Belang van regionale samenwerking in aanpak klimaatverandering besproken in EU (en)

At a meeting of the chairpersons of the Committee on Environmental Protection and the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities, which is taking place at the Seimas, the importance of EU macro-regional strategies, development, outlooks, and the environmental protection dimension are being discussed.

Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, welcomed the event's participants, and mentioned that the EU's environmental protection requirements were among the strictest in the world. She also noted that the EUSBSR’s results were quite impressive. “Currently, over 100 projects are being implemented in accordance with the EUSBSR, 150 projects are being implemented in accordance with the Danube region strategy, and more than 400 projects worth EUR 49 bn are under consideration,” said Mrs Graužinienė. According to the Speaker, the European  iParliament should continue the support and development of macro-regional strategies at the EU level, and national parliaments should be more active, as they have the best means to maintain a connection between the strategic level and society.

Algimantas Salamakinas, Chair of the Seimas Committee on Environmental Protection and of the event, stressed that the EUSBSR was the first EU macro-regional strategy aimed at dealing with the Baltic Sea Region's problems and coordinating the activities of the region's countries. He was glad that the European Commission and Member States had realized the added value of the Baltic Sea and the Danube region macro-regional strategies, and new strategies - the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the Alps - would be prepared.

Connie Hedegaard i, European Commissioner for Climate Action, stressed the importance of including climate policy into regional development strategies. She said that the climate was undergoing unprecedented changes, therefore, huge were challenges arising. According to Mrs Hedegaard, macro-regional strategies could help solve these problems and create added value when tackling climate change. “It is imperative to prepare projects on various environmental issues in the Baltic Sea Region and provide their funding. Macro-regional strategies are a useful means for EU Member States to fight climate change,” the Commissioner said.

She noted that instruments to tackle climate change had to be supported in vulnerable regions, for example, macro-regional strategies could be used to deal with floods and fires near borders. Mrs Hedegaard thought that the EU had to increase financial support to fight climate change by 20%.

Rimantas Šadžius, Minister of Finance, presented the results of the 4th EUSBSR Annual Forum, which took place in Vilnius two weeks ago. This year the Forum covered how to turn the Baltic Sea Region’s challenges into job opportunities, and the region's options of contributing to Europe 2020.

When speaking about the effective implementation of macro-regional strategies, Mr Šadžius stressed the importance of ideas that would be significant for the entire region. He thought that the issue of finances was relevant too, because there was no separate funding for macro-regional strategies. According to Mr Šadžius, funding should come from various sources: European, national, and private. “We need to create financial mechanisms which would allow the attracting of private funding,” he said. The Minister of Finance urged the utilisation of the opportunities of NGOs and private businesses when implementing macro-regional strategies, and for EU institutions and national parliaments to play a bigger role.