South Baltic Parliament Forum

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Map of the Parliamentary Forum Südliche Ostsee.svg

The Southern Baltic Parliament Forum ( PSO ) is a forum established in 2004 for the regional representative bodies of Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , the West Pomeranian , Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeships and the Kaliningrad Oblast . The southern Swedish province of Skåne län (Schonen / Skåne) is an associate member.

The aim is to network the existing bilateral partnerships and other parliamentary relationships more closely with one another at regional level.

background

The starting point for the Southern Baltic Parliament Forum was the existing bilateral relations between the state parliaments of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with the Sejmiks of the Pomeranian and West Pomeranian Voivodeships.

The state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein and the Sejmik of the Pomeranian Voivodeship decided on a parliamentary partnership as early as 2001. The parliaments undertook to work together in particular in the areas of European, Baltic, minority and regional policy. In 2004, the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament and the Sejmik of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship also decided on a parliamentary partnership with the aim of establishing a network of parliamentary relations in the southern Baltic region.

The state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania had already maintained close relations with the Sejmiks of the Pomeranian and West Pomeranian Voivodeships before the founding of the Southern Baltic Parliament Forum. Already in 1996 there was a meeting of parliamentarians in Krugsdorf of MPs from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, members of the European Parliament from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, representatives of the municipal community Pomerania eV, representatives of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania District Association, representatives and employees of the Sejmik of the Stettin Voivodeship as well Representatives of the municipal association for the municipalities of West Pomerania. Between 1997 and 2004 members of the specialist committees of the parliaments met regularly in specialist forums to exchange information on a bilateral basis. Topics included education, business and tourism, but also questions relating to border crossings. In 2001 a partnership agreement was signed between the Sejmik of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament. In 2004 the state parliament made a joint declaration with the Sejmik of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Poland's accession to the EU in May 2004 intensified parliamentary relations. Central common themes were the European funding policy, but also the perspectives of the youth in the now border-free region.

These developments were also taken up in the context of a conference initiated by the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament on the topic of “The prospects for cross-border cooperation in the southern Baltic Sea region after the EU's eastward expansion” in October 2003 in Schwerin. Representatives of the parliaments of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the Sejmiks of the West Pomeranian and Pomeranian Voivodeships took part. At the following event from April 25 to 27, 2004 in Gdansk, the Southern Baltic Parliament Forum was founded with the aim of networking the existing bilateral partnerships between the four regional parliaments more closely.

With the founding of the Southern Baltic Parliament Forum in 2004, for which the existing good relations between the German and Polish regional parliaments formed the basis, cooperation was continued primarily at the multilateral level.

As a result, the Sejmik of the Warmia-Masurian Voivodeship and the Regional Duma of the Kaliningrad Oblast (2008) and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (2009) joined the forum on an equal footing; the southern Swedish region of Skåne was added as an associated partner in 2005.

subjects

The conferences of the Southern Baltic Parliament Forum take up current regional-specific issues. Since the forum was founded in 2004, the participating regional parliaments have repeatedly formulated demands on economic and structural policy and in the areas of energy supply, research, tourism and culture vis-à-vis the relevant actors in the southern Baltic region.

With the 4th Parliamentary Forum on the Southern Baltic Sea from May 21 to 23, 2006 in Kiel, a European strategy relating to the southern Baltic Sea was on the agenda for the first time against the background of the European Commission's Green Paper on the future of the EU's future marine policy. The delegates made it clear that they consider an integrated, multidisciplinary and holistic EU maritime policy, which takes into account the sometimes competing ecological and economic interests in the southern Baltic region, to be indispensable.

The increased integration of European politics subsequently increasingly influenced the work of the parliamentary forum. In 2007 the European Commission presented an action plan for an integrated maritime policy. The measures announced in it, including those relating to the promotion of cross-sectoral clusters or the competitiveness of maritime transport, were also taken up and intensively monitored by future parliamentary forums. The 7th Parliamentary Forum on the Southern Baltic Sea took place in Schwerin under the theme "The implementation of European strategies in the Southern Baltic Sea". Since the last forum from May 18 to 20, 2008 in Kołobrzeg, Poland, the Parliamentary Forum had closely followed the development of the EU Baltic Sea Strategy and made far-reaching proposals throughout the entire consultation process. It was also decided to put the policy resulting from the strategy to the test in annual forums from 2010 onwards. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is particularly active as a coordinator for the "Tourism" action area of ​​the EU Baltic Sea Strategy. The EU Baltic Sea Strategy was also the focus of work at the 9th Southern Baltic Parliament Forum in Gdansk. The 13th parliamentary forum took place under the heading “Science and University Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region” from April 20th to 21st in Hamburg.

Working method

The delegates of the regional parliaments involved, the associated partners as well as representatives from politics, science and business come together annually as part of the Southern Baltic Sea Parliamentary Forum to discuss current issues relating to the region and to develop proposals. The topics form the basis for the resolutions in which the delegates formulate demands on the relevant actors in the southern Baltic Sea region. In order to implement the resolutions, the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has so far regularly approved the resolutions with a resolution of the state parliament on the basis of a cross-party motion.

Members of the Southern Baltic Parliament Forum are the regional parliaments of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, the West Pomeranian, Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeships and the Kaliningrad Oblast. Associated partner is the regional council of the southern Swedish region Skåne.

The delegates regularly decide to set up working groups to prepare the parliamentary forums. The working groups listen to experts, discuss findings and recommendations and present the results to the delegates in the parliamentary forums.

Working groups were set up, among other things, on the topics of “Integrated EU Maritime Policy”, “Baltic Sea Strategy” and “Energy Supply”. The state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was in charge of the work of the “Energy Supply” working group, which the 5th Southern Baltic Sea Parliamentary Forum decided to set up in 2007. The specialist committees of the parliaments involved met in Schwerin and Szczecin to hear international experts on the problem and to develop recommendations for the 6th parliamentary forum in May 2008 in Kołobrzeg, Poland. Among other things, the 6th Parliamentary Forum called for stronger regional networking in the energy sector, in particular the bundling of competencies from research and industry.

The regional parliaments are represented every year in the parliamentary forums by delegations of representatives. The delegations are regularly accompanied by experts previously proposed by the parliaments who support the Baltic Sea parliamentarians in their deliberations.

Following the annual parliamentary forum, the regional parliaments also deal with the resolutions.

A special feature of the parliamentary forum concerns the regular involvement of young people in the conferences. Like the parliamentary representatives, the young people discuss current, regionally specific issues and propose solutions to the delegates in individual cases. In addition, the transnational youth project “Youth, Region and Parliament” was initiated as part of the 3rd South Baltic Parliament Forum from September 18-20, 2005 in Binz. Ten-day internships in parliaments and representatives' offices in the host country and in the country of origin should enable young people from the six participating regions to gain an insight into parliamentary work and to get to know the respective partner country better.

Conferences

No. place country date
I. Danzig Poland 25-27 April 2004
II Miedzyzdroje Poland 19. – 21. September 2004
III Binz Germany 18.-20. September 2005
IV Kiel Germany 21-23 May 2006
V Gdynia Poland 20.-22. May 2007
VI Kołobrzeg Poland 18.-20. May 2008
VII Schwerin Germany 5th-7th July 2009
VIII Elblag Poland 21-23 May 2010
IX Danzig Poland 20-21 May 2011
X Kiel Germany 11-13 March 2012
XI Schwerin Germany 2-4 June 2013
XII Kaliningrad Russia 19. – 22. May 2014
XIII Hamburg Germany 20-21 April 2015
XIV Kiel Germany 12-14 June 2016
XV Szczecin Poland 28-30 May 2017
XVI Allenstein Poland 13-15 May 2018
XVII Schwerin Germany 23-25 June 2019

literature

  • Resolution on the implementation of resolutions of the 10th Parliamentary Forum on the Southern Baltic Sea (Landtag printed matter 6/575) (PDF; 3.8 MB)
  • International, local and regional cooperation in the Baltic Sea region in connection with the implementation of the EU Baltic Sea Strategy, especially in the areas of tourism and education: 1st working group meeting to prepare for the IX. Parliamentary Forum Southern Baltic Sea / [Ed .: State Parliament Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Responsible: Bodo Bahr, Georg Strätker]. - Schwerin 2011. - 52 p.: Ill., Graph. Darst.
  • Transport and energy, maritime economy and maritime security, tourism and culture: Documentation of the 7th parliamentary forum on the southern Baltic Sea in Schwerin from July 5th to 7th, 2009 [on the topic: The implementation of European strategies in the southern Baltic Sea] / [Ed .: Landtag Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Responsible: Bodo Bahr…]. - Schwerin 2010. - 280 p.: Ill., Graph. Darst., Kt., (Cross-border cooperation; 13), contributions partly in German, partly in English, secondary title: The implementation of European strategies in the southern Baltic Sea
  • Transport i energia, gospodarka morska i bezpieczeństwo morskie, turystyka i culture: Dokumentacja 7 Forum Parlamentów Południowego Bałtyku w Szwerinie w dniach 5–7 lipca 2009 r -Pomorza Przedniego. Osobo odpowiedzialne: Bodo Bahr…]. - Schwerin 2010. - 261 p.: Ill., Graph. Darst., Kt. [Polish]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Interregional cooperation between parliaments in the southern Baltic Sea area - Parliamentary Forum Southern Baltic Sea, website of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament
  2. ^ Regional cooperation between the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag and the Sejmik of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, June 29, 2001, printed matter from the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag 15/1092 (PDF; 13 kB).
  3. ↑ Partnership Agreement West Pomeranian Voivodeship; Joint declaration by the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament and the Sejmik of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, reprint of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament 15/4292 (PDF; 125 kB), February 24, 2004.
  4. ↑ Intensification of the cooperation between the Szczecin Voivodeship and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the border area, printed matter from the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Parliament 2/1971 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dokumentation.landtag-mv.de
  5. ↑ Joint declaration of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Parliament and the Sejmik of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of January 24, 2001, printed matter of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Parliament 3/1951 ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dokumentation.landtag-mv.de
  6. ↑ The prospects of cross-border cooperation in the southern Baltic Sea region after the EU eastward expansion, press release from the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament
  7. ↑ Interregional cooperation between parliaments in the southern Baltic Sea area - Parliamentary Forum Southern Baltic Sea, website of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament
  8. ↑ Resolution on the implementation of resolutions of the IVth Parliamentary Forum on the Southern Baltic Sea in Kiel from May 21 to 23, 2006, printed matter 4/2308 of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament ( Memento of the original from February 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dokumentation.landtag-mv.de
  9. ↑ Resolution on the implementation of resolutions of the 7th South Baltic Parliament Forum in Schwerin from July 5 to 7, 2009, printed matter 5/2849 of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dokumentation.landtag-mv.de
  10. ↑ Resolution on the implementation of the resolutions of the 5th Parliamentary Forum on the Southern Baltic Sea in Gdynia from May 21 to 23, 2007, printed matter 5/647 (new) of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Parliament ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dokumentation.landtag-mv.de
  11. ↑ Resolution on the implementation of the resolutions of the 6th Parliamentary Forum on the Southern Baltic Sea in Kołobrzeg from May 18 to 20, 2008, printed matter 5/1571 of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Parliament ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dokumentation.landtag-mv.de
  12. ↑ Resolution on the implementation of resolutions of the III. Parliamentary forum on the southern Baltic Sea in Binz from September 18 to 20, 2005, printed matter 4/1913 of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament ( memento of the original from May 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dokumentation.landtag-mv.de