Civil society partnership Baltic Sea Region

Exploratory opinion for the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council.

Key points:

At the heart of the Baltic Sea Strategy is a simple view that in this region, serious problems such as maritime safety, environmental pollution and access ability can only be tackled and overcome through effective cooperation.

The EESC:

• sets out an argument that an effective way of strengthening civil society partnerships in delivering the Baltic Sea Region Strategy is through the implementation of the partnership principle as set out in the Commission's code of conduct partnership;

• recommends that the Baltic Sea Region Strategy could informally embrace the process outlined in the code of conduct and apply it to the ongoing evolution and implementation of the Baltic Sea Region Strategy;

• acknowledges that there is incomplete political support for the code of conduct among Baltic Member States and that the culture of partnership needs to be strengthened;

• stresses that there is sufficient organisational experience and competence in the Baltic Sea Region to build upon to undertake the enhanced monitoring role envisaged under the code of conduct.