Three macro-regions: the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic and Ionian and the Danube adopted three distinct declarations earlier this year. Even if these government produced papers were prepared without the involvement of non-state actors European House Budapest compared and made an informal analysis of the texts from a civil society perspective. Happy reading.
The Porvoo Declaration adopted by the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS comprised of foreign ministers and high-level representatives of 11 members, including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden, plus the European Union) on 14 June 2024 emphasises several common challenges, such as resilience, societal security, and crisis preparedness in the Baltic Sea Region and underlines the need for practical cooperation within the Council and strengthening links with like-minded democratic states. While condemning Russia (an initial member which withdrew after its suspension in 2022) over its war of aggression against Ukraine, the Council expressed satisfaction with the practical cooperation with Ukrainian partners, including civil society. In addition, the Council decided to initiate a review of the role of the CBSS and recommendations on its future, led by a high-level wise person and supported by a task force open to CBSS Members.
The Šibenik Declaration of 15 May 2024, which was adopted by the Adriatic and Ionian Council (the representatives of the governments of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia and Slovenia, with the participation of the European Commission), highlighted the “importance of the 9th Cohesion Report which underlines the role of the Cohesion Policy in supporting growth and recovery across Europe’s regions, all the while delivering on the green and digital transition”. It recalls the EU membership perspective of the Western Balkans as well as the need for sustained reforms and adherence to EU values while expressing grave concern about the situation in Gaza.
The Vienna Danube Declaration of 20 June 2024, which was adopted by 14 Danube Foreign Ministers, focuses on challenges, such as systemic and security threats, including foreign influence, hybrid threats and disinformation, in relation to the instability in Ukraine, the Middle East, the Sahel region, and the Horn of Africa. The declaration condemns Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its military strikes on Danube port while encouraging the exploration of the EU Strategy on the Danube Region (EUSDR) as a useful forum for cooperation with EU candidate countries. It supports initiatives to stop illegal migration and aims at promoting cooperation in foreign and security matters.
In addition, the Porvoo Declaration stresses the role of youth in society, referring to the youth position paper prepared during the CBSS Youth Ministerial 2024 held in Helsinki in May. This paper focuses on youth social participation (e.g., through the Baltic Sea Region Youth Forum) and resilience, underscoring the need for meaningful engagement of young people in societal development.
The Helsinki Youth Ministerial aims at promoting youth participation through harmonised legislation, access to clear information, quotas to ensure diverse and inclusive representation and practical cooperation between young people and decision-makers. It also flags the need to educate young people about the EU in order to strengthen their European identity and to encourage their involvement in decision-making processes. Two concrete ideas were proposed by the Youth Ministerial: greater accessibility and support for interrailing and the celebration of a Baltic Sea Day on the same day in each country to connect people on a more personal level. To increase security and resilience, an annual course on civil protection, covering topics like first aid, in school curriculums was suggested. Besides, the establishment of a single source of security information regarding pandemics, natural disasters, etc, in each country, capable of providing guidance to various stakeholders, including NGOs, and the creation of an inclusive environment was put forward. Instead of making concrete proposals based on the conclusions of the Youth Ministerial, the Porvoo Declaration simply welcomes this message.
By contrast, the Šibenik Declaration was adopted without the input of a Youth Ministerial. The declaration limited itself to commend the work done towards the establishment of a Youth Council, calling for the swift finalisation of the process.
The Vienna Danube Declaration, on the other hand, recognises the role of youth to protect the future of the democratic and economic systems and to strengthen cohesion in societies and highlighted the importance of educational programmes for young people, including digital competencies aiming at countering disinformation. It specifically mentions the efforts of the Danube Youth Council while commending the institutionalisation of the Danube Youth Organisations Network as an innovative element for shaping the future of the region. It also underlines the Secretariat’s initiatives in the field of youth and women empowerment, making good use of funds while appreciating efforts in granting financial support to the realisation of internships, scholarships and high schools projects. Last but not least, the joint project IMAGINE “Active Young Citizens for Sustainable Development in Central European Initiative and Adriatic-Ionian areas” received praise.
As to the involvement of civil society, the Šibenik Declaration calls upon “European institutions and the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR) participating countries and stakeholders to strengthen their commitment to the implementation of successful macro-regional projects with necessary political support, guaranteed funding and recognized added value”. It also welcomes the new EUSAIR Governance Architecture Paper, enabling the stakeholders and implementers to have a better grasp and to get involved in the Strategy while stressing the need to enhance the “Strategy’s multilevel dimension, consolidating the relationship between civil society, local, regional, national and EU institutions”.
A fifth pillar of cooperation to improve social cohesion has been added to the EUSAIR, whose revision is underway with the participation of key implementers, such as Thematic Steering Groups, Pillar Coordinators and National Coordinators in close collaboration with the European Commission. While it was noted that the traditional Adriatic Ionian Initiative (AII) connecting role between Governments, regional actors and civil society and their networks is a key element for the success of the EUSAIR, the Secretariat was commended for its efforts aimed at maintaining links with the EUSAIR pillars as well as civil society at large. The declaration specifically refers to Secretariat’s efforts to liaise with the Adriatic-Ionian Fora of Cities, Chambers of Commerce and universities, convinced that through the AII Fora civil society can provide added value to the EUSAIR, delivering tangible and beneficial results. It also stresses the essential role of regional cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, including academic, cultural and sport mobility, in promoting European values and the cohesion of society. Finally, the role of AII Parliaments is highlighted as direct representatives of the peoples have the potential of boosting neighbourly relations.
The Porvoo Declaration is almost void of any mention of the role of the civil society except for a small reference to the value of robust networks and multi-level cooperation in the region, in particular the intergovernmental organisation HELCOM and the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference. Similarly, the Vienna Danube Declaration briefly mentions initiatives to further dialogue and cooperation in the region, such as the meeting of Mayors of Danube capital cities, the Danube Region Speakers Conference, and the Danube Region Business Summit. It also refers to the contributions of all Danube stakeholders and partners who actively work on a joint vision and future perspectives for the region without citing any concrete examples.
The Šibenik Declaration is the only one citing macro-regions in the context of the Council’s commitment towards activities, including at macro-regional level, related to the development and prosperity of the region. It commits “to further promote the added value of the meetings of the TRIO Presidencies of the EU macro-regional strategies, where the adopted Guidelines for Cooperation provide a possible framework for better exchange of common practices between macro-regional strategies”.
Unlike the other two macro-regions, the Adriatic and Ionian region puts great emphasis on the cohesion policy by recognising “the opportunity for EUSAIR to contribute to the discussion on post-2027 EU cohesion policy” and acknowledging “the significant results achieved by the Interreg ADRION and the efforts of other EU cohesion policy programmes operating in the Adriatic and Ionian region to embed the EUSAIR flagships and priorities”. The Šibenik Declaration also reaffirms “the need for the long-term establishment of EUSAIR networks of managing authorities of EU cohesion programmes”.
It seemes that the three documents significantly lack the ambition to address the issue of engagement and contribution of non-state actors including civil society to the attainment of MRS objectives even if the usefulness and value-added nature of their involvement in MRS policy-making is broadly recognised. Though mentioned but it would be misleading to confine the role of young people and their organisations to the sometimes artificial, top-down creation of youth structures (councils). They have a more robust and dynamic potential what should be capitalised in developing and implementing MRS strategies.
