Border obstacles
Among those making presentations at the international conference, which was held in Tallinn on 8 & 9 November, was Ole Norrback, chairman of the Nordic Freedom of Movement Forum, who highlighted maritime pollution, the slow functioning of the European Union (EU) and the amount of time taken to introduce EU directives and regulations, thus creating new border obstacles, as threats to the Baltic Sea region.
Norrback stressed that tangible results must be achieved and presented in cross-border cooperation. He said that reports, conferences and the like are not enough, giving the example of HELCOM as a great initiative which has failed to take off in practice, since no one is willing to take political responsibility.
Bottlenecks
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that the Estonian economy develops through relations in the Baltic Sea region. For example, around 70% of the country's exports are to the region, while Sweden and Finland account for almost half of all direct investment in Estonia.
Although cooperation in the Baltic Sea region is close and effective, Paet admitted that there are bottlenecks. He named the demographic situation, movement and quality of workforce, company insolvency and the investment climate as causes of concern. He said that there remains a lot to achieve in the development of connections – in terms of energy, roads and air transport – while in the field of information technology people tend to rely on their own solutions rather than see the Baltic Sea as a region.
The presentations and summaries from the conference can be found on the event's website.
The Nordic Council of Ministers supported the organisation of the conference.