Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "Northern Dimension — Second Action Plan 2004-2006"
Date: 2003-10-09
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: European Committee of the Regions, Northern Europe, Russia, action programme, cooperation policy, enlargement of the Union, opinion

27.1.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 23/27

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Northern Dimension — Second Action Plan
2004-2006’

(2004/C 23/07)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Commission working document on the Second Northern Dimension Action Plan
2004-2006 of 10 June 2003 (COM(2003) 343 final);

having regard to the decision of its Bureau of 8 April 2003, under the fifth paragraph of Article 265 of
the Treaty establishing the European Community, to instruct the Commission for External Relations to
draw up an opinion on this subject;

having regard to the 2002 Annual Progress Report on the implementation of the Northern Dimension
Action plan of 26 November 2002 (SEC(2002) 1296);

having regard to the Guidelines adopted by the Luxembourg Northern Dimension Ministerial Conference
of 21 October 2002 which were subsequently endorsed by the EU General Affairs Council on 22 October
2002;

having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of 12 June 1996 on The Northern
Dimension of the European Union and Cross-Border Cooperation on the Border between the European
Union and the Russian Federation and in the Barents Region (CdR 10/96 fin) (1);

having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of 15 September 1999 on the
Communication from the Commission on a northern dimension for the policies of the Union [COM(98)
589 final) (CdR 107/1999 fin) (2)];

having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of 9 October 2003 (CdR 175/2003 fin)
on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Wider
Europe — Neighbourhood: A New Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours;

having regard to its draft opinion (CdR 102/2003 rev. 2) adopted on 5 September 2003 by the
Commission for External Relations (rapporteurs: Mr Lars Abel (DK/EPP) member of Copenhagen County
Council Mr Uno Aldegren (SE/PES) Member of Skåne Regional Council);

having regard to the contributions of the Arctic Council and the Barents Euro-Arctic Council on the
Second Northern Dimension consultation process, and the general experiences of the North Sea
Commission on the cooperation of regional activities in the Northern Dimension area;

having regard to the views of the European Economic and Social Committee on the future of the Northern
Dimension;

Whereas:

1)

2)

3)

it is important to notice that the perspective of the area concerned by the Northern Dimension is
changing dramatically with the new candidate countries entering the EU; this means that on the
political and economical scene new challenges need to be addressed which is why the Northern
Dimension policy is an important part of the puzzle in the new EU;

the debate on the new Action Plan on the Northern Dimension must gather all parties involved,
including local and regional organisations, and sub-national authorities in the new Member States,
to further the process of the Northern Dimension in the best way possible and making it more
efficient, concrete and operational; it is important that the Northern Dimension is a part of regional
policies and implemented on a regional and local level as well as national level;

it is appropriate to continue the work of the Northern Dimension in order to develop the enlarged
EU and to further the cooperation with Russia and other relevant actors, e.g. Norway, Iceland and
Greenland,

adopted the following opinion at its 51st plenary session, held on 9 October 2003.

(1) OJ C 337, 11.11.1996, p. 7.
(2) OJ C 374, 23.12.1999, p. 1.

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1. The Committee of the Regions’ views

The Committee of the Regions

1.1.
welcomes the working document of the Commission
on the second Northern Dimension Action Plan for 2004-
2006;

1.2.
notes with satisfaction that the Commission wants to
involve a wide range of participants in this initiative, including
the local and regional authorities;

1.3.
notes also that the principles of inclusive participation,
subsidiarity and complementarity form a clear basis on the
Commission proposal, with an effective division of labour and
overall coordination and monitoring of the strategic objectives,
priorities and concrete activities;

welcomes also the specific reference made to the
1.4.
internationally recognised principles of sustainable develop-
ment, good governance, transparency and participation, gen-
der equality, the rights of minorities, and the protection of
indigenous peoples, as well as the adoption of mutually
reinforcing economic, employment and social policies by all
partners involved, in line with the EU Lisbon Strategy;

1.5.
considers that the Northern Dimension Action Plan
should place a strong focus on cross-border and interregional
cooperation in the light of
the EU;
the Commission’s recent Communication ‘Wider Europe —
Neighbourhood’ points to the Northern Dimension as an
important factor in the new enlarged EU and Europe in general
and therefore it is important to further cooperation also on
the local and regional level;

the enlargement of

stresses the importance of a bottom-up process for the
1.6.
Northern Dimension since the implementation of the EU
acquis will for a great part be handled by the local and regional
authorities and further stresses the importance of an effective
coordination of all the Northern Dimension related efforts by
the different DGs in the European Commission, e.g. by creating
a specialised Northern Dimension coordinating unit in the
European Commission.

2. The Committee of the Regions’ recommendations

The Committee of the Regions

Priorities and Decision-making Processes — Horizontal and Vertical

wishes that the sub-national authorities in the countries
2.2.
of the Northern Dimension are consulted in the concrete
planning of the programmes and projects taking place; hence
increased decision-making power should be transferred to the
local and regional actors in order to obtain more equal
participation;

2.3.
proposes to establish a consultative body preferably in
an already existing organisation or instrument where both the
horizontal and the vertical levels are represented — it being
the EU, national governments, Council of Baltic Sea States
(CBSS), local and regional governments, their organisations
and trans-Baltic organisations like Baltic Sea States Sub-
regional Cooperation (BSSSC) and Union of Baltic Cities (UBC),
the North Sea Commission, the Arctic Council and the Barents
Euro-Arctic Council; Russian local and regional representatives
should be part of the consultative body in order to cover the
whole Northern Dimension area; hence it would seem natural
that the Committee of the Regions plays a central role in such
an initiative along with the European Commission;

2.4.
suggests that activities concerning the implementation
of the Northern Dimension programmes on local and regional
levels are evaluated and taken into consideration and that the
European Commission and the states initiate and support
strengthening of
the sub-national administrative capacity
where needed;

asks that the following areas should be given high
2.5.
priorities because local and regional authorities in most
countries hold competencies in these sectors: human resources,
education, health, environment,
transport, business and
regional development, and culture, supported by ICT;

2.6.
suggests that the business cooperation is strengthened
between the private sector and the local and regional auth-
orities, e.g. by setting up a business advisory body for business
oriented projects;

Financial framework for the Northern Dimension

2.7.
calls for a dynamic debate between the policy making
parties and the implementing parties at all levels to establish a
financial framework for the Northern Dimension Action Plan;

draws attention to the Barcelona process to see if a

2.8.
parallel model is possible for the Northern Dimension;

2.1.
calls for an initiative in order to gather forums on the
Northern Dimension on a regular basis bringing together
representatives of the local and regional administrations of the
Northern Dimension area;

wishes that

2.9.
the cohesion policy on the Northern
Dimension is to continue as an EU responsibility like the
MEDA programme and points to the fact that a financial
framework is necessary to implement this policy;

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proposes that a separate budget line be created for
2.10.
the Northern Dimension;
the creation of an appropriate
financial framework would be beneficial for all the priority
areas of the Northern Dimension; the administration of the
financial framework must be simple; access to resources must
be as flexible as possible;

Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership and Northern
Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Wellbeing

draws attention to the approach of the Northern
2.16.
to
Dimension Environmental Partnership;
include local and regional actors in the partnership since they
also have competence on this field;

is important

it

suggests that

2.11.
the national governments and the
Council safeguard sufficient financial resources to local and
regional level activities in human and institutional capacity-
building in order to solve the existing financial problem of a
lacking collective budget line on the Northern Dimension
policy;

2.17.
proposes that attention is paid to the Northern
Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Wellbeing:
an international temporary working group plans the partner-
ship consisting of ministerial participation; it is important to
include the local and regional
levels since they also hold
competence in the field;

2.12.
wishes to explore the possibilities of better involve-
ment of international financial organisations in development
projects under Northern Dimension policy;

Cross Border and Interregional Cooperation — Tacis and Interreg

2.13.
points out the strong necessity to coordinate the
current programmes of Tacis and Interreg more effectively; the
existing programmes have shown that the present coordi-
nation between the two is not sufficient; the idea of a single
proximity instrument should be noted as a possible future
solution to the problem;

calls to expand the existing Interreg programmes
2.14.
beyond spatial planning to other priority sectors where the
local and regional authorities also hold their competencies,
and to accept the maritime national borders in the Baltic Sea
as eligible for all strands of Interreg programmes; it is however
to notice that expansion will require financial
important
means;

2.15.
stresses the importance of creating smaller non-
bureaucratic financial facilities for interregional programmes
and projects within the Interreg and Tacis programmes;

Brussels, 9 October 2003.

Kaliningrad, the Northwest Russian Regions and the Arctic Circle

2.18.
stresses the importance of paying special attention to
the region of Kaliningrad in the Northern Dimension due to
its geographical inclusion in the new enlarged EU for example
by creating special programmes and financial solutions for
projects within Kaliningrad and cross-border cooperation
between Kaliningrad and its neighbours;

2.19.
points to the experience that cooperation projects
between local and regional authorities already take place and
seem easier to facilitate than the ones at national level;

2.20.
considers it important that not only Kaliningrad but
also all the north-west Russian regions are given special
attention since cooperation with the new EU also proposes
challenges for these regions;

2.21.
draws attention to the Arctic area where a very harsh
climate, great distances, weak economic development and
vulnerability towards external environmental influences make
it is therefore
economic and social development difficult;
important to strengthen the circumpolar cooperation and to
recognise the importance of reinforced circumpolar cooper-
ation in all Arctic Circle activities; furthermore, the concept of
the Arctic Window plays a central role in the conclusions of
the Conference on the Northern Dimension and the Arctic
Window in Ilulissat, Greenland, 28 August 2002.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE