The programme is targeted, inter alia , to the removal of border barriers between the Nordic countries and to the development of the Nordic welfare societies in European and international contexts. Cooperation in the energy sector is directed to a gradual elimination of border barriers between the energy markets in the Baltic Sea region. The Nordic countries will continue to function as the prime mover and financier of energy cooperation in the region. The Finnish chairmanship will pay particular attention to development of energy markets, energy cooperation in the Baltic Sea region, development of Baltic electricity markets, and closer cooperation with neighbouring areas by improving coordination. The contamination of the Baltic Sea arises serious anxiety among the Nordic citizens.
National measures are inadequate.
We need wide-scale international cooperation which should involve not only the Nordic countries but also all the countries bordering the Baltic Sea, the EU, and international financing institutions. Environmental issues are given a prominent place among the political priorities to be pursued during the Swedish Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2001, coinciding with the Finnish chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Finland fully supports Sweden in its endeavour to accord environmental issues higher priority on the EU agenda during the Swedish Presidency. At the moment, two projects are of immediate interest in the Baltic Sea region. The St Petersburg area is one of the most serious environmental hazards as concerns emissions in the Baltic Sea region.