Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-15-Speech-3-261"
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"en.20061115.18.3-261"2
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"Mr President, I have my own personal Northern Dimension, being born in the north of Sweden, so I am sure that my colleague Mrs Ferrero Waldner would have had an easier time keeping a cool head in this debate!
I have very much enjoyed listening to this discussion on the Baltic Sea Strategy and to whole debate on the Northern Dimension as a whole. Part of challenge is to ensure that the Baltic Sea Strategy is one that embraces all the important elements, and not just those connected to the Northern Dimension.
I am confident that the new Northern Dimension policy, with its future shared ownership by the European Union, Russia, Norway and Iceland, will substantially benefit the Baltic Sea region because none of the challenges faced by the Baltic Sea can be tackled without genuine Russian involvement, just as none of the challenges faced by the Barents Sea can be dealt with without Russia and Norway.
Let me comment on just a few specific issues that have been raised. Firstly, regarding the Baltic Sea, investment decisions must of course be taken by investors, but the Commission’s viewpoint has been that it is very important that proper environmental impact assessments are made for the implementation of the project, and we have not favoured one route over the other.
On the Kaliningrad oblast, this has of course been a priority sector for the Northern Dimension policy and will remain so. It is also an area of particular attention in our bilateral relations with Russia. The transit regime has now been successfully implemented and has been notably facilitated through very substantial EU assistance, on which the Commission expects to present its report by the end of the year. Also, although the transit regime is an important issue, we should not forget that the key to success in Kaliningrad will be strong economic development in the oblast, supported by the EU in a harmonious manner with the Russian programmes for this territory. Improved economic growth in Kaliningrad to reduce the gap with its immediate EU neighbours would help eliminate the long queues at the border. At the same time, EU investments in border crossing infrastructure will continue. That is how we are engaging with this very important issue.
As demonstrated by the very important opening of the St Petersburg south-west waste water treatment plant last year, with its tangible beneficial effects in water quality in the Gulf of Finland, cooperation and cofinancing with the Russian Federation is possible and it pays dividends both to their citizens and to ours. The forthcoming large Northern Dimension environmental partnership projects in the Kaliningrad oblast combine with Tacis projects in the water sector in this same oblast to confirm these premises. Furthermore, membership of the Northern Dimension as regards our EEA partners, Norway and Iceland, also provides a northern pan-European character to this policy, which we should welcome.
Finally, I would like to add to what Diana Wallis said. Canadian and US involvement also gives the Northern Dimension a transatlantic and circumpolar value that we should maintain.
Let me also comment on the budget. In the Commission’s view, the proposal in the report to set up a separate budget line for the Baltic Sea Strategy actually entails some risks. It would go against the logic of simplifying the EU’s external financial instruments. The European neighbourhood and partnership instrument would be the natural tool with which to accompany implementation of the Northern Dimension policy, but other financial instruments will also have a contribution to make. We cannot afford to neglect any of the Northern Dimension components and we should use all its potential and synergies in full. The European neighbourhood and partnership instrument will provide new opportunities, particularly in the field of cross-border cooperation which, together with a larger contribution from a more prosperous Russia, and a notably larger availability of European Investment Bank funding for this area, will provide the right incentives and improve the well-being of the citizens of the whole of Northern Europe."@en1
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