24 years of Baltic Sea Cooperation Baltic Sea Day St Petersburg, 17 Nov 2015 2 3 4 CBSS TODAY Summits Secretariat / or CSO Ministerials Networks Steering Projects Documents Communication 5 Baltic Sea Networks - The hidden asset of Baltic Sea Cooperation GROUP OF SENIOR MONITORING GROUP EXPERT GROUP CIVIL PROTECTION EXPERT GROUP ON BORDER CONTROL OFFICIALS ON CULTURE ON CULTURAL HERITAGE ON MARITIME POLICY NETWORK NUCLEAR RADIATION COOPERATION AND SAFETY 6 The CBSS and the EU Baltic Sea Strategy CBSS Secretariat is Coordinator IN 3 AREAS OF THE EU SBSR: HA CLIMATE (through CBSS Baltic 21) PA SECURE (WITH SWEDEN) HA NEIGHBOURS (WITH CITY OF TURKU) EXPLORING POTENTIAL BSR ”COMMON GROUND” EU-RUSSIA REGIONAL STRATEGIES E.G. Environment (incl. agriculture), Innovation (incl. SME and entrepreneurship), Transport (incl. maritime safety), Civil protection Social/people-to-people issues (incl. public health, youth, education, culture, tourism). 7 The Polish CBSS Presidency 2015-16 – some selected activities SUSTAINABILITY, CREATIVITY AND SAFETY Sustainability: Establishment of Climate Dialogue Platform for BSR Stakeholders Intensified Science Cooperation (Baltic Science Network?) Creativity: 15-17 Sep Ministers of Culture Meeting and Creative Industries Conference, Gdansk. Safety: Improving interoperability of rescue services, strenghtening Childrens protection, e.g. fair adoption procedures. 8 CBSS Financing activities Project Support Facility 2013-15 (initiated at Schloss Plön Ministerial) 1 meuro – max 50.000 euro per project. Some 20 Projects in CBSS Priority Areas (e.g. SD) One final call during spring ( www.cbss.org ) Discussions ongoing as to future Facility (a “matching fund?”) Pilot Financial Initiative Credit Facility based on MoU 2012 between Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Vnesheconombank and CBSS Secretariat Innovative Investment in Sustainable Development projects with commercial potential, e.g. a PPP in Waste Handling in St Petersburg (70 musd). 9 Talks with Nordic Investment Bank on joining. Current Situation/Perspectives Political difficulties (Cf. Ukraine, sanctions) but network level still functions RU accession to Interreg BSR Programme by end 2014 good for CBSS and for EU-RU BSR interaction RU work on new edition of NWR Strategy opens new possibilities Implementation of Minsk-2 in Ukraine might open door to softening of sanctions = PFI re-start? Analysis of whether current migration crisis calls for CBSS initiative. 10.