EU macro-regional strategies are a ‘well-kept secret’. To what extent is the public opinion aware of these strategies in the Baltic Sea Region?
I don’t think macro-regional strategies are better-known in the Baltic Sea Region than elsewhere, although I would say it is not a goal in itself. Everyday people in the streets of Stockholm or Budapest do not need to know macro-regional strategies – they rather serve as a tool to engage stakeholders, including regional administrations, municipalities, civil society organisations in joint development of solutions to complex societal challenges. Additionally, the macro-regional strategies support the European Union aim to make Europe stronger by closer collaboration.
The first time I heard about macro-regions was in 2007, it was actually proposed by the European Parliament. The reason for this first macro-regional strategy was the environmental condition of the Baltic Sea, namely the so-called algae blooming. As we had the sea in common, several countries of the region (Estonia, Finland, Sweden) initiated this strategy, which was officially launched in 2009, during the Swedish EU Presidency.
The EUSBSR Annual Forum was organised in Visby, Sweden a bit more than a month ago. What was the main message of the Forum?
When preparing the Forum, we based it on the European Commission’s report on the implementation of macro-regional strategies. During the 2022 Swedish EU Presidency, the Council conclusions referred to engaging stakeholders as one of the key challenges for the success of the strategies. Macro-regional strategies are about cross-sectoral, multi-level, transnational cooperation – in order to tackle complex societal challenges, we need to engage stakeholders from different levels.
Another crucial objective was to expand the circle of stakeholders, to anchor the strategy in their daily work on challenges, in for example NGOs or local administrations. That’s why we organised the Engagement Day prior to the Annual Forum. The result exceeded our expectations. We had 250 participants and almost 200 proposals, presented collaboration ideas. As for expanding the group of stakeholders, it is important to know that 60% of registered participants came for the first time to an Annual Forum. In fact, more than 650 people registered to the Forum. The next Annual Forum will take place in Gdansk, during the Polish Presidency of the EUSBSR, and the Engagement Day will be most probably organised again.
In Visby, the support of Ukraine was an important part of the programme with 30 participants coming to Visby from Ukraine. The support of Ukraine is a very high priority for Sweden, and not just when it comes to military support. Even though the country is a member of the Danube Strategy, we saw a lot of interest from Ukrainian stakeholders to be connected to the Baltic Sea Region.
The thematic priorities of the Forum were resilience and security with sustainable food supply, sustainable transport and energy security as the three main topics.
You were a key figure at the Annual Forum. What was the biggest surprise to you personally?
What surprised me the most and also encourage me was the broad interest in the Engagement Day, and the fact that we received almost 200 proposals – this exceeded my expectations. On the other hand, I certainly would have liked to see some of the Swedish ministers at the Forum, although I know that a Nordic Council meeting took place at the same time in Reykjavik, attended by the Ukrainian president.
There is a new political reality in Europe with the new EP and the new European Commission. How do you see the future of macro-regions in this new context?
I hope that the new European Commission will acknowledge the importance of macro-regional strategies, as a tool to enhance closer cooperation that so much needed in today’s Europe. The challenges are getting more and more complex, and on top of that, we have the war in Ukraine which also calls for closer cooperation in Europe at large. The cross-sectoral, multi-level, transnational collaboration is the unique selling point of macro-regional strategies – there is no one else offering this. I hope that the new Commission understands that the macro-regional concept is a powerful tool, if we agree to use their full potential.
The European cooperation is built to a large extent on the funding programmes. Still member States must also focus on making best use of the membership with the available competences across Europe. These competencies are utilised by strategically, and long term integrate transnational cooperation in institutions and organisations development processes. The European Commission can guide the member states towards this more integrated approach. The European Parliament and the EU Commission are in a position to say: “Hey guys, why not do this together, instead of doing it on your own?”
You came to Budapest to attend a conference about employment and social affairs. Did participants understand your reasoning about the usefulness of macro-regional strategies?
The administration of the European Social Fund is done by managing authorities in the Member States, with national and regional programmes. Three times per year, the EU Commission organise meetings with these authorities across Europe. Two of those meetings are held in the country holding the EU Council Presidency, this time in Hungary. The agenda of the meeting is to give an update on different initiatives from the Member States on how they have used the European Social Fund. One of the elements in the 2021-2027 programme is transnationality. The regulatory framework controls how the Cohesion Policy funds are used, and this regulation stipulates that if a programme is located in a country belonging to a macro-regional strategy, the programme should support the implementation of the macro-regional strategy.
At the conference, we wanted to remind the Member States about this regulation and how the programmes can benefit from using the macro-regional strategies as frameworks for their transnational cooperation. We were there, representatives of the four macro-regions, and we presented our action plans, what thematic areas we are addressing in our action plans and how well they are aligned with what they are supposed to do. Macro-regional challenges are usually common challenges, so we explained to Member States representatives that we can help them to build partnerships, and that they can get more out of their investments in projects by aligning them with macro-regional strategies. Reactions were positive, we got many questions.
The interview was conducted on 28 November 2024.
