Foreign Minister Tuomioja: The Northern Dimension and the Finnish EU Presidency (9.6.2006)
Address by Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for Foreign Affairs,at the conference on "The Renewed Northern Dimension: A Tool for Enhanced Regional and Cross-border Cooperation".
Tallinn, Estonia,
9 June, 2006
Distinguished co-host, Minister Paet, Distinguished Colleagues, Co-speakers and Conference Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The political changes of the 1990s put an end to the constellations of the Cold War in Northern Europe. The bipolar set-up of the two opposing forces, Nato and the Warsaw Pact alliance, was replaced by new types of co-operative arrangements. Traditional geopolitical thinking was overtaken by new types of multilateral diplomacy. The Baltic Council was resurrected and the Arctic Council, the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the Barents Euroarctic Council were created with the aim of developing regional co-operation. The EU and Nato received new northern European members and those countries who have not wanted to join, have nevertheless established close co-operation with these bodies.
When Finland and Sweden joined the European Union in the middle of the 90's, the union and Russia became neighbours. Becoming neighbours means establishing closer contacts, exchanging information, doing things together. This is exactly what the Northern Dimension is about: having more intense and mutually beneficial contacts between neighbours, in this case the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Russia, with particular emphasis on northwest Russia.
The concept of a Northern Dimension policy as part of the EU's external and cross-border policies was launched by Finland in 1997. The overall and general objective was to draw the attention of the union to northern Europe - to its challenges and opportunities. The more specific objectives were, firstly, to increase co-operation between the union and Russia and, secondly, to increase co-operation between the union and the Baltic States, in order to bring the latter closer to the EU.
Increased co-operation was needed because many of the challenges in the region, such as the environmental problems of the Baltic Sea and the Kola Peninsula, were such that did not respect borders. Consequently, they needed to be solved not by a single country, but by all countries in the region with the help of multilateral instruments. The same applies for problems related to social and health issues, to barriers concerning trade and investment, to transport problems, to problems of energy transfer. Only by solving these problems and challenges together, can sustainable development be achieved. And the sustainability entails, of course, environmental, social and economic sustainability and the increased wellbeing of all citizens in the region, which in turn has an effect on the economy and wellbeing of the whole of Europe.
During the first Finnish EU presidency in autumn 1999 the Northern Dimension made its breakthrough by being placed on the EU agenda. The Helsinki European Council in December "invited the Commission to prepare, in co-operation with the Council and in consultation with the partner countries, an Action Plan for the Northern Dimension in the external and cross-border policies of the European Union".
Since then both the First and the Second Action Plans of the Northern Dimension have been adopted. The current Second Action Plan will expire at the end of this year, which gives Finland a unique opportunity to link its second EU Presidency to the first and to ensure that decisions are made on a renewed and strengthened Northern Dimension policy. The negotiation process has already started.
Before I go on to the objectives of our incoming presidency concerning the Northern Dimension, I would like to stop and cast a brief look at its achievements so far. I have noticed that the Northern Dimension is well known as a brand name, but very few seem to know what it is really about and even fewer are aware of its concrete successes. The Northern Dimension is in fact under-estimated and under-marketed. That is why seminars of this type fill an important function, a fact that is reflected in the high number of participants present here today.
My analysis of the Northern Dimension is the following: On the macro-level, it is a political concept used to draw the union's attention to issues of the north and to the importance of close co-operation with northwest Russia. This is something abstract, something that you find in political speeches and on the agendas of the EU, the countries in the region and the regional councils. But, and this is the important and less known feature of the Northern Dimension, it is also something much more concrete and practical. This concrete, micro-level Northern Dimension you find in the established partnerships: The Environmental Partnership (NDEP) and the Partnership for Public Health and Social Wellbeing (NDPHS). Alongside the partnerships, the Northern Dimension on the micro level is everything that different actors, such as individual countries, groups of countries, the Commission, the regional councils, NGOs, and private companies do at the practical project level in the Northern Dimension region, that is, in northeast Europe, plus the Arctic areas, over a broad belt from east to west.
The partnerships are clearly the big achievement of the Northern Dimension. The environmental partnership aims at solving problems related to waste water, solid waste, air pollution and nuclear waste. The fund of this partnership has now collected 225 million euros as donations from EU member states, the Commission and partner and observer countries. Russia is one of the biggest donors. The fund provides the seed money for the projects. The main bulk of financing comes from loans that mainly Russian actors obtain from international financial institutions. The result of having different sources of financing is that a total of more than 2 billion euros will be available for important environmental projects in northwest Russia. This is an obviously important and impressive achievement. These projects are of special interest to all Baltic Sea states and equally important for both the EU and Russia. The partnership model has made it possible to implement these projects rapidly, not in ten or twenty years from now.
The other partnership, the Partnership in Public Health and Social Wellbeing, focuses on the prevention of communicable diseases such as HIV/Aids and tuberculosis, and lifestyle-related health and social problems. Taking into consideration the human suffering as well as the economic consequences of these problems, every government in the region has a vital interest in close cooperation in this field.
This was a short description of what the Northern Dimension is today: a policy, but also many concrete results. Later today you will have an opportunity to hear more from other speakers about the partnerships. Now I shall move on to the Finnish EU presidency and objectives for the coming months.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The first steps in our work were in fact taken already in the winter of 2004/2005 when the Finnish government arranged a thorough brainstorming process on the Northern Dimension, on its results to date and on the direction that should be taken for the future. We asked the questions: What is the role of the Northern Dimension following the accession of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to the EU? What is the position of the Northern Dimension in the context of the developing co-operation between the EU and Russia? How can commitment to the Northern Dimension policies be strengthened?
We consulted our partners in the quest for answers to these questions. In the consultation process we worked very closely with Sweden. Together, Sweden and Finland had discussions with the Commission, with other member states, with partner countries Russia, Norway, and Iceland, and with observer countries Canada and the USA. The discussions, both internally in Finland and externally with the partners, made it, first of all, clear that the Northern Dimension will still be needed in the future. It is the only segment of the EU's external and cross-border policies which covers northern issues so comprehensively. Moreover, regional co-operation will grow in importance in an enlarged and enlarging Europe. This will be the case for regional cooperation within the Union as well as for regional co-operation between the Union and its neighbours in all directions. The Northern Dimension is one model for involving the union in regional policy. In other parts of Europe there are other models. What is important is that we all can gain by changing experiences and innovative ideas.
The discussions also showed what should be changed if we want a stronger Northern Dimension policy and if we want to continue to produce good results in the future.
The culmination of this consultation process was the Northern Dimension ministerial meeting of last November. The most important decision of this meeting was that the Northern Dimension policy will be transformed into a common policy of the EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland. Thus the three last-named partner countries will become members of the inner circle alongside the EU member states and the Commission. Another important decision concerned the strong link to the EU-Russia common spaces. The Northern Dimension will thus become a regional expression of the implementation of the roadmaps of the four common spaces, agreed between the EU and Russia in May 2005. The roadmaps list the measures that should be taken to enhance cooperation between the EU and Russia in the fields of economy; freedom, security and justice; external security; and research, education, and culture. In addition, the Northern Dimension will continue to promote cooperation in such areas as health care and social welfare, arctic cooperation, and issues concerning indigenous peoples, areas which are not included in the common spaces. The ministerial meeting also decided that the Second Action Plan will not be followed by a Third Action Plan. Instead, there will be a new type of document, establishing the basis for future policy. It will be a framework document, permanent in nature, and of a more political character than the action plans.
Where do we stand today? Well, at the moment we are right in the middle of the negotiation process. The first draft has been prepared by the Commission; the second one, in accordance with the spirit of last November's decisions, by Russia. When Finland takes over the EU presidency on the first of July, the negotiations will be continued from the point where they are on the last day of Austria's presidency. We are, if necessary, prepared to work hard in July and in September, and we have scheduled a Northern Dimension Senior Officials Meeting for September 22nd. The meeting will take place in Imatra, on Finland's southeastern border. Our aim is that this meeting will be able to agree on the text of the framework document. The political-level endorsement is planned to take place later in the autumn, at a separate high-level meeting back-to-back with the EU-Russia Summit.
This was a short presentation of the process. Now, more importantly, a few words about the kind of Northern Dimension policy and related measures we would like to see in the future:
1. It is crucial that all parties involved in the Northern Dimension - the member states, the Commission, Russia, Norway, and Iceland - share the ownership of the new policy. The commitment of the parties is a fundamental prerequisite for successful concrete cooperation and sufficient financing. On the basis of the ministerial meeting of last year, we are confident about achieving this goal.
2. A new and strengthened Northern Dimension policy needs new and strengthened mechanisms to ensure efficient implementation and follow-up. In addition to the present biannual ministerial and senior officials' meetings, we think that an operative smaller body would be useful, in order to ensure that work is not neglected in the period between the high level meetings. Moreover, as the policy becomes common, the lead role, too, should be taken over by a common body. In the future it cannot be only the Commission that has the lead role, as it has under the current action plan. Instead, we need to have the EU, Russia, Norway, and Iceland represented in a joint steering group that meets at appropriate intervals during the year.
3. The environmental partnership requires additional financing if we want to complete all the projects that we have decided on so far - not to speak of possible new projects. In this respect especially all countries in the region, benefiting, for instance, from cleaner water in the Baltic Sea, should take their share of responsibility.
I wonder how many of you have realized that the environmental partnership also offers an instrument to combat climate change - the big challenge for humanity today. In the project pipeline there are already a few projects aimed at renovating district heating systems. These projects are good examples of measures designed to lessen the burden on air quality and thus the climate.
4. We would like to see a bigger political and financial contribution to the Partnership in Health and Social Wellbeing. In the near future the partnership will enter the phasis of project implementation - then money is needed. The active participation of all partnership countries in the work of the expert groups is equally important.
5. Finland would like to see new partnerships established. The next one could be in the field of transport and logistics. Such a partnership could focus on the northern main axes and cross-border infrastructure, on the motorways of the Baltic region and development of relevant ports and inland navigation, on efficient logistical chains and on trade facilitation and customs procedures. Also, security in transport and traffic as well as interoperability of railways could be themes for such a partnership. Kaliningrad could be a geographical priority.
6. An important task of the Northern Dimension is to facilitate cooperation on the level of sub-regional and local actors, universities, the private sector, NGOs and other non-governmental actors. They all play an important role in practical regional and cross-border cooperation, aiming at increased people-to-people contacts. This is something that deserves increased attention in the future Northern Dimension policy.
7. I would like to use this opportunity to table a new suggestion. It is one answer to the question: How can energy matters be taken forward under the Northern Dimension policy framework? How can the mutual interdependence in energy be utilized in the Northern Dimension region? We think that an answer could be to develop the environmental partnership to include small and medium sized energy efficiency projects in northwest Russia, particularly in the municipal services sector. The first concrete step could be that the decision-making bodies of the partnership would examine the mechanisms and action needed to increase the eligibility of the partnership to cover small and medium-sized projects. The experience of the Nordic Environment Financing Corporation, NEFCO, could be used in developing these projects.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year in Finland we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of our national philosopher and statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman. One of Snellman's main theses was that a nation can develop and achieve results only by educating itself. In a famous letter to the father of our school system, Fredrik Cygnaeus, Snellman wrote in 1840: "Finland can reach nothing by force or arms; the strength of civilisation is its only salvation." Thus, education and research are the key words for survival and success. Snellman's thesis is very relevant today, not only for Finland, but for the whole region, the Northern Dimension region. Looking at the Northern Dimension a few years ahead from today I would therefore like to see action in boosting education, research, technology, innovation, and culture.
As a basis we now have the roadmap for the 4th space in the field of education, research and culture. During our presidency we intend to promote the implementation of this roadmap by organizing a few important conferences, one on the implementation of the Cultural Aspects of this roadmap and another on student mobility. The discussion on these issues will thus be continued during our EU presidency. Also the coinciding Russian presidency of the Council of Europe offers opportunities to discuss these questions. The Northern Dimension can offer a piloting area for developing cooperation in this field. I hope that we one day will see a Northern Dimension partnership in Culture and another related to the field of research and education.
Dear Friends,
Finally, I would like to warmly thank my colleague, Minister Paet, for initiating this conference. Please convey my appreciative thanks also to your highly professional team, who have done the practical job of organising the conference. The corresponding thanks go also to our own team here in Tallinn, to the Finnish embassy, who has been the co-organizer. Indeed my thanks go to all of you, speakers and participants, who have joined us today here in Tallinn, at the very centre of the Northern Dimension area.