vision and practice do not 2. The European Union reaches the North always meet. While the Northern Dimension is now an established concept, few can describe its actual content. It is as if disillusionment followed from things not being served up on a plate as had been expected.

As an EU policy, the Northern Dimension is less than ten years of The concept of the Northern Dimension was created not in a vacuum age. From the very beginning, its development has been based on a but on the basis of existing circumstances. An essential facilitating multitude of small elements. While many of these would have existed factor was the enormous political change that took place in the late in any case, some of them, especially those related to environmental 1980s and early 1990s: the end of the Cold War, which meant the issues, are brand new. opening of a door to a new kind of Europe. The vision and implementation of the Northern Dimension have Most of the attention has focused on the events that took place now been subjected to a reassessment, to the results of which all coun- in the Baltic states and Central and Eastern Europe – that is, the tries and players in the region are committed. To an increasing extent, areas in which new states were created and existing systems collapsed. the concept is considered to be part of the general goals of coopera- The events of that time, however, also presented new options to the tion between the EU and Russia. We seem to be experiencing a shift northern parts of Europe and the Arctic region all the way to North from detailed action plans to operations that allow more leeway. At America. the same time, the goals are becoming increasingly ambitious. The international changes taking place in northern Europe also The Northern Dimension was one of the focal points during Fin- got started in the late 1980s, with the Soviet Union first opening up land’s first EU Presidency in 1999 – and will be so again in 2006. The and then collapsing. This process and the new opportunities it pre- intervening years have seen new experiences; discussions, sometimes sented had proceeded a long way by the time Finland and Sweden critical ones; high expectations and noteworthy achievements. An joined the EU in 1995. important phase has now come to an end, and it is time to move on to the next one. The experiences accumulated over the past decade form an essential foundation for future progress. 2.1. Beginning of Arctic cooperation This publication aims to be the first basic work on the Northern The commencement of changes in the north can, in fact, be pinpoint- Dimension to date. For it to provide a clear picture, the material must ed to an exact date. The turning point is generally considered to be the be examined in the overall context formed by the EU and other co- speech delivered by General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in Mur- operation in the northern areas. This will show a region that is truly mansk on 1 October 1987. Until then, the northernmost regions of unique on a European scale, in terms of both the challenges and op- the globe had been characterised by military and political tension and portunities it presents. a confrontation between two superpowers. No regional cooperation could be fostered in a region where NATO and the Soviet Union met face to face and nuclear submarines played ‘cat and mouse’. By 1987, however, the world had already witnessed the Reykjavik Summit, where world leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, to the utter surprise of the world, brought up the question of radically reducing their nuclear arsenals.

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On page 21 of his 24-page Murmansk speech, Gorbachev unex- 2.2. The Barents and the Baltic Sea initiatives pectedly announced the goal of converting the Arctic into a ‘zone of peace’. This was followed by a series of proposals in areas ranging from Things were happening elsewhere as well. After the demise of the So- environmental protection to joint exploitation of natural resources. viet Union in the early 1990s, Norway’s Foreign Minister at the time, Such ideas were unheard of in those days, less than 20 years ago. Thorvald Stoltenberg – father of current Prime Minister Jens Stolten- berg – and Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev had come into Gorbachev’s speech propelled a number of activities that were put contact. At Stoltenberg’s initiative, the two began to design new forms in motion both jointly and independently of one another. The essen- of relations to join the northern regions through peace and coopera- tial point, however, is that all of these events contributed to shaping tion. Finnish Foreign Minister Paavo Väyrynen soon entered the dis- northern Europe into the international environment witnessed in cussions on cooperation in the Barents Euro-Arctic region. Sweden 1995 when the EU expanded over the Arctic Circle. stepped aboard as the fourth member of the nascent partnership. Viewed in the framework of Soviet policies, the Murmansk speech Stoltenberg later described this as a star moment: enormous op- was more of a shooting star, an isolated case that was neither preceded portunities had emerged, but no-one knew how long they would nor followed by any activities from Moscow concerning northern co- exist. He wondered how to answer his grandchildren’s questions in 25 operation. years: “Weren’t you foreign minister at the time? What did you do to Partly because of Gorbachev’s speech, the Finnish Ministry for make the most of that moment?” Foreign Affairs seized the opportunity to propose international envi- The answer was to create a brand-new international initiative, ronmental cooperation in the Arctic region. This was Finland’s initia- the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, which was officially agreed on at tive in the north: a type of ‘environmental OSCE’, as it was called at the the meeting for foreign ministers in Kirkenes, northern Norway, in time. Finland worked actively on this topic for several years. January 1993. The topic was of immediate interest to Russia, Norway, Meanwhile, Canada was busy promoting a more extensive proposal Finland and Sweden, but founding members also included Denmark, for an Arctic council. After certain disagreements had been resolved, Iceland and the European Commission. The regional Barents council common ground began to be found between the two concepts. covers the northernmost parts of the first four countries. The first international political meeting involving all Arctic coun- By the mid-1990s, the northern regions had seen initiatives offered tries was held in Rovaniemi, Finland, in 1991. It resulted in the Arctic by the Soviet Union, Finland, Canada and Norway, all of which had Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS), also known as the Rova- resulted in concrete action. Sweden did not plan to be left far behind. niemi process, the most significant result of which was the launch of The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) had been established the strategy itself. Although the concrete objectives had to be repeat- in Copenhagen in 1992 after the Baltic states regained their inde- edly downgraded, none of the countries dropped out. pendence and conditions in the region had changed following the Canada’s initiative saw progress as well, albeit with a delay of sev- collapse of the Soviet Union. Environmental cooperation was first on eral years. After lengthy discussions of its forms and duties, the Arc- the agenda in the Baltic Sea region as well. In fact, the Helsinki Com- tic Council finally saw daylight in Ottawa in 1996. A year later, the mission (Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission , HEL- environmental protection strategy was linked to it. This is how the COM) had been established back in the middle of the Cold War era, international framework of Arctic cooperation got its current form, a in 1974. It, too, was revamped in the early 1990s, which was a time decade after Gorbachev’s speech. of more extensive political commitment. The European Commission was a founding partner in this cooperation as well.

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Owing to the low profile of the CBSS, Sweden decided to boost It was clear, even then, that Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland activities in the mid-1990s. Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson convened would apply for membership at some point. a summit that his successor Göran Persson opened with eloquent These were the conditions in which the Northern Dimension words in spring 1996: “We share a common heritage; we share a com- was created. In the EU, it appeared then to be widely expected that mon future.” For the first time in history, all heads of state of the Baltic as a Member State of the Union Finland would introduce new ideas Sea region, as well as Jacques Santer, chairman of the European Com- concerning the EU–Russian relations. In this respect, preliminary mission, were assembled around the same table. discussions in Finland had taken two directions. The summit did not result in any major political decisions; the In the early 1990s, a new society for northern policies had been main point was getting together. It symbolised the political interest set up in Rovaniemi, primarily within the University of Lapland. It that the leaders of the Baltic Sea states showed in the region. Sum- was based on the wish to rekindle Finland’s interest and activity in the mits in the region have thereafter been held at regular intervals. That international development of northern regions. is not to say that the Visby Summit did not act to propel a number of initiatives forward. It was, for example, the launch point for an impor- Issues that worked in the background – and are still relevant – in- tant form of cooperation in the Baltic Sea region: the combating of cluded the notion of the north forming a unique international area organised crime. The European Commission also presented its Baltic of cooperation. The Arctic area brings together the EU, Russia and Sea Region Initiative in Visby, which was considered to be an impor- North America. Questions related to the region’s environment and tant symbol of commitment. No corresponding action has been seen economy, especially its energy resources, have global significance. In in other northern regions. the early 21st century, this observation has taken on further significance due to climate change and the increase in the exploitation of In addition to all of this, the Nordic Council and the Nordic Coun- northern energy resources. cil of Ministers have also striven to define their role in the neighbouring regions following the opening of the borders. The Council of The term ‘Northern Dimension’ has appeared in Finnish politi- Ministers, for example, now has offices in Kaliningrad, St Petersburg cians’ speeches since 1994. At that time, however, no political pro- and Murmansk. grammes or goals were involved. Around the same time, Canada cited the north as one of the focal In fact, one of the goals during membership negotiations was to points of its foreign policy. The associated efforts were given a boost draw attention to the characteristics of Finland and Sweden, which by events occurring in the country’s domestic policy, as well as its the Union would have to take into consideration in the future. The policy on indigenous peoples. The USA also drew up an initiative for most prominent of these involved agriculture in the north, such as northern Europe, but it has not had much political significance. unfavourable conditions and sparsely populated regions – that is, regional and structural support. 2.3. Finland searches for the EU’s northern role 2.4. The Northern Dimension initiative in 1997 When Finland and Sweden joined the EU in 1995, the basic framework for cooperation in northern Europe either was already in place No outwardly visible events related to the Northern Dimension took or was developing at a good pace. What made the situation unique place prior to September 1997, which was when the society for north- was the EU’s presence in the north and the fact that the EU and Russia ern policies arranged an international conference to discuss the re- now shared a border for the first time in their history. sults of the first five years of cooperation in the Barents region. One

14 15 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION reason for holding the conference was the disappointment felt after 2.5. Part of EU’s external and cross-border policies the great expectations for the Barents cooperation had not been fulfilled as planned. From this point on, the Finnish government began to promote the initiative in the European Union with industriousness. The situation The organisers also sent invitations to the former foreign minis- was rather unique: a small, new member state promoting a reform ters of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia who had signed the 1993 that would affect the whole Union’s external relations. Also excep- Kirkenes agreement. They were expected to have more freedom to tional was the speed at which the matter progressed. evaluate the status of cooperation in the Barents region now that they no longer acted as foreign ministers. Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Some work had, however, already been done in this area. The reso- Lipponen was assigned the prestigious role of host. The conference lution of the Dublin meeting held in December 1996 mentioned ac- also provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the relationship be- tivities reaching from the Arctic to the Black Sea, thus holding signs tween northern Europe and the European Union. of future events. In April 1997, Prime Minister Lipponen sent a letter to President of the European Commission Jacques Santer, proposing The content of Lipponen’s speech took the organisers by surprise the creation of a strategy for the EU’s Northern Dimension. Lipponen as Lipponen presented clearly outlined and ambitious goals for the received an affirmative reply. EU’s Northern Dimension. The speech that Lipponen delivered in Rovaniemi in September In Lipponen’s opinion, Finland was to be active in promoting co- merely made all of this public. operation among northern regions and Russia in addition to focusing on its internal regional issues. Topics of international significance The initiative was presented in December 1997 at the EU Sum- were to be covered in a comprehensive policy encompassing the en- mit in Luxembourg. The conclusions of the Luxembourg Summit tire EU, not just regional cooperation. recorded that Finland had presented an initiative on the policy for the Northern Dimension and requested the Commission to present an Lipponen linked the goals of the ND to the Mediterranean MEDA interim report on the issue to the European Council in 1998. programme, which at that time was a fairly new concept, still fresh in the memory, having existed for no more than two years. The ND In Luxembourg, the initiative was finally made into an objective of initiative was also linked to the EU’s external relations, the promotion the entire EU. This also made it clear that the ND dealt with external of peace and stability and the definition of the Union’s interests in the relations. Northern agricultural, regional and structural support in region. In Lipponen’s words, this called for a comprehensive strategy, sparsely populated regions were handled through normal EU chan- an institutional framework and sufficient financial arrangements to nels, not as part of the Northern Dimension. bring all of the plans to fruition. In retrospect, it is clear that what promoted the surprisingly rapid Lipponen characterised the Northern Dimension as a way to make progress was what the initiative did not include: there was no men- the Union into a more efficient global actor. His speech referred not tion of new financing arrangements or permanent structures. The to Finland but the overall interests of the European Union. Lipponen Northern Dimension was to be promoted through existing chan- also emphasised transport connections, energy, nuclear safety, envi- nels and structures, which meant that no commitments or founding ronmental issues and relations with Russia involving all of the EU. decisions were needed. This constituted a clear difference from the Mediterranean process. Pushing for new structures would have been considerably more difficult than promoting the Northern Dimension through this model.

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After Luxembourg, the theme was discussed regularly at EU Sum- the existence of the Northern Dimension. Opinions have been divided, mit meetings through 2003, soon after the Second Northern Dimen- but the ND has at no point come close to creating its own budget. sion Action Plan had been approved. After that, it was not seen on The budget item question was considered frequently in the ear- summit agendas for quite some time. ly phases of the ND, but it was never seriously promoted, because The first Northern Dimension Ministerial Meeting was held in financing proved to be more flexible and successful through other Helsinki during Finland’s EU Presidency in 1999 – with only a few channels. foreign ministers present, however. The low level of participation was The prevailing interpretation is that a separate budget item would a clear sign of the lack of political interest in the topic. also imply an upper limit for financing – only the amount entered Nevertheless, the meeting discussed the concrete content of the in the budget would be available for activities. In contrast, an open initiative, and the December summit in Helsinki charged the Com- model of operation does not set an upper limit: different types of mission with the preparation of an Action Plan document. It was financing can be combined as required without restrictions. In prac- adopted in June 2000 in Feira, Portugal. At the time, the EU empha- tice, however, financing issues have proved difficult and complex. sised four topics: environmental issues, nuclear safety, combat against organised crime and Kaliningrad. 2.7. Partnership as a tool

2.6. Programmes, not structures The burning issue of financing was partly resolved in 2001. A new form of operations, environmental partnership, was established The practical problem at that point – and later as well – was how to to combine the resources of EU and non-EU countries, as well as specify the content of the ND without structures and financing of its financing institutions. The public and private sector also worked in own. The solution was to include in the First ND Action Plan a nearly cooperation. A special fund was created for the partnership, which complete list of all international projects being pursued in northern has greatly facilitated the launch of concrete projects, one of the most Europe at the time. Activities and objectives were specified for 2000– famous completed being the South-West Wastewater Treatment Plant 2003 in different sectors: energy, transport, telecommunications, the in St Petersburg. environment and natural resources, nuclear safety, health, trade and The initiative for the partnership originated in international fi- investments, human resources and research, legal and internal affairs nancing institutions, especially the European Bank for Reconstruc- and cross-border cooperation. The list had hundreds of items, and tion and Development and the Nordic Investment Bank. the coordination of financing presented itself as an increasingly grave problem. A partnership concerned with public health and social well-being was established in 2003. It does not have a special fund but, instead, is In December 2000, Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh and based on project-financing. So far, the funds allocated to the partner- Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten published a joint ship have not reached the expected amounts. newspaper article on the topic. “The problem has been that it has been absurdly difficult to link money from these different sources. We need The success of the environmental partnership has given rise to the to ensure that it is possible for projects financed under different fund- idea of applying the same model in other fields, including transport ing mechanisms to work together where that would bring added value,” and logistics, education and research, as well as cooperation in energy they said. issues. The area where the most progress has been made to date is logistics. Discussions of a separate ND budget item have continued throughout

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2.8. Russia’s problems with the Second ND Action Plan preparation, thus becoming more closely involved with the ND. In addition to the enclave of Kaliningrad, geographic areas calling for The foreign ministers’ meeting held in Luxembourg in April 2001 special attention came to include Arctic areas, where the EU had so during Sweden’s EU Presidency agreed on the practical forms of co- far played only a minor role. This had been preceded by a ministerial operation: the Commission shall provide annual reports on the de- seminar held in Greenland during Denmark’s EU Presidency, which velopment of the Northern Dimension to the European Council and discussed the ‘Arctic window’ of the Northern Dimension. Ministerial- and Senior Official -level meetings are to be held in alternate years. It is also possible to arrange fora in which civil society, The Second ND Action Plan also incorporated regulations con- industry and commerce can participate. cerning monitoring mechanisms and mentioned partnerships as a new form of cooperation. Five areas of priority were specified for the As the external framework began to take shape, the initiative start- plan: 1) economy, business and infrastructure; 2) human resources, ed to lose its vigour and energy. education, culture research and health; 3) the environment, nuclear The EU countries and the European Commission are the core safety and natural resources; 4) cross-border cooperation and region- participants in the Northern Dimension. Russia, Norway and Iceland al development and 5) justice and home affairs. are partner countries. Canada and the USA participate as observers; At this point, however, the Northern Dimension held little dyna- both countries have strong interests in the north. Regional councils, mism as an initiative. While the environmental partnership was doing international financing institutions, the European Parliament, the well, other areas of the ND’s content had grown fuzzy, especially in the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social public’s eyes. Committee are other ND participants. With all the actors involved, the next problem was the level of 2.9. Toward new thinking commitment. Russia, for example, participated in the third ministerial meeting in Luxembourg in October 2002 but stated that it was Although Kaliningrad, an enclave inside the EU, had been declared there only as an observer. The country felt it was being treated more one of the areas of focus for the Northern Dimension, issues related as an object of activities than as an equal partner. However, the whole to it were hardly discussed within the context of the mechanisms of concept of the Northern Dimension is based on the idea of emphasis- the Northern Dimension. Various projects had been carried out in ing cooperation with Russia. the area, but their impact decreased after the 21st century took its This situation influenced the drafting and implementation of the footing. Second ND Action Plan, for 2004−2006: cooperation with Russia was It became obvious that for the Northern Dimension to remain almost impossible if the country did not feel it was truly involved. alive, its operations had to be revamped as the term of the Second ND The Brussels Summit in autumn 2003 endorsed the new action Action Plan came to an end in late 2006. One of the priorities was to plan and underscored the increasing significance of the Northern improve the commitment of Russia. Discussions on the future of the Dimension after EU enlargement. It also emphasised the importance Northern Dimension were carried out in 2005 among several coun- that the ND would have in promoting the EU’s new Neighbourhood tries and the European Commission. Policy throughout the region. Despite all this, interest in the concept The foreign ministers’ meeting held in Brussels in November 2005 continued to wane in 2004. under the lead of Minister Jack Straw from Great Britain, which held The Second Northern Dimension Action Plan actually introduced the EU Presidency at the time, marked a turning point for the North- a host of new issues. Regional councils in the north took part in its ern Dimension. The meeting agreed on new guidelines for the devel-

20 21 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION opment of the ND after 2006. Participants included EU countries, as conditions, relations between the EU and Belarus are practically non- well as the foreign ministers of Norway, Iceland and Russia. Although existent. However, the objective is to encourage the country to par- the meeting attracted little public attention, it ensured the continued ticipate in expert level ND cooperation, which it has done already in existence of the Northern Dimension, which had looked uncertain at relation to issues pertaining to Baltic Sea cooperation. times. The four EU–Russia common spaces, however, exclude some of Confirmation of Russia’s commitment to the initiative in its new the activities carried out within the Northern Dimension to date. To form had been sought in advance from the top level in Moscow. For- deal with this issue, the parties agreed to incorporate two other sectors eign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Brussels with authorisation in their activities. The environment is already a part of cooperation from President Vladimir Putin. between the EU and Russia, but, to further emphasise its importance, the field covered by the environmental partnership was defined as a As reported in Brussels by news agency RIA-Novost, Lavrov ex- sector in its own right. The final sector involves cooperation relating pressed his satisfaction with the changes made to the principles of the to social and health related topics. The environmental partnership, in Northern Dimension. According to him, the ND had previously been particular, is seen as a good model for other partnerships. considered to be a mechanism that the EU used to solve problems in Europe in line with its own principles, while non-EU countries were This brings the number of sectors in the Northern Dimension to only allowed to watch from the sidelines. The new principles ensured six. Within each sector, a realistic number of jointly agreed themes equal cooperation. will be selected to ensure that the available resources are used in a sensible way. This implies a new beginning, based on broader cooperation between the EU and Russia. Prior to this, in May 2003, the two parties The underlying concept is regional and cross-border cooperation, had reached an agreement on four ‘common spaces’, and in May 2005 at an intergovernmental, regional and local level. Visa-free travel, a they laid down ‘road maps’ leading to their implementation. long-term goal for the EU and Russia, has also been included in the objectives. The first space is economic cooperation, involving the promotion of trade and investments, as well as concern for transport, energy, Financing will continue to be provided by a variety of sources. information technology and environmental issues. The second space However, the situation in the EU will see changes at the beginning is related to freedom, security and justice. The aim here is to prevent of 2007, when the new European Neighbourhood and Partnership criminal activities such as human trafficking, the spread of illicit drugs Instrument will take over as the Union’s main source of financing for and illegal immigration, as well as to develop border control, the cross-border cooperation. The main form of financing will still be a application of good administrative practices and the efficiency of the combination of investments from many parties, among them interna- judicial system. The third space, external security, involves issues such tional financing institutions and private economic institutions. as civilian crisis management, while the fourth deals with research, The new version of the Northern Dimension will take effect at the education and culture. beginning of 2007, at the conclusion of the second – and last – action In the future, the Northern Dimension will form a political and plan. operational framework within which the four ‘common spaces’ will This description of the future of the Northern Dimension is based be promoted in North-Western Russia. Iceland and Norway are fully on the guidelines approved at the foreign ministers’ meeting of No- involved, and preparations have been made for the possible future in- vember 2005. The actual political decisions on the issues are to be clusion of Belarus in one form or another. Political cooperation with made in autumn 2006 at meetings held during Finland’s EU Presi- Belarus has so far not been possible: owing to the country’s internal

22 23 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION dency. More detailed practical forms of implementation will also be 3. Strong Commitment from Russia agreed upon at these meetings. The goal is for the Northern Dimen- sion to be based on a brief joint political declaration and a framework document that indicates the objectives and forms of implementation. Paavo Lipponen Action plans shall no longer be made. In the future, parties involved in ND operations will include the EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland. Issues concerning the world’s northernmost regions will also involve transatlantic cooperation, with Canada and the USA participating as observers. “The Northern Dimension has become part of the EU’s The role of the Council of the Baltic Sea Sates, the Barents Euro- policies, and Russia, with President Vladimir Putin at the helm, Arctic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers is emphasised is showing strong commitment to it,” says Paavo Lipponen, in terms of practical implementation. The mutual synergies of the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, who during his term as councils are to be enhanced. The fourth player on this list is the prime minister created an initiative that led to the birth Arctic Council, which covers a larger geographic area than Europe of the Northern Dimension. but whose objectives are similar to those of regional organisations in According to Lipponen, the Northern Dimension has northern Europe and of the Northern Dimension. influenced Russia’s priorities particularly strongly by focusing The focal areas of the Northern Dimension policy include Arc- initially on environmental cooperation. tic and subarctic regions, especially in North-West Russia, as well as “Investments of some one billion euros have already been Kaliningrad and the Baltic Sea region in general. The economic and made within the framework of the environmental partnership, social integration of these areas into a Northern Dimension region and projects involving one to two billion euros of funding are will be promoted, without violating the sovereignty of governments. in the works. These are notable sums in EU–Russian relations,” says Lipponen. In a mere decade, the Northern Dimension has thus developed from a vision into a part of established EU policies. Its new phase “All of this has come about thanks to innovative financing starting in 2007 is expected to provide enhanced partnership, to which put together by the European Bank for Reconstruction and non-EU countries Iceland, Norway and Russia have also committed Development (EBRD), the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and themselves as equal partners. the European Investment Bank (EIB),” Lipponen explains. He also praises the contribution of Finland’s Nordic neighbours. “The initiative for the ND Partnership in Public Health and Social Wellbeing came from Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell-Magne Bondevik. Finland and Sweden have engaged in excellent cooperation to develop the Northern Dimension,” says Lipponen. In his view, activities undertaken with Russia have suffered from bureaucratic issues – as have other forms of cooperation.

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“Russia has not used all of the available opportunities to 4. A Success Story in Environmental Partnership present its interests,” says Lipponen. He continues: “However, Russia’s criticism of the biased structures of the Northern Dimension has been justified.” That is not to say that other countries have always participated in an exemplary way. “All of the Baltic Sea states, for example, have not taken part 4.1. The South-West Wastewater Treatment Plant as actively as their interests call for,” notes Lipponen, referring, in St Petersburg among other things, to financing. On the outskirts of St Petersburg, beyond the Pulkovo airport, a lean According to Lipponen, the commitment of EU member states control room operator, Aleksei Malahov, sits in an ultra-modern and the Commission’s allocation of human resources to the control room facing a set of computer screens. In his free time, he Northern Dimension could also do with improvement. has made a name for himself as a rally driver. At work, he and his In addition, he has a message to the Finnish government: colleagues are responsible for monitoring the wastewater of 750,000 “The Finnish state has expressed strong political commitment people. The control room resembles an air traffic control tower, with to the Northern Dimension. This, however, should be more a long row of brand-new computer screens and video displays, a long clearly evident in Finland’s financial contribution.” line of wastewater tanks, a group of other buildings stretching out be- As for the future, Lipponen expresses great confidence. fore the operators’ eyes and a horizon replete with high-rise houses. “The future of the Northern Dimension looks very promising, Similar to most other days, no glitches or instances of interference with talks on revising its structures currently under way. have been detected today. Boris Fedotov, manager of the plant, leads The four ‘Common Spaces’ in EU–Russia cooperation us outside to the pipe that spews out a long, continuous flow of sludge will be incorporated into the framework of the Northern into the nearest tank. Dimension,” he explains. “Not long ago, that would have all ended up in the Baltic Sea,” he says. Lipponen points out that the Finnish government has adopted an active role, and the Northern Dimension will be taken up at Not anymore. Somewhere under our feet, at a depth of 40 metres, the EU–Russia summit in November. “Norway and Iceland will the sewer pipes join the pump station, where 11 pumps push the city’s also join as equal cooperation partners,” he underlines. wastewater up into the tanks. There it gets the best possible treatment thanks to modern technology. For now, solid waste is still transported in lorries to a waste de- pository. Two waste incinerators are under construction, but they are a few years behind schedule. Their financing is based on a model different from that of the treatment plant proper, which was up and running in two and a half years. Hardly anyone is in sight on this normal workday in early spring. The employees one manages to catch a glimpse of are all carefully selected, well-educated professionals, who were employed for their duties after a round of competition.

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“We have emphasised the philosophy that on this site no-one 4.2. The project’s roots in the past works as an individual employee but, rather, everyone is a manager. Each and every person is responsible for both the plant and his own The Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership could well be work,” says Esa Ovaskainen, manager of Ecovod, the company that symbolised by that pipe filled with wastewater, which no longer gushes operates the wastewater treatment plant. Ecovod is a joint venture es- into the Baltic Sea but into a treatment tank. Its construction required tablished with the St Petersburg waterworks Vodokanal. assets of some EUR 190 million, which were collected from 15 different sources on the basis of 130 different agreements that involved 856 This way of thinking is not a very common one in the Russian private companies and that would have been of little avail without the business culture. Vodokanal has often been honoured as Russia’s best strong political determination and commitment involved. waterworks, and this treatment plant is its flagship. Employees from other plants visit Vodokanal to learn and spread the company’s good “Financing was an extremely complicated process. It took up practices and procedures. much more time than the actual construction phase,” says Felix Karmazinov, CEO of the St Petersburg Vodokanal. “The process was In fact, the South-West Wastewater Treatment Plant is of world- fraught with difficulty. We were resolute, but this was a unique project wide interest in its field. It is one of the few biological treatment plants with no preceding examples to learn from,” he explains. of its size in the world – the Nordic countries, for example, have nothing corresponding to it. The plant’s technical solutions are com- The history of St Petersburg goes back over 300 years, but waste- plex and demanding, and their success is closely monitored all over water treatment has been around for under thirty. Wastewater flowed the world. After the plant achieved good and stable results last sum- untreated into the sea until 1978, which is when Leningrad initiated mer, the most difficult task was found to be phosphorus removal. a project for the construction of a flood protection barrier around Kronstadt to close in the far end of the Gulf of Finland. Coincidence The wastewater treatment plant in St Petersburg is very likely the or not, the city also started to build wastewater treatment plants at most famous treatment plant in Europe. Many politicians make regu- that time. Without them, the wastewater generated by five million lar reference to it in their speeches. The inauguration ceremony in people would have ended up right off the city in a basin separated September 2005 was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, from the open sea by a flood protection barrier. Finnish President Tarja Halonen, Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson and hundreds of other guests. Had it not been for the needs Large treatment plants were to be set up in three locations around of the ceremony, the plant’s current equipment storeroom might have the city: one in the north, another in the centre and a third in the been a hall of somewhat more modest proportions. south-west. Activities of some kind or another took place in each of the locations, the central plant seeing the best progress of the three. It was not the exceptional treatment of wastewater, however, that drew such a high-profile list of guests to the plant. The reason for their Plans for the plant in the south-west were made in the early 1980s, presence was that wastewater was to be treated in the first place. The and construction started in 1986. Five years later, the project had run uniqueness of the plant does not come from the biological processes out of money. The 1990s were spent trying to figure out how to finish it uses but from the political processes and financing solutions that the project, and at the start of the 21st century, the site was a mish- made construction possible. mash of 20-year-old unfinished concrete structures. It was clear to all that something needed to be done about the St Petersburg wastewaters in order to stop the deterioration of the marine environment. The problems of the Baltic Sea were well known thanks to the long-term work of, among others, the Helsinki Commission.

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“We started off on the basis of the project cooperation initiated 4.3. New philosophy for financing in the 1990s by international financing institutions, the European Union and donors in Central Europe, the Baltic states and the In March 2001, Sweden, then holder of the EU Presidency, invited Balkans,” explains Jaakko Henttonen, who is responsible for environ- international financing institutions operating in the ND area, a few mental issues in the Finnish Consulate in St Petersburg. He has been governments and the European Commission to a meeting in Helsin- closely involved in everything related to the Northern Dimension ki, where the proposal for the Northern Dimension Environmental Environmental Partnership, from its draft phase to practical imple- Partnership was made. mentation. The NDEP Support Fund was established in Brussels in July 2002. “The preparations made to finance the south-west treatment plant Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the European Com- emphasised the necessity for international funding and good coor- mission made a total investment of EUR 100 million. In 2003, the dination, taking into account the conditions in Russia, as well as the fund was joined by Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands and importance of getting the central government of the Russian the United Kingdom, all of which have mainly contributed to resolv- Federation to commit itself to the implementation of environmental ing nuclear waste material issues in the Kola Peninsula. projects. In the end, this was achieved thanks to sufficient project sup- The Environmental Partnership was thus firmly set on two pillars: port in the form of subsidies and loan commitments,” he says. a fund and a steering group, which consisted of four international According to Henttonen, Finland’s activity in launching environ- financing institutions (NIB, EBRD, World Bank and European Invest- mental projects in St Petersburg and its political commitment to the ment Bank, EIB), the European Commission and Russia. The steering Northern Dimension were of major importance to the creation of the group handles the partnership’s practical operations, and its manage- whole concept. ment is linked to the EBRD in London. “We shouldn’t forget that President Vladimir Putin was head of the To see any progress whatsoever, the partnership needed projects, committee for international affairs in St Petersburg in the late 1990s. He and the Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant in St Petersburg was well acquainted with the international project initiatives and obvi- looked promising in this respect. ously influenced the approval of the concept,” Henttonen points out. In early 2001, the Nordic Investment Bank contacted Nordic Once the wheels were in motion, progress was rapid. In 2000, construction companies to determine whether there was any inter- the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), supported by the Finnish and est in project participation. In April 2001, a consortium formed by Swedish governments, initiated a project aiming to find a way to com- construction companies Skanska, YIT and NCC signed a framework plete the wastewater treatment plant. The EU’s Northern Dimension agreement with Vodokanal and the city of St Petersburg. concept also entered the arena at around this time. Its first Action This was followed by a hectic work phase, with all of the parties, Plan document had been ratified in June 2000 at the Feira Summit, and especially their lawyers, feverishly studying the documents drawn which also emphasised the importance of environmental issues and up. The financing solution created for the project was new in form; it nuclear safety. This meant a general EU mandate for the topic. had no model to follow and involved numerous possible loopholes. International financing institutions, mainly the NIB and the Success was based on political determination and the mutual trust European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), be- of the parties involved. Neither corruption nor other, similar issues gan to study the use of brand-new financing solutions to address the arose at any stage of the project, but schedules still caused problems. serious environmental problems affecting the region. The matters were As late as December 2002, ministers Kimmo Sasi and German Gref, also discussed in Northern Dimension fora arranged by Finland. the chairs of the Finnish−Russian Intergovernmental Commission for

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Economic Cooperation, held project negotiations in Moscow. Work The partnership offered an alternative way to handle matters in a got under way on 30 December 2002. Had the launch been postponed project involving Russia and the EU, which both are bureaucracy- to 2003, some of the previously made agreements would have expired ridden. Other project participants commend Vodokanal’s attitude, and project expenses would have increased considerably. characterising the company as an efficient and reliable partner. The project was commissioned by Nordvod, a project company formed by the construction consortium, Vodokanal and the Nordic 4.4. Reducing waste in the Baltic Sea Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). Nordvod also acted as the constructor. For the present, plant operations are being handled The South-West Wastewater Treatment Plant reduced the volume of by Ecovod, which has an ownership base equal to that of Nordvod. wastewater pouring from St Petersburg directly into the Baltic Sea by 40 per cent. Some wastewater still flows into the sea, but work is in The consortium of contractors took responsibility for practical progress to fix this issue. work, and the project saw rapid progress: the plant was completed in two and a half years. Some of the concrete structures dating from “Our main environmental goals now are to prevent any untreated the 1980s, such as reservoir bottoms, were reused, but in its operating wastewater from getting into the sea and to raise the quality of potable solutions, the plant is an ultra-modern construction. water in St Petersburg to comply with the world’s best standards. These goals will have been achieved by 2010–2012,” says Karmazinov. The waste incinerators, which were still under construction in spring 2006, were the only parts of the plant that were not completed Work on the south-western plant will be followed by cooperation on time. They were not included in the project assigned to the project on the northern site. The northern treatment plant is in operation, but consortium but will be directly financed by the European Commis- its activities will now see considerable enhancement. sion from Tacis funds. The incinerator project, worth EUR 26 million, The environmental partnership will help in constructing waste in- is two years behind schedule but has no impact on the plant’s core cinerators through EUR 90 million in funding. Until now, waste con- operations. taining heavy metals and other toxic compounds has been trucked to The wastewater treatment plant also received donations from the a rubbish tip, which is beginning to fill up and constitutes a consider- Swedish Sida (EUR 11 million), the Finnish Ministry of the Environ- able environmental hazard. ment (EUR 10 million) and the Environmental Partnership Support Plans are to double the capacity of the northern treatment plant Fund (approximately EUR 6 million). Project expenses totalled EUR by 2010. The key to this is a new collector sewer winding along the 189 million. Financing from Sweden and Finland was tied to purchas- northern shore of the Neva river. The sewer tunnel is bigger than the ing of materials from these two countries, respectively. St Petersburg metro tunnel and runs deeper underground than the Most of the expenses for the treatment plant, however, were cov- metro lines. The tunnel will ease the pressure on the city’s central ered with loans from financing institutions, for which the Russian treatment plant, and, once it has been completed, all of St Petersburg’s party will be responsible. wastewater will finally be treated in wastewater plants. “We have already started to repay the loans, some of them ahead The projects in St Petersburg will be followed by ND projects aim- of schedule. All of the loans will have been repaid by 2016,” says ing to improve wastewater treatment in four other cities in the Len- Vodokanal’s Karmazinov. ingrad Oblast. Another goal is to do away with sewers that still empty their content directly into the river Neva past any collection system. Vodokanal applauds the environmental partnership financing model for being a new, modern and progressive mode of operations. “We hold the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership in

32 33 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION great value both politically and economically: its involvement empha- ternational financing institutions to launch a financing scheme worth sises the importance of these activities. International support is cru- hundreds of millions of euros. cial to environmental projects and should not have been delayed any In other words, the Northern Dimension has played a crucial part longer,” says Karmazinov. “We would have promoted these projects in relaunching activities at the flood barrier site. Completion of con- in any case, with or without international funding, but the process struction is now set to take place in a few years’ time. would have been much slower,” he says. The flood barrier involves a huge construction project that started According to Karmazinov, Vodokanal has benefited from its ad- at the end of the 1970s. The objective is for a 25-kilometre-long, 6.7- ministration and finances being reformed in conjunction with the metre-high barrier to close the far end of the Gulf of Finland around project and from new technology becoming more readily available. the island of Kronstadt. According to calculations, a flood of such di- “This has helped to develop Vodokanal so that it can now operate on mensions may take place once every 10,000 years. an equal footing with other European waterworks,” he explains. However, at the time these calculations were made, it was not yet Vodokanal boasts three international quality certificates and has known that climate change could cause Greenland’s continental ice arranged environmental hearings in conjunction with the work on the sheet to melt in just a few hundred years. This alone would lead to a northern treatment plant. Such hearings have not been made compul- seven-metre rise in sea levels. sory in Russian legislation. Moreover, the company has taken a serious approach to environmental education. Its headquarters feature a Built on the delta of the river Neva, St Petersburg is highly exposed centre designed especially for schoolchildren, with all of the requisite to floods, and extensive damage would result if floodwaters were to equipment: microscopes, aquaria, desks and turtles. enter the city. Worst-case scenarios involve a rainy autumn, which means abundant water flowing in the river, accompanied by a strong “We get daily visits from schools. We tell them about the sig- westerly wind. nificance of the Baltic Sea and water quality and explain the concept of water circulation, using our biological treatment tanks as an Construction of the flood barrier was discontinued in 1987 for example,” says Natalia Koriakina, the head of the centre. Nearby is study of the disputed environmental effects. Three years later, the in- the waterworks museum, which is open to all of St Petersburg’s resi- ternational commission working on the case gave its permission for dents. construction to continue. In 1995, the project ran out of money and work came to a halt. 4.5. The St Petersburg Flood Protection Barrier By then, the project had resulted in a connection to Kronstadt by road from the north and a long embankment in the south. In between It was clear from the very beginning, of course, that the ND Environ- was a one-kilometre gap, which ships now use to sail into St Peters- mental Partnership was about much more than wastewater treatment. burg. In political terms, the fact that the St Petersburg Flood Protection The goal is for the road to plunge into the tunnel over a stretch Barrier came at the top of the project list was of particular importance of nearly one kilometre. Another objective is to build sluice gates in to Russia. the waterway, in order to prevent water flowing in from the Gulf of The minimum expense of the remaining work on the flood barrier Finland. Apart from being a technically challenging project, the work is some EUR 500 million. The Environmental Partnership Support also calls for considerable amounts of money. In addition, many other Fund has allocated EUR 1 million to the barrier. The inclusion of the sections of the flood barrier remain unfinished. flood barrier in environmental partnership programme enabled in- The Environmental Partnership stepped in. A substantial loan

34 35 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION from the EBRD, the NIB and the EIB was negotiated in 2003, and fuel may now be stored in places of highly questionable security. Apart the Russian government agreed to provide the remaining funds. In from environmental impact, there is the question of nuclear material late 2005, construction was resumed at the St Petersburg flood barrier falling into the wrong hands. site. International cooperation with Russia has tackled all of this for Now that the environmental partnership funding model has years. However, the treatment of nuclear waste calls for large and proved its functionality, it is being used to launch various types of complex investments. Moreover, foreign players are subject to certain projects from Kaliningrad to the Komi Republic. In total, 15 projects restrictions in the area. are in the works, including a district heating project in Kaliningrad The Environmental Partnership in this arena is based largely on and the improvement of municipal services in Arkhangelsk. The total the work of a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy funding of these projects will grow to billions of euros. Agency, which has been active in the Kola Peninsula since 1996. The biggest project currently under preparation is the Lake Ladoga The Barents Euro-Arctic Council and other bodies spent several Environmental Programme, worth half a billion euros. It targets the years working on a multilateral nuclear environmental programme huge quantity of emissions in the Ladoga catchment area caused by (MNEPR). The negotiations were very complicated, the major prob- private companies in the pulp and paper, metal and chemical indus- lems relating to legal responsibilities in the event that something tries. The project covers an area stretching from Lake Onega to the should go wrong in the handling of nuclear material. Western coop- river Neva and the Baltic Sea via Lake Ladoga. eration partners emphasised the need for clear agreements on this topic. 4.6. Tackling nuclear waste in the Kola Peninsula The situation in Russia has also been complicated by many of the In addition to the ‘traditional’ environmental issues in south-western issues being subject to the Ministry of Nuclear Energy and involv- Russia, The Environmental Partnership aims to solve the enormous ing fields in which cooperation with foreigners has not been common problems related to nuclear material in the Kola Peninsula. Most of procedure. In addition, many of the naval bases in the Kola area are the assets in the Support Fund have been earmarked for this ‘nuclear still closed to foreigners, as is the case for most military bases around window’. the world. The Kola Peninsula houses the world’s largest concentration of nu- The responsibility for nuclear waste is held by nuclear power agen- clear reactors from navy submarines and civilian icebreakers powered cy Rosatom, which is the main cooperation partner in the Environ- by nuclear energy. Owing to the relatively small size of the reactors, mental Partnership projects. even the worst of accidents would have only a local or regional impact When the MNEPR agreement was finally signed, in May 2003, in- – with the exception of one taking place in the Kola nuclear power ternational money started flowing into the ND Environmental Part- plant. No major accidents have occurred so far: it is fortunate that the nership. In spring 2006, the Support Fund contained approximately reactors that went down with the Kursk submarine did not pollute the EUR 225 million, two thirds of which was earmarked for the promo- environment. tion of nuclear safety. Sizeable investments had been made by, for ex- Nonetheless, problems have accumulated over the years. In the ample, the European Commission, France, the United Kingdom and Soviet era, nuclear material was often handled and stored quite reck- Canada. lessly. Any attempts to solve problems since then have usually been The MNEPR agreement also allows for other financing arrange- hampered by the lack of money. Radioactive waste and spent nuclear ments. For example, the funds channelled by the Global Partner-

36 37 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION ship programme of the G8 countries exceed those of the ND Sup- 5. Partnership in Public Health and port Fund. Although there is now a considerable amount of funding Social Well-being available, nuclear safety still lacks ‘references’ comparable to the St Petersburg wastewater treatment plant. In addition, countries such as Norway and the USA have pursued projects of their own in the region. The ND Environmental Partnership has so far given priority to five projects, four of which are related to Gremikha Bay. 5.1. Partners from 13 countries and several organisations The goal is to create secure conditions for the decommissioning The ND Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS) and storage of spent nuclear fuel, to investigate the options for remov- was established soon after the Environmental Partnership, but it has ing radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from open storage pads, never managed to reach quite the same position in terms of funding, to enhance physical protection and to investigate whether spent fuel publicity or decision-makers’ attention. The scarcity of funding has could be stored safely in existing storage facilities. been the main reason why the operations have not yet reached full The fifth project concerns radiation monitoring and emergency speed. response planning in Murmansk. The original intention was to combine investments made by in- The Environmental Partnership has also been used to draw up gen- ternational financing institutions and the private sector with funding eral plans for the decommissioning of nuclear submarines and other from the partner countries or the public sector. The goal was to set vessels, for the management of spent nuclear fuel and other waste and up a special partnership fund, as well as to support activities through for the rehabilitation of the environment in North-West Russia in national, bilateral and multilateral financing. The underlying model relation to nuclear material. was copied from the Environmental Partnership. Translating these ideas into practice has been a slow process. For example, no fund has actually been established yet. The idea has not been finally rejected but it has not proceeded. Many countries have doubts about international funds. This has also been the case for the global HIV/AIDS fund, which has not grown as expected. If the fund for public health and social well-being keeps ‘running in place’, another option that may be chosen is project-based funding, which is the model currently in use. Despite these problems, the partnership in itself is solid and well established. It involves 13 countries, including, for example, France and Canada in addition to the Baltic Sea states. The European Com- mission is also involved, as are eight international organisations: the regional councils, as well as the International Organisation for Migra- tion (IOM), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the joint UN HIV/AIDS programme (UNAIDS). The partnership has a small secretariat located in Stockholm, in the same facilities as the Secretariat of the Council

38 39 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION of the Baltic Sea States. A project coordinator is also stationed in St new financing system that could provide grants to civil society, award Petersburg. loans to businesses and participate in addressing the public sector’s financing needs. 5.2. From Joensuu to Oslo The document discussed in Joensuu provides examples of the kinds of topics that were dealt with in considering the partnership in gen- The origins of the NDPHS are often traced to the Northern Dimen- eral. The actual political negotiation process did not start until after sion forum held in Joensuu, eastern Finland, in September 2002. By the Joensuu forum. It was led by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs that time, material on all of the topics had already been prepared to and Health and was concluded within approximately 12 months. the point that David Byrne, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, present at the forum, gave his warm support to the part- The Oslo meeting in autumn 2003 agreed on two priority areas nership initiative. for the partnership. One of them was the prevention of major public health problems, including communicable diseases such as HIV/ The idea was to incorporate the new partnership into the Second AIDS and tuberculosis; the use of illicit drugs and common chronic Northern Dimension Action Plan from 2004. This was achieved. In diseases. October 2003, Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell-Magne Bondevik, who had attended the Joensuu forum, hosted a ministerial meeting The other area of priority was the promotion of healthy and so- in Oslo, where the ND Partnership for Public Health and Social Well- cially rewarding lifestyles. The means of tackling this were to 1) pro- being was officially established. vide information on sexual behaviour; 2) reduce the use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs and 3) improve the social and work environment. The Joensuu forum was more of an introduction to all of the back- The main target group comprises children and the youth. ground work carried out. The driving force of the partnership was Paavo Lipponen, then Prime Minister of Finland, who says the initia- As for financing, the Oslo meeting made only recommendations. tive came from Kjell-Magne Bondevik. The possible creation of a fund was left for future consideration. The initiative was not created in a total vacuum: the Baltic Sea The highest decision-making organ of NDHPS is the Partnership States Summit had previously resolved to set up a working group to Annual Conference. As its name indicates, this conference convenes control the spread of communicable diseases, and health issues had once a year, usually holding its meetings at ministerial level in every been made prominent in the Barents cooperation. The Nordic Coun- alternate year. The conference agrees on the overall policies of the cil of Ministers had also been active in this field. partnership. Its Committee of Senior Representatives meets twice a year to prepare material for more general consideration. The part- The objective in Joensuu was to take a big step forward, and there nership has a rotating chair that changes every two years. Following was no lack of ambition in the partnership document drawn up for Sweden as the first chair, Lithuania will hold the reins in 2006–2007. discussion in this forum. The plans were based on the notion that health and social well-being were basic requirements for future devel- At no point was the goal to create a new international organisa- opment throughout the Northern Dimension area. The conditions of tion. In the Oslo Declaration, the participants merely expressed their inhabitants and human capital were considered to be the main con- political commitment to promoting the health and social well-being cern of political decision-makers and of managers in business and of humans in the Northern Dimension area and decided on the struc- industry. Russia, with the biggest problems in this respect, was sin- tures that needed to be created for this purpose. gled out as an area of focus. The document outlined a wide-ranging These commitments are not binding, but they have been used as programme encompassing all of society. The overall plan called for a a basis for setting up functional structures and establishing broad

40 41 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION content guidelines according to which the partnership is now being portant steps include lifestyle-related project proposals that also aim developed. In terms of profile and visibility, the problem of NDPHS to improve conditions in the region’s traditional welfare states. The is that it has no ‘spearhead’ – comparable to the St Petersburg South- main target area, however, has been Russia. West Wastewater Treatment Plant – to which the ND Environmental Russia was dissatisfied with its role as an outsider in the Second Partnership can always refer. Northern Dimension Action Plan. In the NDPHS, it has been an equal partner from the very beginning. Many of the problems in prac- 5.3. Progress made tical activities have been related to the internal distribution of duties in the Russian government. The Moscow-based Ministry of Health A number of areas have seen progress nevertheless. Players in the field has shown a great deal of activity and commitment, but many of the consider the partnership to be significant in its own right; creating issues related to the Northern Dimension are handled by the Foreign and rolling out new structures is never an easy task. Ministry. While the latter has been showing more interest lately, prac- A good example of interest shown in the partnership is the role tical work still calls for funding, which, in turn, is in the hands of the played by Spain. The Spaniards first participated in the partnership, Ministry of Finance. then dropped out, and have now expressed new interest in the part- As a sign of its commitment, Russia hosted a Committee of Senior nership, which they hope might provide fresh ideas for operations Representatives in St Petersburg in spring 2006, taking on some of the in the Mediterranean region. The Euromed programme provides the responsibility that had been shouldered largely by Finland, Sweden Mediterranean countries with funds, but the region has not found a and Norway. functional model for operations – a situation quite the contrary of that in the north. Interest has also been expressed in the region around the In practice, the partnership operates through expert groups, of Black Sea. which there are currently four. Each has its own lead country. The groups have become an essential form of NDPHS operations. The international organisations involved in the NDPHS, such as the ILO, the WHO, UNAIDS, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the The Expert Group on HIV/AIDS compiles information about the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and the Council of the Baltic Sea States, current situation, disseminates information and develops procedures have been praised for their activity. to prevent the disease from spreading. A new project is currently being designed for Poland and the Baltic states. The Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being is now considered to be a broad cooperation network through which the health With Finland at its helm, the expert group dealing with social and well-being of people in the Northern Dimension area can be in- inclusion, healthy lifestyles and work ability focuses on, among oth- fluenced better than through the work of individual players. Activities er factors, the impact of alcohol and illicit drug use. The goal is to can be coordinated and any defects and insufficiencies remedied. develop health-promoting programmes and school health care. Still, it has been a slow start. The key goal for the future is to in- The expert group addressing basic health care aims to draw atten- volve the European Union and its financing instruments much more tion to the significance that basic health care has for the population’s efficiently in NDPHS activities. Political commitment has left much welfare. Finally, the fourth expert group focuses on health conditions to be desired. in prisons. Matters of concern include communicable diseases, the rehabilitation of alcohol and drug abusers, mental illness and general The original idea was for the partnership to contribute also to rehabilitation. improving the HIV/AIDS situation in Poland and the Baltic states. Preparations for such projects have been initiated in 2006. Other im-

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5.4. The Barents HIV/AIDS programme reduce the number of infections by year 2007. This calls for amend- ments to legislation, development of the planning skills and opera- The Barents HIV/AIDS programme, run under the Expert Group on tions of health care organisations, efforts to increase awareness of the HIV/AIDS, is often cited as an example of well-functioning activi- disease among children and other young people as well as risk groups, ties. It was established during Finland’s chairmanship of the Barents enhanced availability of treatment, promotion of respect for the hu- Working Group on Health and Related Social Issues. As the structures man rights of infected individuals and better coordination among of the ND partnership have improved, activities in the Barents region various fields and activities. have been gradually assigned to this group. The goal is to effect changes in behaviour, offer more effective The ND Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being is treatment, increase the exploitation of testing and provide more guid- supporting a pilot project that aims to develop ‘low-threshold’ centres ance. Special attention is paid to young people, the HIV-infected and in and around Murmansk. The first facilities, opened in Murmansk risk groups (such as intravenous drug users, commercial sex workers, in November 2005, now offer rapid testing and emotional help and prisoners and men living in homosexual relationships). support. Although the programme targets only the Barents region, one of The general objective for the Barents HIV/AIDS programme is to its goals is to improve the whole country’s ability to respond to the enhance Russia’s ability to deal with the epidemic within its borders. challenges resulting from HIV and AIDS. The programme has been developed in close cooperation with the Russian participants. 5.5. Great challenges remain Estimates concerning Russia’s AIDS situation show great varia- tion. According to official statistics, the country had some 300,000 The attitude in St Petersburg, for example, is that AIDS is mainly a HIV-infected people in 2004. The estimates of many experts, however, problem of drug addicts and prostitutes. There is a separate world point to 800,000 – 1.5 million infections, corresponding to 1–2 per within the city, one where marginalisation can be near total. Accord- cent of the country’s population. ing to some estimates, St Petersburg has around 15,000 street children, The official figures for the Barents region show a few hundred who look for shelter in the sewers and other, similar places. Commu- infections each in Arkhangelsk, Karelia and Komi. The Murmansk nicable diseases such as HIV and AIDS, hepatitis and tuberculosis region had considerably more than 1,000 HIV-infected inhabitants at often go hand in hand. the end of 2004. The steepest increase in infections took place in 2001, Education about the benefits of healthy lifestyles, the adverse ef- when hundreds of drug addicts in Murmansk contracted the virus. fects of non-healthy ones, the risks of smoking and care for alcohol Drug use is by far the most common way for the disease to spread in and drug users are much needed in St Petersburg. Unfortunately, Karelia: sexual contacts accounted for under 30 per cent of new infec- players in the field do not consider the ND Partnership in Public tions in the republic in 2004. Health and Social Well-being to have provided them with much prac- Looking at Russia as a whole, many consider the disease to be on tical help. The ‘voluntary funding’ approach, in particular, is seen as the verge of becoming an epidemic. This would have serious reper- problematic, since it usually means zero funding. cussions on the country’s economy and the citizens’ safety. On the “We deal with huge problems, but they are not ‘sexy’,” explains one other hand, the number of new infections seems to have been on the of the people active in this field in St Petersburg. decrease for the last few years. Russia’s rapid economic development has not changed the fact that The overall objective of the Barents HIV/AIDS programme is to health and social issues still carry with them significant problems.

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The country has not seen new investments of importance, and social 6. Regional Councils services and health care often work very poorly. However, it looks as if the situation might be stabilising: hepatitis, for example, seems to be under control in St Petersburg. Nevertheless, thousands of people still contract the disease every year. The view in St Petersburg is that cooperation between Finland Actors in the Northern Dimension include three regional councils: and Russia involves just these two countries. The ND Partnership in the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, The Council of the Baltic Sea States Public Health and Social Well-being, however, has 13 participating and the Arctic Council. The Nordic Council of Ministers is also in- countries. If the Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being volved in the ND, but its role and history are very different from those can be set up properly, it can offer a wide range of knowledge, areas of of the other regional councils. professional competence, opinions and financing. Questions related As explained in the historical overview in Chapter 2, each of the to social conditions and health would then truly involve the whole regional councils evolved out of different needs. They all existed prior Union. to the creation of the Northern Dimension concept, and each of them operates independently in its own area. Although the councils are not subordinate to the EU’s Northern Dimension, a logical connection does exist between them, if for no other reason than that many of the same ministers and civil servants turn up at the meetings of each council. Proposals to merge the councils are made every now and then, but they have not drawn much interest. However, increasing synergy and maximising resources are some of the Northern Dimension’s new general objectives. The first and second ND Action Plans include many topics that, in fact, originated in the regional councils. The councils’ work broadens both the content and scope of the Northern Dimension considerably by incorporating, for example, indigenous peoples, provincial-level operations and cooperation between northern universities in overall activities. The councils have done groundbreaking work in, among other areas, addressing environmental and social issues, providing the Northern Dimension with a good deal of practical content.

6.1. The Arctic Council

The largest of the three councils in geographical terms is the Arctic Council, with eight members: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), Iceland, Russia, the USA and Canada. The permanent

46 47 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION participants include representatives of Arctic indigenous peoples: the Development Report. Aleut International Organisation, the Arctic Athabaskan Council, The body has made an especially strong name for itself as a pro- the Gwich’in Council International, the Inuit Circumpolar Confer- moter of public awareness of the Arctic. In principle a forum with a ence, the Saami Council and RAIPON (the Russian Association of broad remit, the council has clearly focused on environmental issues, Indigenous Peoples of the North). largely on account of its origins. No other international body offers similar opportunities for repre- The Arctic Council’s resolutions are not politically binding. For ex- sentatives of indigenous peoples to meet at the same table with official ample, making the findings of the climate change report into political government representatives. In this respect, the Arctic Council is one recommendations was a laborious task. When compiling the report, of a kind. the council had to find appropriate wording to describe dramatic, The European Commission, however, is not part of this council, even alarming, scientific results in a situation in which the USA had although it does participate in the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and decided not to sign the Kyoto Protocol. the Council of the Baltic Sea States. This has made it more difficult to The work of the Arctic Council has generated other important bring the Arctic perspective to EU activities. forms of cooperation as well. For example, while cooperation between The practical work of the Arctic Council is carried out in national parliaments is not directly related to the council’s work, the working groups that focus on issues such as the condition of the parliaments of Arctic countries have set up their own cooperation marine environment, conservation of nature, prevention of accidents, mechanism. environmental monitoring and sustainable development. The council Parliamentary meetings held every two years have functioned as a has no permanent secretariat; instead, operations are managed by the forum for open discussion about Arctic cooperation and as a means chairing country, which changes every two years. The responsibilities to put political pressure on the governments of the countries involved. related to different working groups have been distributed across the Current topics include, for example, the northern sea route and participating countries. A permanent secretariat has been discussed protection of the Arctic marine environment. several times but has not yet been set up. Held by Russia until autumn 2006, the chairmanship will move to Norway next and thereafter to The council was also the driving force behind the Arctic University, Sweden and Denmark. In other words, the council is soon to experi- which is often cited as an example of successful initiatives in the context ence a six-year ‘Nordic’ era. It has previously been chaired by Finland, of the Northern Dimension. The project is a unique form of cooperation Iceland, Canada and the USA. in global terms: a virtual university formed by a network of educational institutions in approximately 100 countries, which offers study Indisputably, the biggest achievement of the the Arctic Council is modules related to the north, as well as student exchange programmes. the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), published in autumn The underlying principle is that northern regions can find common 2004, which showed that global warming was taking place much more ground most easily with one another, independently of national borders. rapidly than expected in the north. This finding has huge repercus- sions all over the world. Supervised from the USA, work on the report The Arctic University plays an important part in creating an Arctic involved hundreds of researchers from many countries. identity. Instead of operating on a permanent campus, the university has distributed its activities among different countries. The secretar- The council’s other working groups had previously published ex- iat operates from the University of Lapland, in Rovaniemi, through tensive surveys of, for example, the pollution of the Arctic environ- the financial backing of the Finnish Ministry of Education, while the ment, and in autumn 2004 the council drew up the Arctic Human rector works in Norway.

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6.2. The Barents Euro-Arctic Council 6.3. The Barents Regional Council

Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation is carried out at two levels: inter- Cooperation within the framework of the Barents Regional Coun- governmentally and at the regional level. It is the only form of inter- cil involves the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden and national cooperation in the north in which regional- and provincial Russia. level operations, and, consequently, various civic organisations and In Russia, the council’s sphere of activities stretches all the way to interest groups, are involved in close relationships. the Republic of Komi. In geographical terms, the body deals with an Indigenous peoples (the Sami, Nenets and Vepsians) are repre- enormous region: if overlaid on Western Europe, it would cover the sented in both the intergovernmental and regional council. In con- entirety of France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Home trast to their Arctic Council activity, however, they are not permanent to six million people, the region suffers from insufficient transport participants. They participate through a special Working Group of connections, which hampers practical cooperation. Indigenous Peoples. The Barents cooperation does not cover marine areas, but the Members of the intergovernmental council (the Barents Euro- soil alone is rife with energy reserves, and there are ample minerals, Arctic Council) include all of the Nordic countries, as well as Russia forests and other natural resources. This has made the economy and and the European Commission. The Commission has shown varying the environment a natural focal point for cooperation in the Barents degrees of interest. The same is true of Canada and the USA, which region. Other important fields of interest include people-to-people participate as observer states. The chairmanship of the Barents Euro- contacts, facilitation of border crossings, health and social issues, Arctic Council rotates every two years. Since autumn 2005, the chair tourism and transport, leading to extremely versatile activities. has been held by Finland, with Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja as In the original vision, the goal of the Barents cooperation was to chairman. promote peace, stability, prosperity and sustainable development in From the point of view of participating states, the council is a the region. There was even talk of a special ‘Barents citizenship’. The typical form of regional cooperation. A Committee of Senior Officials cleanup of polluting collectives and the launch of new major economic acts as an umbrella for a variety of working groups, focusing on issues projects seemed to be just around the corner. such as the economy, forests, the environment, trade barriers, youth Progress has, however, been much slower than was expected. De- and disaster preparations. Related to the latter, extensive international velopment in the Barents region has been closely linked to the gen- Barents Rescue operations have been organised in northern Sweden eral development of Russia, and the imbalance between the region’s and Norway, and a similar event is being planned for Finland. Other players has caused certain problems. sections of this publication contain descriptions of the Barents HIV/ AIDS programme and transport-related objectives in the Barents re- Participants in Russia, for example, include big republics and vast gion. regions. Non-EU Norway has made the Barents cooperation one of the main priorities in its foreign policy. This has also been duly re- The original initiative for cooperation came from Norway, which flected in the resources allocated to the regions, which have clearly has kept the Barents flag flying over the years. The country has provided surpassed those contributed by Finland and Sweden. Within Fin- significant amounts of funding to the national Barents Secretariat in land, provinces have had to contend with restricted decision making Kirkenes, and in February 2006 it launched a new Barents Institute for powers and the lack of local resources earmarked for cooperation in research, also located in Kirkenes. the Barents region. Despite these difficulties, it is fair to talk about a new regional

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Barents identity. The cross-border cooperation exercised by four General objectives include promoting democracy, improving the countries has become a natural course of action, although it affects region’s infrastructure and developing economic and cultural condi- only a few in practice. The Barents Regional Council has increased the tions. awareness of Barents cooperation at grass-roots level – for example, in All of these activities are closely linked to the Northern Dimen- the activities of civic organisations and in the cultural arena. sion, in which the council has actively voiced its opinions. Responsible for practical work under the council’s auspices, The council’s summits have become something of an institu- the Barents Regional Committee has tried to identify new ways to tion. They have been arranged to combat organised crime, prevent enhance cooperation in the region within the framework of the communicable diseases and establish a Northern eDimension pro- Barents 2010 programme. Participants have not been satisfied with gramme. The summits provide for general coordination: for example, the existing cooperation. combating organised crime calls for cooperation among many differ- The region also benefits from activities that are independent of ent authorities. official structures. For example, journalists in the Barents region have Also, the national parliaments in the Baltic Sea region convene on engaged in mutual cooperation for over a decade through the Barents an annual basis, and their cooperation is well established. In fact, the Press forum. proposal for an intergovernmental council in the Baltic Sea region was originally discussed in the first parliamentary meeting of 1991. 6.4. The Council of the Baltic Sea States While the environment has been on the agenda of all of these fora, The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) has a permanent a separate mechanism for environmental issues has existed since 1974. secretariat in Stockholm. The Baltic Sea States Summits at prime The activities of HELCOM, the Helsinki Commission, were enhanced ministerial level and the Council at foreign ministerial level convene in the early 1990s to meet growing challenges. The environment in the biennially in alternate years. The council has 12 members: all of the Baltic Sea region is extremely sensitive and subject to heavy loads of states around the Baltic Sea, as well as Iceland and Norway and the pollutants of varying types. European Commission. The Baltic Sea region also benefits from numerous other strength- It is clear that the framework for cooperation in the Baltic Sea re- ening relationships, such as cooperation of chambers of commerce gion is considerably stronger than that of the Arctic Council or the and among educational institutions. Barents Euro-Arctic Council. In addition, the CBSS was established before the other councils, back in 1992. However, the regional identity 6.5. The Nordic Council of Ministers may not be as strong as that further north, due to the more extensive field of operations of the former. The Nordic Council of Ministers is also characterised as a regional actor in the Northern Dimension, although it is very different from There are also many actors in the Baltic sea region, the intergov- the newer regional councils. The roots of Nordic cooperation go back ernmental council being only one body of many. over half a century: the Nordic Council, a forum for parliamentary The council defines itself as a general political forum for intergovern- cooperation, was formed in 1952. The Nordic Council of Ministers, mental cooperation at regional level. This allows it to operate in nearly a forum for intergovernmental cooperation, was established later, in any field, and it has, in fact, been active in dealing with matters rang- 1971. ing from children’s issues to regional planning and customs coopera- According to the regulations of the Nordic Council of Ministers, tion. Activities of the CBSS are handled by numerous working groups.

52 53 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION only Nordic governments may be accepted as members. In the after- 7. Wheels in Motion math of the upheavals seen in Europe, the council has aimed to create for itself a larger role in Northern Europe. The neighbouring regions – that is, the Baltic states, Russia and the Arctic regions – have been Erkki Tuomioja involved in the council’s activities and programmes, and offices have been set up in Russia, all the way from Kaliningrad to Murmansk. While the Nordic countries have each made very different decisions concerning the EU, the Northern Dimension has affected all of them and will continue to do so. As a result, the Nordic Council has “The Northern Dimension was a way to draw Europe’s been a natural forum for discussion of the Northern Dimension. In attention to these regions. It also functioned as a 2004, the council arranged a special conference on the topic in Hel- counterbalance to the important Mediterranean area and was sinki. intended to facilitate cooperation with Russia,” says Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, describing the background of The Nordic Council of Ministers has worked to develop its own the initiative. strategy for northern regions, which focuses on the Northern Dimen- sion and the Arctic regions. The proposal discussed in spring 2006 “These goals have now been accomplished. For the first time, called for Nordic governments to promote the profile of Arctic topics I actually feel that things are looking good in the sense that all of the partner countries are committed to and interested within the scope of the Northern Dimension. in the initiative,” he said in early spring 2006, evaluating the status of the initiative. According to Tuomioja, the November 2005 Ministerial meeting in Brussels, which agreed on the new policy for the Northern Dimension, was a success in terms of both participants and topics. “Most importantly, the EU Commission is now clearly involved in the process. We suffered from a downright resource shortage with the Commission at the outset,” he says. “The degree of commitment has improved. The attitude now is that we are dealing with common issues that must be jointly discussed. Russia criticised the action plan for being a one- sided EU document. And that it was, of course, in terms of form,” says Tuomioja, explaining the situation in the early days. In his view, the Northern Dimension was quickly running out of steam during the term of the Second Action Plan. In 2004, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs held an internal discussion on what to do about the initiative. One of the alternatives was the ‘zero option’ – abandoning the whole Northern Dimension.

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“In the end, we decided this was a concept that had to the Northern Dimension has failed,” he adds. be developed, changed and injected with a new dose of “Had there been no Northern Dimension, we might have seen dynamism,” says Tuomioja. fewer contacts and possibly less money in the region. Also, the “I am fully conscious of the work not being particularly visible Union’s presence here would be minimal. The value of these or discernible in the field, but the Northern Dimension is now activities will be determined in the future, but I believe beginning to consolidate its position within the Union. the input has been worthwhile,” he says. The increasing prominence of energy issues, boosted by other Increasing visibility via means such as special ND summits is factors, has also had a bearing on the Northern Dimension. not high on Tuomioja’s list. “We are doing fine with Ministerial I do not believe in an ND energy project being set up here and meetings,” he says. now, but the idea may work in the background to increase interest in general,” he muses. “International politics has way too many global summits that are not properly prepared and that do not have enough In Tuomioja’s view, the next step will be transport partnership, substance. When there is doubt about the next step, the which is offered as a new option and which he expects to be answer is to arrange a summit,” he says with a faint smile. implemented. As Tuomioja explains, Finland has tried to encourage the EU As scheduled, the issue of the future of the Northern to enhance participation in the activities of regional councils: Dimension would have come up in 2006 irrespective of the the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the Arctic Council and the country holding the EU Presidency. Barents Euro-Arctic Council. “They are important tools “Finland, however, has more experience in the field and a for the Northern Dimension,” he points out. direct interest in it. Relations between the EU and Russia “Some say there are too many councils and that they overlap. have been clearly indicated to be a priority of the Finnish But in the end we are the ones who must deal with all of the Presidency, and the Northern Dimension is part of this,” Ministerial meetings,” says Tuomioja. His duties as foreign says the foreign minister. minister include representing Finland at the meetings of all According to Tuomioja, the previous ND Action Plans were a three councils. In addition, he currently chairs the BEAC. mix of activities progressing on their own that were grouped “In my experience, the councils are less important to under the same concept. He hopes that, in the future, the governments than they are to the regions and NGOs, not to Northern Dimension can offer participants a special kind of mention the significance of the Arctic Council to indigenous leverage to promote relevant activities. peoples. The councils’ operations could do with more EU “The future is closely linked with the direction that resources,” Tuomioja says. development in Russia takes. I hope the programmes carried Although North America does not directly border the region, out through the Northern Dimension will support economic, Tuomioja points out that the Northern Dimension also creates political and social development in the country. contacts with the USA and Canada. “Their presence is felt most This is why the status of regions and NGOs, as well as the strongly in the Arctic Council,” he says. notion of civil society, always operates in the background,” Tuomioja says. He praises the role and contribution of Iceland and Norway in the Northern Dimension. As for EU members, the Baltic “This is to say that if Russia suddenly prospers in the next five states have begun to participate more actively, after showing years it is not the Northern Dimension’s doing. On the other a certain suspicion in earlier phases as a result of their hand, if the country does not prosper, this doesn’t mean that

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historically problematic relations with Russia. Germany 8. Transport and Energy and Poland are actively involved in the Council of the Baltic Sea States and also interested in the Northern Dimension cooperation. Tuomioja admits that the Northern Dimension has been a means of establishing a geographic balance in relation to 8.1. Towards new partnerships the Mediterranean region. “The structures in the Mediterranean area, however, are Environmental partnership is a favoured model for new Northern completely different. The population is bigger and the Dimension partnerships. While talks have revolved mainly around challenges to security are greater – not only military security transport and logistics, energy issues are often taken up as well. issues but also the challenges posed by, for example, The general requirements for new ND partnerships in any sector in- migration and illegal immigration. Although we have some of clude clear political commitment and a sufficient number of partners. the same problems up north, they are not exactly The goal is to generate added value and to set new processes in motion. on the same scale,” he says. As a result, the Union allocates greater resources to the This approach has been criticised for inevitably leading to heavy Mediterranean. Tuomioja remarks: “That is true, and they have and massive partnerships. Critics believe that, instead of setting up been balanced to a certain extent, but we cannot forget the big funds, efforts should involve a simple focusing of attention on a difference in the number of inhabitants. It is obvious that the broad range of fields and events. This could be achieved by, for ex- Mediterranean is going to draw more money even ample, using cultural partnership to support festivals and student ex- in the best of cases.” change programmes. In practice, discussions have targeted only transport and logistics partnership, with no actual decisions made as yet. However, topics

related to transport and energy are repeatedly raised in conjunction with the Northern Dimension. The Second Action Plan, now nearing expiry, considered the improvement of transport infrastructure in the Northern Dimension region to be of “essential importance” to economic development. At a more practical level, the Action Plan referred to projects already launched at EU level or, for example, in the Barents Euro-Arctic Transport Area (BEATA). The Union as a whole has been preparing Trans-European Net- works (TEN) for transport purposes. The most important of these for the Northern Dimension are the ‘Northern triangle’ (Copenhagen– Oslo–Stockholm–Helsinki), the Via Baltica and Rail Baltica running from the Baltic states to Central Europe, the transport corridor from Helsinki via St Petersburg to Moscow and the transport corridor pass- ing from Berlin to Moscow via Warsaw.

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With the Russian economy growing and trade picking up, the yet. It has been difficult to find investors who are willing to put up the importance of transport connections in the region has been steadily money needed to open traffic to Russia. increasing. Rail transit to Asia has also had an impact on this develop- Slightly further south, plans originally dealing with a regional rail- ment. way connection have taken on a more global aspect. Barents coop- The TEDIM (Telematics, Education, Development and Informa- eration led to consideration of a ‘Barents-Link’ service, designed to tion Management) programme has been operating in the region since run from Oulu to Kostamuksha, in Russia, and continue further east, 1995. Its goal is to put new technology to use so as to enhance the opening a transport connection to the Komi Republic. This has now flexibility of international transport chains in the Baltic Sea region. been replaced by the vision of a north–east–west (NEW) corridor. While the programme is relatively unknown outside its sector, it has The NEW connection would enable transport all the way from enabled the EU and Russia to participate in a development forum for China, the Central Asian republics and the interior of Russia to transport and logistics cooperation. The foremost objective has been northern Finland, bypassing the most heavily travelled routes. The to improve the companies’ practical operating conditions. ultimate goal, however, is the Atlantic. Having reached Finland, trans- Transport has been a contentious issue also when customs proce- port could continue via Tornio and Kiruna to the port of Narvik, dures and flexible transport have been discussed in different contexts. which offers a sea connection to the east coast of North America. The Barents Euro-Arctic Council has a working group specially set up According to estimates, this would lead to large time and cost to deal with these issues. savings for transport to and from Asia and the east coast of North America. To function properly, the NEW corridor calls for railway in- 8.2. East-west connections in the north vestments, especially in Komi, to create a direct connection to Siberia. Railways in other regions need to be developed also. The goal in the Barents region has been to draw decision-makers’ attention to the shortcomings and opportunities of transport connec- The project has been taken seriously. It was mentioned in the joint tions in Europe’s northernmost areas. A major issue in the region is communiqué from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council session held in the lack of good east–west connections. Harstad, Norway, in November 2005. As for the EU, the project has been referred to in policies drafted by a high-level task force focusing Attempts have been made to advance east–west air traffic in the re- on the development of European transport connections. The region’s gion, but no lasting results have been achieved. Travel between coun- ministries of transport have also kept the Norway–China corridor on tries in the north is still very slow, arduous and expensive. the table. It is rail connections, however, that are most often on the table. Matters related to transport are already of great significance in the Norway has shown interest in extending the railway currently run- Northern Dimension region. The NEW corridor just goes to show ning from Murmansk to Nikel, in Pečenga, all the way to Kirkenes. that the future may have a lot more to offer. In Finnish Lapland, there is strong support to the ‘Barents corridor’, which would involve extending the railway currently ending in Salla, near the Russian border, to Alakurtti and Kandalaksa, on the Rus- 8.3. Energy transport by sea sian side, thus creating a connection to Murmansk. This project has Transport by sea is yet another issue. Traffic on the Baltic Sea has been also met with interest in Sweden, which is currently making improve- increasing at a steady pace. The new Russian oil ports on the Gulf ments to its northern rail connections. of Finland have led to a steep increase in oil transport, and tankers Such interest notwithstanding, the project has not progressed as transporting liquefied gas may add to growth in the future. All of this

60 61 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION also increases environmental risks in the Baltic Sea area. 8.4. Northern eDimension

Similar development is taking place on the Barents Sea in the Transport issues also involve information technology, the informa- north. Both Norway and Russia are exploiting northern energy re- tion society and information and communications technology (ICT). serves at an increasing pace, which has, inevitably, resulted in a dra- Promotion of these fields has been included in the work of all regional matic increase in oil and gas transport in one of the world’s foremost councils: those of the Baltic Sea area, the Barents region and the Arctic. fishing regions. A special ‘Northern eDimension’ has been created to address these Meanwhile, the ice sheets of the Arctic Ocean are shrinking topics in the context of the Northern Dimension. Activities are based rapidly due to global warming. A disaster for the environment, in on the region’s great opportunities for development in this sector and economic terms the phenomenon is making the northern sea route, on the goal of creating an open and democratic information society. the North-East Passage, more readily available to commercial traffic. The Northern eDimension is also related to the EU’s general eEurope While this would make for considerably shorter transport distances objectives, which have been promoted with varying degrees of success between Europe and Asia, the matter is surrounded by a host of envi- through the Lisbon strategy. ronmental and financial issues. The Northern eDimension originated primarily with the Coun- In a similar vein, Canada has speculated on opening the North- cil of the Baltic Sea States. It has its own Action Plan, which allows West Passage stretching over its Arctic regions. This is another project North-West Russia to participate in extensive EU programmes in the that has become more feasible as a result of global warming. Canada field. has also been discussing a new route for energy transport from the port in Murmansk to Churchill on the western shore of Hudson Bay, The First eDimension Action Plan, for 2002–2004, was adopted at and from there by rail to the interior of North America. the meeting of information society ministers in 2001, and the Second Action Plan, for 2005–2006, at the meeting of prime ministers of the Public attention has been drawn to the extraordinary speed of cli- Baltic Sea states in 2004. mate change in the north, especially through the work of the Arctic Council (see section 6.1). Calculation models suggest that the Arctic The general objectives are to accelerate the development of the Ocean is going to see ice-free summers by around 2050–2100. The Northern Dimension region into an information society, ensure closer obvious conclusion is that maritime activities and sea transport will cooperation among the countries involved and facilitate initiatives experience heavy growth in Arctic areas. and investments in the field. The Arctic Council’s working group for the Protection of the These objectives are acted upon through seven working groups, Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) has initiated a comprehensive which deal with issues such as high-speed networks and broadband assessment of the impact of Arctic shipping. Finland, Canada and the access, information security, electronic commerce and eGovernment. USA are leading this initiative, which aims to survey the current state The Northern eDimension is currently undergoing reforms, which of maritime traffic and marine ecosystems, the expected changes in will lead to a decrease in the number of working groups. ice conditions in 2020–2050, traffic increases in the same time frame and the ensuing environmental and socio-economic impact, as well as 8.5. Accelerating the exploitation of energy resources the increase in environmental risks. Started in late 2005, the work is scheduled for completion in The significance of the Northern Dimension in international politics 2008. has more and more to do with energy. The energy resources in North- West Russia and the northern parts of Norway are among the world’s

62 63 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION biggest fossil fuel reserves. Their importance is further highlighted The probable roll-out of Shtokmanovskoe implies massive con- by the tense political climate in many other energy production areas, struction projects for several years to come. The Murmansk area is such as the Middle East, Venezuela and Nigeria. going to need a gas terminal and a gas liquefaction plant. Moreover, a new gas pipeline must be constructed from Murmansk via the Repub- Energy-related questions have, however, remained strictly under lic of Karelia to the south, where it would connect with the pipeline to national control. As an example, sea areas, and consequently their the Baltic Sea and Central Europe. energy resources, do not come under the scope of the Barents Council. While all of the northern regional councils have discussed If projects truly get under way in the north, this will have global energy issues from an environmental standpoint, all ‘hard decisions’ significance to energy supplies. It would also affect discussions about have been made elsewhere. relations – including energy cooperation – between Europe and Rus- sia. In winter 2005–2006, this discussion was conducted in many fora The same is true of the Northern Dimension. The initiative’s and in many forms. For example, the EU Summit in March 2006 con- original vision included the strategic importance of Russia’s energy sidered the Union’s energy policy. resources to Europe – an issue that has become ever more prominent in recent years. Although energy issues have not been on the ND agenda proper, they are often admitted to be working in the background. The EU For some years now, work has been carried out to get the emphasises energy security, which is also affected by the security of Hammerfest-based Snow White gas field in operation in northern Russian supplies. Areas around the Baltic Sea have engaged in energy Norway, and preparations are being made to exploit other deposits. dialogue within the framework of the Baltic Sea Region Energy Co- Norway is focusing heavily on the north, where relations between operation (BASREC). Norway and Russia have been strained for years on account of an unresolved maritime border dispute – and, consequently, the control While little preparatory work has been conducted for a new part- of natural resources in the vast ‘grey zone’. nership in the energy sector, such a partnership has often been mentioned as a potential alternative. The increase in energy transport Russia has constructed new oil ports at the far end of the Gulf of links the question to environmental issues, to transport and traffic Finland, and plans exist for a gas liquefaction plant in the area. Oil and to maritime policies in general in both the Baltic Sea and the and gas production has been increased in Komi and Nenets. northern sea areas. The biggest impact, however, comes from plans concerning the Especially in Russia, energy matters are tightly controlled by the Murmansk area. These include an oil pipeline from Siberia, which top leadership at national level. It would be very difficult to make would enable large-scale oil supply to the USA via ports in the Mur- these issues regional ones, due to, among other things, their politi- mansk area. The ownership of the pipeline has raised questions and cal nature. It has been suggested, however, that cooperation between caused conflicts of interest between Russian stakeholders. The final the EU and Russia may result in energy questions being linked to the decision on construction was still lacking in spring 2006. Northern Dimension in one form or another. The Shtokmanovskoe gas field off Murmansk is the world’s biggest of its kind. Its exploitation has been in preparation for years: Arctic sea conditions pose a great challenge, and the project calls for large investments of capital, in addition to which the field’s location has been very sensitive in military and political terms. Lately, however, the plans have seen rapid progress.

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9. North and South 9.1. A new financing instrument The Northern Dimension and the Southern Dimension show several essential differences, one of them relating to financing. In the budget period 2000–2006, a total of EUR 5.3 billion in EU funds was allocated to the MEDA programme (that is, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership). On top of this, the programme received EUR 2.0 billion Comparisons have often been made between the Northern Dimen- from the European Investment Bank. Overall, the EIB has granted the sion and the cooperation that the European Union carries out in the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation some EUR 14 billion in financing Mediterranean region. In some respects, this is justified, while in since 1974. others it is not. The EU’s cooperation with the CIS countries and Russia has been Both are tools that the Union uses to handle relations with a par- financed through the Tacis programme. In the last budget period, Tacis ticular geographic area close to, but outside, the EU. In the Mediter- allocated EUR 3.1 billion, and the European Investment Bank EUR 500 ranean region, the EU is concerned mainly with Northern Africa, while million, to this cooperation. the emphasis in the Northern Dimension area is North-West Russia. In other words, the Mediterranean programme has enjoyed signifi- The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership has existed in its present form for cant funding of its own, whereas the Northern Dimension has been slightly over a decade, the Northern Dimension for slightly less. These part of the overall cooperation with Eastern Europe and Russia. This are the EU’s only multilateral regional arrangements. issue has been raised repeatedly by the parties lobbying for a separate Both are also located more or less in the same place within the EU budget item for the Northern Dimension. organisation, coming under the Union’s external relations. They are The state of affairs will undergo fundamental change at the begin- overseen by the Commissioner for External Relations, currently Benita ning of 2007, which is when the MEDA and Tacis programmes will be Ferrero-Waldner from Austria. merged to form the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instru- It is easy to draw a comparison between the north and south. What ment (ENPI). Financing allocated to ENPI for 2007–2013 amounts to they have in common is that both are part of the whole Union’s policy: some EUR 15 billion. The goal is to make ENPI into a flexible instru- the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership also involves, for example, Fin- ment capable of channelling funds according to real needs. land and Sweden, and, correspondingly, Portugal and Greece have their The instrument will also incorporate Interreg programmes, which say on the Northern Dimension. have operated in the border regions until now. The current activities and structures, however, have developed along In the future, ENPI will function as a financing instrument for cross- very different paths. border cooperation from Murmansk to Morocco, with the exception of The EU has cooperated with Mediterranean countries for decades. Turkey and the Western Balkan countries currently applying for EU The current framework for cooperation was created over ten years ago, membership. Politically, however, these non-EU countries will not be the founding words being pronounced at the Corfu Summit in 1994. In treated as a single bundle. accordance with the resolution made in Corfu, the foreign ministers of The European Union has its own Neighbourhood Policy covering the EU and Mediterranean countries convened in Barcelona in 1995. the 10 countries in the Mediterranean area, Ukraine, Moldova and Be- Consequently, the current form of cooperation is also known as the larus, as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the Caucasus. Rus- Barcelona process. sia, however, is not part of the Policy; EU–Russian relations are handled

66 67 MARKKU HEIKKILÄ THE NORTHERN DIMENSION on the basis of the agreed four Common Spaces. In the Mediterranean region, the EU also comes into contact with the Islamic world, which inevitably involves the Israeli–Palestinian ques- The European Union and Russia have agreed on a ‘strategic part- tion. It is a major topic, affecting almost everything in the region and nership’, which sets Russian relations apart from the Neighbourhood overshadowing all attempts at political consensus. This was the reason Policy. This is reflected also in the name of the financing instrument: it for many North African heads of state not attending the tenth anniver- is specifically a neighbourhood and partnership instrument, the latter sary of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, celebrated in Barcelona in part of the name relating specifically to Russia. autumn 2005. The occasion was considered to be a disappointment, in view of the expectations set for it. 9.2. Neighbourhood and partnership The political structures for all activities have by now become well While both the Mediterranean operations and the Northern Dimen- established. Ministerial meetings are held regularly, and national parlia- sion will be financed through the same channel in the future, Medi- ments are engaged in cooperation. However, the five-year programme terranean matters are characterised as neighbourhood issues, whereas approved at the Barcelona Summit clearly illustrates the differences in the Northern Dimension speaks of partnership. the objectives of the Mediterranean region and the Northern Dimen- sion. Compared to the tightly regulated Tacis projects, the content of ENPI has been broadly defined and does not categorically exclude any Objectives in the Mediterranean region include reaching a peace- particular type of project. The emphasis is on joint financing, but play- ful solution for the Middle East conflict, underscoring the importance ers may be part of the central government or come from the local or re- of local democracy and emphasising the status of women and young gional level. In the EU’s opinion, this will radically simplify procedures people. Attention focuses on social reforms, elections, human rights and enhance efficiency. and the fight against terrorism. Other issues include clearing land- mines, reducing the number of analphabetic people to at least half, No upper limit for financing has been set for ND projects. What is emphasising children’s access to education, dealing with arranged going to be crucial is for financing to come from several sources, in- marriages and handling illegal immigration. Also, the development cluding Russia. of trade conditions to enable a free trade zone is mentioned in this Although they will now share the same financial instrument, the context, but it is overshadowed by social concerns. Mediterranean and the Northern Dimension will not be integrated. The In comparison, the mutual objectives that the EU and Russia have Euro-Mediterranean cooperation will continue to be politically versa- agreed upon, as well as the new policies for the Northern Dimension, tile – and complex. Cooperation in the region covers 10 countries out- are clearly more harmonious: they deal with common spaces for econ- side the EU, some of them in Northern Africa and others in the Middle omy, freedom and security, cooperation in external security, and re- East. Some of the objectives of cooperation are bilateral, while others search and education. involve the entire region. The north differs from the south also in that the scope of the North- The political objective is to create an area of peace and stabil- ern Dimension in Russia has not been clearly defined. While activi- ity around the Mediterranean. The economic objective is to gradually ties cannot cover all of Russia, no clear delineation has been made. create a free trade zone encompassing the entire region. According to Cooperation also includes prosperous countries such as Iceland and the original Barcelona Declaration, this should take place by 2010. It is Norway, as well as the USA and Canada via the Arctic connection. highly unlikely, however, for this objective to be realised. The agenda However, political connections with the Union and with other partici- also includes a number of social and cultural objectives. pating states take routes that bypass the Northern Dimension.

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10. Commitment and Coordination “Commitment is needed at both a political and practical level,” she points out. “The Northern Dimension is not an outdated concept. Paula Lehtomäki Its objectives – the promotion of well-being and pursuit of heightened security – are still relevant today,” says Lehtomäki. Thus, she says, “I am convinced that the ND will continue to be an important tool in the development of northern regions.” She also speaks of the importance of making Russia feel that it Paula Lehtomäki, Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and is on the same footing as other partners. Work has been done Development, considers the Northern Dimension to have to ensure this. worked well overall, although projects operating under the ND ‘umbrella’ could enhance their mutual cooperation. “We have been preparing the next document on the Northern Dimension in close cooperation with our Russian counterparts “There is room for even deeper commitment to existing from the very beginning. The document will incorporate partnerships. In addition to ND meetings for ministers and civil changes that should lead to a more equal arrangement,” servants, we need an operative body between different parties she says. to ensure the execution and follow-up of Northern Dimension work,” says Lehtomäki. “The document will change the Northern Dimension from an EU- and Brussels-centred policy into a common policy of She backs the idea of extending activities into new fields on a the EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland. I am also confident that partnership basis. The frequently raised topics of transport and linking the Northern Dimension to the implementation of the energy also get Lehtomäki’s support. four Common Spaces agreed upon by the EU and Russia will “The need is there; there’s no doubt. We emphasise the have a positive impact,” says Lehtomäki. importance of examining whether the partnership approach could be extended into the transport and logistics sectors “In political terms, the Northern Dimension has allowed and are also interested in boosting local cooperation us to attract attention to northern Europe and the region’s in the energy sector,” she explains. characteristics. This has been particularly important in the wake of the recent EU enlargement, which has led to us Lehtomäki defines the Northern Dimension as cooperation competing for resources with the eastern states in addition to and partnership aiming to develop fields that are of common the southern Mediterranean region,” she explains. interest to ND stakeholders and that in one way or another characterise the region. ”In practical terms, cross-border cooperation is especially necessary when it comes to environmental issues, since “The added value of partnership comes from jointly searching environmental problems do not show much respect for for cross-border solutions to cross-border issues. We have borders,” says Lehtomäki, citing the wastewater treatment managed to raise other parties’ interest in the topics we deal plant constructed in St Petersburg as an excellent example of with – and I trust we will continue to do so,” she adds. one of several projects successfully completed through the Lehtomäki believes that the new document on the Northern Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership programme. Dimension, to be adopted during Finland’s EU Presidency in Lehtomäki, who hails from Kuhmo, on Finland’s eastern border, autumn 2006, will strengthen the commitment of all parties firmly believes that the Northern Dimension can also benefit to regional cooperation. local and regional activities.

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“Of course it has things to offer,” she says. 11. Expectations of the European Parliament “Cooperation carried out within the ND framework affects people at grass-roots level. Environmental, social and health- related projects are our common focus. A lot of cooperation also takes place between NGOs,” says Lehtomäki. As an example of solid regional cooperation she mentions Euregio Karelia, a cooperation programme implemented with Interreg funding by three Finnish provinces and 11.1. Towards a Baltic Sea strategy the Russian Republic of Karelia. In the 21st century, the European Parliament first discussed the “If the Northern Dimension penetrates new sectors, this could Northern Dimension in conjunction with the approval of the Second also mean concrete projects in logistics,” Lehtomäki adds. Northern Dimension Action Plan in 2003. The Parliament drew up a resolution, although discussion of the topic seemed to be of little interest to most non-Finnish MEPs. The situation was very different in autumn 2005 when the Par- liament drew up a new resolution. Discussion was more active, and the document approved on 16 November strongly reflected the Par- liament’s own viewpoint. The role of the Baltic Sea in the context of the Northern Dimension was given greater emphasis, and critical opinions were voiced about the achievement of objectives up to that point. The Parliament noted that its political objectives for the Northern Dimension had been only partially attained. For example, its request for establishment of a Northern Dimension Forum to enhance the involvement of parliamentarians and other elected representatives has not been fulfilled. The Northern Dimension still has a low profile, and ND policies suffer from a lack of coordination among the parties involved. The Parliament’s Baltic Intergroup has created an initiative concerning a new European strategy for the Baltic Sea region, to form one of the pillars of the Northern Dimension. In its resolution, the Parliament requests the Commission to include a Baltic Sea strategy in its forthcoming Northern Dimension proposal in order to promote cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. This is a new feature, resulting in large part from discussions initiated by Finnish MEPs in early 2005.

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The idea is for the Baltic Sea strategy to primarily target internal example, the fields of transport, logistics, energy and culture. Social EU policies. Translated into practice, the new strategy would enhance affairs and health care should also receive more adequate support. In the Union’s internal markets in the Baltic Sea region. this connection, the Parliament asked the Commission to consider seriously whether a separate budget item would help to raise the Cooperation with Russia would come under the scope of the Eu- profile of the Northern Dimension. ropean Union’s external policies, covering most of what has been understood as the ND concept thus far: all cross-border activities in- The Parliament reiterated its earlier requests to create a Northern volving Russia. Dimension Forum attended by Parliament members to enhance coordination among the various regional councils in northern Europe. The Parliament’s resolution set the wheels in motion: on its own It also expressed its willingness to host the first meeting for such a initiative, the Committee on Foreign Affairs set to work to produce a forum. report on a new Baltic Sea strategy. Overall, the Parliament hopes for closer cooperation of the bodies 11.2. A higher profile and more attention in the northern regions and for the Commission to participate more actively in their meetings. It also gave its support to the work carried In the Parliament’s view, the Northern Dimension has proved to be a out on a ‘Charter for Arctic Governance’. valuable political, economic and social factor. It covers one of Europe’s The resolution was adopted at the Parliament’s plenary session most challenging regions, with huge potential, especially in relation to with 634 votes in favour, 17 against and 18 abstentions. The North- cooperation with Russia, Norway and Iceland. ern Dimension Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Brussels a week The Parliament commended the Northern Dimension’s environ- after the plenary approved the new policy guidelines for the Northern mental policy, stressing the need for further action to prevent the eu- Dimension. However, there was not enough time to introduce them trophication of the Baltic Sea, to reduce the risk of oil tanker accidents in the Parliament’s autumn discussions. as well as risks related to the exploitation of oil fields and to improve nuclear safety and nuclear waste management. 11.3 Kauppi: Reviving the concept In general, the Parliament calls for a higher profile for the North- Piia-Noora Kauppi, Finnish MEP and representative of the Conserva- ern Dimension so that its objectives can be achieved. Coordination is tive EPP group, was present in 2003 when the Parliament discussed still a great challenge. In the Parliament’s view, the Northern Dimen- the Second Northern Dimension Action Plan. sion should receive the same amount of attention as other regional cooperation models. These, however, were not specifically mentioned “Much of the discussion focused on how to make the plan more in the resolution. concrete than its predecessor,” says Kauppi. The Parliament called on the Commission to create a comprehen- “We felt, and not altogether groundlessly, that the First Northern sive approach to external relations involving the Northern Dimen- Dimension Action Plan was filled with ambitious goals. It had grand sion. These include the Baltic Sea area, the Barents region, the Arctic, ideas of the actions that could be taken, but in the end these remained Russia, Iceland, Norway and ND Arctic partners Canada and the pretty much on paper,” she explains. USA. As things stood, the Action Plan for 2004–2006 had to be made More concretely, the Parliament advised the Commission to al- more practical in nature and conducive to concrete cooperation. locate appropriations for the creation of new partnerships in, for

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“The result was a more focused plan with five priority sectors and development really takes place in the private sector – for example, by lines of action,” says a satisfied Kauppi. people being able to move about freely.” “One of the main achievements was the creation of two new in- Kauppi envisions a comprehensive internal market in the Baltic struments: the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership and Sea region: “A Euro zone for the service market, full mobility, a good the Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being. Although the infrastructure, sea routes… close cooperation, similar to that of the amounts of funding allocated to these are small compared to those Mediterranean countries,” she outlines. invested in the Southern Dimension, this is a good start,” she says. Kauppi says she has changed her opinion on Russian visa matters In Kauppi’s words, the 2003 parliamentary discussion on the lately. Previously a proponent of maintaining the visa obligation until Northern Dimension was anaemic and raised but little interest. In ad- conditions in Russia improve, she has now taken a more lenient line: dition to the Finnish MEPs, only one British representative took the “I believe visa-free travel advances good contacts between honest citi- floor. zens. Criminal parties will always come by ways to get visas and cross the border. Companies, NGOs and individuals who really need to get The situation was very different in autumn 2005. Discussion was over the border suffer more from the visa obligation than do the par- livelier, and representatives of the new Member States took part ties the obligation is intended to restrict.” – some of them in quite a critical tone. The British were active this time as well. “Although relations with Russia present difficulties, matters up here are still easier than those that the EU deals with around the “It’s a good sign that these topics have raised interest beyond the Mediterranean. This is an advantage. We only have to deal with one Baltic Sea states. The fact that the Committee on Foreign Affairs began party outside the EU. Policies in the Mediterranean area also involve work on a new Baltic Sea strategy was also positive,” Kauppi notes. the Middle East and Africa,” says Kauppi. Discussions in the European Parliament on the financing of, and a separate budget item for, the Northern Dimension have been heated at times. This is now history, with funding decisions settled for the next seven years. Kauppi herself hopes future activities in the Northern Dimension to be of a more political nature. “Activities have been too funding- oriented until now. The philosophy has been to get EU financing for northern projects. That isn’t very dynamic. Instead, we should try to do away with legislative obstacles and prejudices to make the region into Europe’s next growth engine.” “We have all of the resources necessary for this,” she says. “The soil is among the most fertile in Europe, and there are minerals, forests, fish and energy reserves. The region is very prosperous and offers possibilities for pretty much anything – but we need a change of attitude,” she says, adding: “We mustn’t fall back on officials taking care of everything. We need more individual activity, the will to take initiative. The public sector will give its support and be active, but

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12. Northern Policies and Finnish National Fora 12.2. Finnish national fora After the rapid incorporation of the Northern Dimension into EU policies in 1999, ND content was not discussed much in Finland – that is, not until summer 2000, when Riepula was invited to the prime minister’s official residence and asked whether he would take responsibility for national fora dealing with the Northern Dimension.

12.1. Society for Northern Policies Participants included NGOs, players in industry, civil servants and research institutes. The fora were boosted with authority and expertise. The long-term rector of the University of Lapland, Esko Riepula, who The first national forum was set up quickly, having its first ses- will be retiring in summer 2006, has followed the development of the sion in January 2001 in Oulu. Nearly everyone who had worked with Northern Dimension for many years from a ringside seat. His most northern issues in Finland was present at the event. Discussions dealt prominent role was that of heading the Finnish national fora for the with all of the sectors known to fall under the Northern Dimension, Northern Dimension. the goal being to map a road for future progress. Activities were or- Such fora were used to draw attention to the ND and generate dis- ganised under various working groups. The forum determined one of cussion on a national level during the two successive terms of Prime the major problems to be the confusion related to financing instru- Minister Paavo Lipponen. Riepula, however, was already heavily in- ments and the difficulty in controlling them: “Only a virtuoso could volved prior to this. In 1994, he took part in the establishment of a make head or tail of them,” says Riepula. society for northern policies, which aimed to encourage discussion Although those present in Oulu hardly noticed it at the time, the and influence Finland’s policies concerning the north as the country’s discussion with the greatest significance for future events was that EU accession drew nearer. dealing with the role of financing institutions, such as the European In 1996, the society initiated arrangements for a conference in Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Nordic Invest- Rovaniemi related to the Barents theme, the aim being to set up high- ment Bank. profile discussions on northern issues. All of the foreign ministers According to Riepula, these discussions led to the creation of the who had participated in the establishment of the Barents coopera- financing model adopted for the wastewater treatment plant in St tion five years earlier promised to attend the event. Six months prior Petersburg. Overall, the Oulu forum generated new ideas for partner- to the conference, the organisers received a message from the Prime ship. This was at the time of Sweden’s EU Presidency, during which Minister’s Office saying that Prime Minister Lipponen would also be financing institutions were successfully involved. Spring 2001 saw participating. the creation of models that ultimately led to the establishment of the “We had no idea what to expect but deduced that it would have Environmental Partnership. something to do with the EU and northern relations,” says research- National fora offered a natural setting for international meetings. er Lassi Heininen, who was secretary of the society at the time. “If For example, the event held in Lappeenranta in October 2001 was at- the topic and time are right, the initiative will be endorsed. This was tended by the President of the European Investment Bank and other the case for the Northern Dimension in the European Union,” says high-level representatives from Finland, Russia, the European Com- Heininen. mission and international financing institutions. There were some 500 participants in all.

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The Joensuu forum in September 2002 marked the beginning of roubles. “That would enable whole new forms of participation,” says the partnership in public health and social well-being. The Joensuu Riepula. event was attended by, among others, Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell According to Lipponen, now Speaker of Parliament, who created Magne Bondevik and David Byrne, Commissioner for Health and the original initiative, the national fora were important for promoting Consumer Protection. The partnership was officially established at a the spread of ideas, information and international cooperation. later meeting held in Oslo. “Participants showed considerable interest, downright enthusiasm, In addition, other national fora were arranged around a variety of concerning them,” says Lipponen in retrospect. themes in Turku, Kajaani, Pori, Helsinki and Kotka. “The chance to meet participants from partner countries enhances contacts and networking. Partnerships in the fields of the environ- 12.3. Discussions and results ment, health and social well-being are very much the result of the The fora aimed to make the Northern Dimension Action Plan more national fora,” says Lipponen. concrete and collect ideas and proposals for activities that might be The last meetings were held in 2003, and since then the Northern relevant to Finland. The working group operating in the background Dimension has been discussed and promoted at various seminars and reported directly to Prime Minister Lipponen. It is estimated that over other events in Finland and other countries. 2,000 people took part in these events, held over a span of two years. The high-level seminar in Lappeenranta in October 2005 was “This was still a new topic back then, and it was considered to be attended by the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden. This semi- common to the whole country. It was easy to involve local actors – the nar dealt with the future of the Northern Dimension, its partnerships volunteer spirit was to be found everywhere,” Riepula says. as well as logistics and business. It was arranged by the Finnish Minis- Partnership ideas, in particular, developed through these fora. try for Foreign Affairs and the Northern Dimension Research Centre “Had Finland not been as active as it was at the time of the first North- (NORDI) set up at Lappeenranta University of Technology. ern Dimension Action Plan, there may not have been a second one. The November 2001 meeting in St Petersburg focused on im- The latter has been an obvious interim period, with no clear logic proving the coordination of EU financing programmes. The meeting of operation,” he says. In Riepula’s mind, the Achilles heel has been of foreign ministers held in Greenland in August 2002 during that of influence: how to progress from paper to real activities. Denmark’s EU Presidency dealt with the Second Action Plan and the ‘Arctic window’ of the Northern Dimension. Various aspects of “If the Second Action Plan was an interim period, the time fol- renewal of Northern Dimension policy were on the agenda of the lowing it calls for good preparation,” says Riepula, praising the link to high-level conference hosted by Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas the general goals of the EU and Russia, as well as the four Common Paet and his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja in Tallinn in June Spaces defined for cooperation with Russia. As university rector he 2006. emphasises the role of education, science and culture, as well as cross- border cooperation in the EU. “What we need is truly international activities, extending to the east, not only the west,” he says. On the other hand, operations and financing should also work both ways: if the EU invests a certain amount, Russia should answer with a corresponding number of

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13. Active Players in Demand In his view, this is the direction in which the initiative must continue to be developed. “We must assess how the success story of the Environmental Partnership was achieved and attempt to adopt the model in other fields – never mind the Olli Rehn fact that investment funding for a wastewater treatment plant differs to some extent from that used in public health and social well-being projects,” he says. Rehn believes that the joint funding model has proven itself functional. “At the outset, there were two northern dimensions, two non-conflicting concepts,” explains EU Commissioner for As for other fields, he mentions needs in the areas of social Enlargement Olli Rehn, one of Finland’s first MEPs welfare and public health. Rehn has firsthand experience in in the 1990s. this respect. In 1995, he and his companions from the Kainuu province crossed the Russian border with 12,000 US dollars The first concept was the one that developed into the in bills of Tacis Bistro funding, stashed away in the gearbox of Northern Dimension as it is now understood and which, their Mitsubishi SUV. Owing to the unreliable banking system, according to Rehn, was a project adopted by the governments the only way to get money to local projects in Segezha, of both Esko Aho and Paavo Lipponen. Russian Karelia, was to take it there in cash. “The second concept was, and is, the role that the Northern “Russia is now better equipped to develop North-West Russia, Dimension should play in the Union’s internal policies. but development in Murmansk and the Republic of Karelia It was one of the objectives of Finnish membership has, nevertheless, fallen behind that of metropolitan areas,” negotiations and can now be found in Objective 6 of the says Rehn. Structural Funds, dealing with long distances and sparse populations, as well as in the regulation concerning the least In addition to addressing this, he hopes to see the Northern developed agricultural areas,” explains Rehn. Dimension focus on the safety of citizens, and on preventing trafficking in drugs and humans, as well as dealing with “The Northern Dimension has become an established international crime in general. concept in the EU’s external policies, but there is no reason to underrate the importance of the second concept. Without “Transport is the third sector. Following EU enlargement, trade being assigned a name, it has been established in the sense between the EU and Russia has shown excellent growth. that the characteristics of northern Europe are now taken The EU has become Russia’s main trade partner, accounting for into consideration,” he says. over half of the country’s foreign trade,” Rehn notes. According to Rehn, the vision of the Northern Dimension Once its WTO membership materialises, Russia will be subject should be, specifically, partnership between the participating to the rules and regulations of international trade systems. countries. From Finland’s point of view, partnership between This, in turn, will increase investments in Russia and promote the EU and Russia is of utmost importance and interest. trade within the scope of the Northern Dimension. In Rehn’s opinion, the goal should be a type of ‘free trade’ “Concrete results have been achieved, especially in the that does away with other trade restrictions. In his opinion, Environmental Partnership. In this sense, the Northern Russian business is also showing interest in this option. Dimension has been a success story,” Rehn says.

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“I am sure the fields of trade and transport have more to offer. ABOUT THE AUTHOR We have already seen attempts to promote transport projects within the scope of the Northern Dimension. In this respect, Finland plays a prominent part as a major transport route,” says Rehn. The Commission’s funding for external policies will soon reach acceptable levels if the ENPI, the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, starts operating as planned in early 2007. Rehn believes that the active participation of Iceland and Norway will be important to the Northern Dimension. Markku Heikkilä (b. 1961), “Norway has adopted its own policy for northern regions and Master of Social Sciences, is an is making large investments in this field. The country’s interests editorial reporter for the news- span many areas. Norway is an extremely important partner, paper Kaleva, published in Oulu. both as an active participant and as a significant source of Previously, he worked as a political funding,” he says. reporter and supervisor of the poli- “The Northern Dimension can by no means solve all problems, tical and foreign news staff. but it is a great opportunity to develop practical cooperation Heikkilä has followed interna- projects in the north in the fields of trade, transport, the tional discussions on northern environment and the safety of citizens,” he summarises. regions for several years and “I wish to encourage the region’s governments, provinces and received the State Award for Public other players to be active and to seek beneficial cooperation, Information for his work. He has trusting that the EU and international financing institutions will take care of their share,” he says. also published a book on Arctic visions (Arktiset visiot; Pohjoinen, 1998) and since 2005 has been writing about Finnish policies in AnalysNorden, the online journal of the Nordic Council of Ministers. His writings have also been published in anthologies and magazines. Heikkilä participated in the establishment of Barents Press Interna- tional, a forum for journalists, and has acted as its chairman and a member of the Board of Directors.

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Sun and Moon

The smith’s girl, the skilful girl careful maid of the craftsman got up to search for the sun and look out for the moon...

She took the moon on her brow put the sun upon her head...

Finnish Folk Poetry Epic, found in Soikkola, Ingria in 1883 Translated by Keith Bosley Finnish Literature Society