A4-0259/96

Resolution on the Commission report on the current state of and the prospects for cooperation in the Baltic Sea region (COM(95)0609 - C4-0017/96)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission report on the current state of and the prospects for cooperation in the Baltic Sea region (COM(95)0609 - C4- 0017/96),

- having regard to the regional cooperation initiative, tabled by the Commission at the Conference of Heads of State or Government of the Baltic Sea Council (Visby, 3-4 May 1996),

- having regard to the conclusions of the European Council (Florence, 22 June 1996),

- having regard to its resolutions of 14 July 1995 on the Commission communication to the Council 'Orientations for a Union approach towards the Baltic Sea Region¨ (SEC(94)1747 - C4-0011/95) ((OJ C 249, 25.9.1995, p. 215.)) and 18 April 1996 on the Summit of the Council of the Baltic Sea States ((OJ C 141, 13.5.1996, p. 199.)) on relations with this region,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on External Economic Relations and the opinions of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the Committee on Regional Policy (A4-0259/96),

A. whereas various countries in the Baltic region are involved in a radical and long-term transitional process; whereas some countries in the region are preparing for future membership of the European Union and whereas, therefore, further economic and political support is required for that region,

B. whereas the European Union must endeavour to integrate the Baltic Sea region into its activities and take note of the challenges and possibilities which accession to the Union has brought with it for the Baltic Sea region,

C. whereas, in security policy terms, it is essential to recognize the Baltic Sea region's special position as a link between East and West and whereas therefore there is a need to strengthen pan-European cooperation,

D. whereas, following the most recent enlargement, the Union and Russia now have a common border and whereas this fact makes its own demands on the policies pursued by the EU towards Russia and the Baltic Sea region; whereas the Union must therefore make every effort to coordinate the aims of those policies and the measures taken to implement them,

E. whereas the Baltic Sea initiative prepared by the Commission offers a useful starting-point for a discussion of the development of the region,

Democratic development and economic growth

1. Stresses that the European Union's cooperation measures in the Baltic Sea region must focus in particular on safeguarding the development of democracy and the market economy in the states in the region; to achieve this, it would seem logical to continue to attach particular importance to the development of human resources, especially the training of skilled personnel and managers in the economy, and to continue with the democracy programmes;

2. Points out that, although bilateral relations with the various Baltic Sea countries are very important for the EU, they have not reached anything like the intensity of existing multilateral relations among the regions and municipalities in the Baltic Sea region and that the EU can therefore exercise positive influence only if it integrates itself into the existing structures in the area of interregional cooperation and supports this cooperation;

3. Is of the opinion that, if stable political development in Russia, Poland, and the Baltic States is to be guaranteed, human rights must be respected and the status of minorities protected; believes that, when implementing its association and partnership agreements, the Union must make use of the political provisions designed to uphold human rights in the third countries party to those agreements;

4. Notes with satisfaction that the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) has a special commissioner for human rights and minorities in the Baltic region;

5. Considers that the Baltic Sea region represents an important trading area in which markets are set to grow substantially as the economies of the former Socialist countries develop further and that the aim of the Union measures must be to step up cooperation with the countries in question and considerably open up its own market to products from the Baltic region as the best method of providing support;

6. Calls on the Commission to support moves to establish a free trade area comprising the Baltic States, to enable it to come into being as early as 1998; considers that the project will help to expand trade among the countries in question and facilitate exports to the Union area; believes, in addition, that a possible future free trade agreement between the Baltic States and Poland would enable small Baltic countries to exploit entirely new opportunities on the Polish market;

Environmental considerations

7. Considers that the Union measures must seek to further efforts to solve the environmental problems affecting the Baltic Sea; believes that common standards governing the treatment of industrial and urban waste need to be laid down as soon as possible for the Baltic region as a whole; considers likewise that greater attention should be focused on nuclear safety issues and funds swiftly provided with a view to improving nuclear safety in cooperation with the Baltic Sea countries;

Infrastructure

8. Underlines that particular attention must be paid to infrastructure development in the region and that the Union must invest in the Baltic Sea region at the crossroads of Europe's planned natural gas and oil supply network; Support and aid for the development of infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region must ensure that the unique, continuous and unspoilt biotopes in the Baltic States and Poland are preserved;

9. Points out also that, in its Baltic initiative, the Commission has laid the emphasis both on effective transport links between the Baltic Sea region and Central and Western Europe and on improvements to transport services and connections within the Baltic Sea region, citing the planned Via Baltica and Via Hanseatica road links as examples of specific cooperation projects;

10. Considers that the Commission must take steps to incorporate Russia's inland waterways into the international transport network;

Assistance, cooperation, and coordination

11. Points out, in view of the painful structural adjustment process taking place in the former Socialist countries, that the volume of aid granted by the Union to the Baltic Sea region and trade with that region must be increased so as to promote beneficial development in all walks of society;

12. Appeals to the Commission and Council to revise their guidelines for the Baltic Sea region, setting greater store by sustainable regional development and by cross-frontier and interregional cooperation in view of its importance for stability in this region and avoiding operations that lead to concentration and disadvantages for regional structures and, on this basis, to review their actions and reorient them accordingly;

13. Takes note that, as the Commission report makes clear, a significant volume of funding is channelled to the Baltic Sea region via national regional cooperation measures implemented by a number of Member States; in cooperation with the Member States, the Union must see to it that both national and Union funding is used in an appropriate manner to finance measures which benefit the entire region, such as those referred to above;

14. Notes that the coordination of the funding earmarked for aid programmes has also caused problems in the Member States; the authorities which take decisions regarding national regional funding in the Baltic Sea region must for their part endeavour to coordinate cooperation measures with the Union bodies concerned with a view to achieving the aims referred to above and to gradually transferring the coordination of aid operations to regional level;

15. Considers it especially regrettable that implementation of the TACIS programme has been severely delayed, the new TACIS directive again not permitting cross-frontier projects to be jointly financed by the TACIS and INTERREG programmes and, above all, attaching little importance to the expansion and reorganization of the social service sector;

16. Notes that, apart from the European Union, the principal cooperation body is the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS);

17. Notes with satisfaction, finally, that particularly varied and active cooperation is proceeding at different levels and in different forms in the Baltic Sea region and calls on the Commission to give its continued encouragement and support;

18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States and the governments of the Member States of the Council of Baltic Sea States.