BARENTS REGIONAL COMMITTEE MEETING

Transcription

1 BARENTS REGIONAL COMMITTEE MEETING September 5, 2007 Tromsø

2 AGENDA...3 BARENTS REGIONAL COMMITTEE MEETING...3 PROGRAMME OF THE MEETING...3 PARTICIPANTS...4 ITEM RC 10/2007 ADOPTING THE AGENDA....5 ITEM RC 11/2007 ITEM RC 12/2007 ITEM RC 13/2007 ITEM RC 14/2007 ITEM RC 15/2007 ITEM RC 16/2007 ADOPTING THE PROTOCOL...6 INFORMATION FROM THE CHAIRMAN...7 INFORMATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF SENIOUR OFFICIALS...8 ADOPTION OF THE AD HOC GROUP REPORT...10 AGREEMENT ON INTERNATIONAL BARENTS SECRETARIAT...12 IBS TERMS OR REFERENCE...13 ITEM RC 17/2007 NEW REGIONAL BARENTS YOUTH PROGRAMME...14 ITEM RC 18/2007 ADOPTING AGENDA FOR THE REGIONAL COUNCIL...16 ITEM RC 19/2007 ITEM RC 20/2007 OTHER ISSUES...17 NEXT MEETING...18 Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

3 AGENDA Barents Regional Committee meeting Date: September 5, 2007 Place: Venue: Clarion Hotel Bryggen Programme of the Meeting Tuesday, September 4, 2007 Arrival of Regional Committee meeting participants Accommodation and all venues at the Clarion Hotel Bryggen Address: Sjogata Phone: (47) , Fax: (47) Wednesday, September 5, 2007 Arrival of Regional Committee meeting participants Barents Regional Committee meeting Arrival of Regional Council meeting participants Accommodation at the Clarion Hotel Bryggen Joint Dinner for the Barents Regional Committee & Council members and other delegates Thursday, September 6, Barents Regional Council meeting Lunch. Departure of participants Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

4 Participants Regional Committee 1. Dmitry Kislov, Chairman Ministry of Economic Development, Republic of Karelia, Russia 2. Brynolf Tjärner County Administrative Board of Norrbotten, Sweden 3. Eilert Carlson County Administrative Board of Västerbotten, Sweden 4. Vladimir Kirillov Administration of Arkhangelsk Region, Russia 5. Pentti Lampinen Council of Oulu Region, Finland 6. Esko Lotvonen Regional Council of Lapland 7. Hannu Leskinen Joint Authority of Kainuu Region 8. Hilde Jenssen Troms County Council, Norway 9. Harald Bollvåg Nordland County Council, Norway 10. Tore Gundersen Finnmark County Council, Norway 11. Sergey Kokarev Administration of Nenents Autonomous Okrug, Russia 12. Christina Henriksen Indigenous Peoples representative Others: 1. Mikko Hirvi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland 2. Rune Rafaelsen Barents Secretariat, Norway 3. Kari Aalto Council of Oulu Region, Finland 4. Alexey Tsvetkov Barents Secretariat, Petrozavodsk, Russia 5. Maria Östensson County Administrative Board of Västerbotten, Sweden 6. Rolf Wänström County Administrative Board of Västerbotten, Sweden 7. Päivi Kuvaja Regional Council of Lapland, Finland 8. Laila Dalhaug The Barents Secretariat, Kirkenes, Norway 9. Marina Shmatkova Murmansk regional Duma, Russia 10. Sindre Rene Wolf Barents Regional Youth Council, Norway 11. Natalia Markova Republic of Karelia, Russia Secretariat: 1. Igor Titov Republic of Karelia, Russia Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

5 Item RC 10/2007 Adopting the agenda. Discussion of the agenda. Tore Gundersen: Barents programme is not in the agenda. Then why it is in the distributed materials? Dmitry Kislov: We have put the document for information purposes. We had discussions on that issue during our previous Committee meetings and we agreed on supporting the very idea of Barents programme. Concerning this draft we didn t receive any comments from the regions and we think that this text should be worked out more. Another reason is technical. It was initiative from Norwegian side but since they didn t indicate that they want to have it at that meeting we didn t include it. So these materials are only for informational purposes. Eilert Carlson: Concerning the preparation for the ministerial meeting in Rovaniemi I have to say that from our experience in 2005 Västerbotten have prepared joint statement together with Norway and presented it to the ministers at the meeting in Harstad. I propose to prepare the statement this year too, maybe not make it but proceed it. Dmitry Kislov: Maybe we make it within item 20 that the Regional Chair will need to prepare the statement for the ministerial meeting. Hilde Jensen: Under item 20 I would like to make a short information on the air link between TromsØ and Luleä. Dmitry Kislov: I was informed that two persons who were planning to make presentation on item The Barents history book and encyclopedia could not attend at the meeting. Therefore we need to make some amendments to the agenda. I propose to exclude item 17 The Barents history book and encyclopedia and item 18 will be item 17 and further on. Among other issues we would need to decide on the regional representatives of the ad hoc group who will evaluate the candidates for IBS. I would kindly ask Esko Lotvonen to inform on that issue. To adopt the agenda with amendments.

6 Item RC 11/2007 Adopting the Protocol Discussion of the protocol of the Barents Regional Committee meeting held on March 20, 2007 in Naryan Mar, Russia. To adopt the protocol of the Barents Regional Committee meeting held on March 20, 2007 in Naryan Mar, Russia. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

7 Item RC 12/2007 Information from the Chairman Information from Dmitry Kislov, Chairman of the Barents Regional Committee. Dmitry Kislov: First of all I would like to use this opportunity to thank our hosts the Troms County Council for very intensive work on preparation of our meetings here and for a warm welcome. You know that due to technical reasons the strike of SAS we didn t have a chance to meet in Umeå this summer. So definitely we have to be very productive today since it is in some sense the last fully working meeting before Rovaniemi. Today we will have to discuss very important issues that are crucial for Barents cooperation these are the ad hoc group report and the issues of establishment of the IBS. Hopefully today we can finalize the work that lasted for more than a year. I would also like to mention some events that has happened recently. One of them is Barents Parliamentary conference which was held in June this year in Rovaniemi. This was already the 3 rd conference, so I believe our decision on granting the North West Russian Parliamentary Association the observer status was a right decision. Another thing to be mentioned is that as you know Barents cooperation was mentioned in the new ND policy documents. Some activities are going on with or without our official representation in this field. One of the last events was the expert workshop in Brussels on a ND transport and logistics partnership. Minister of economic development of the Republic of Karelia Mr.Yurinov took part in this event and presented the Barents Link project, which could be of interest in the context of a partnership. The presentation partly was based on the results of the Barents Link Forum held in Kajaani in May. I would like to emphasize that Barents cooperation was also mentioned in new Baltic Sea region programme When it comes to ENPI what is very important is that the regions that are not bordering EU countries received the status of adjacent regions. These are all positive factors aimed at further development of our initiatives like for instance the idea of Barents 2010 project continuation. That s why it is always in our agenda including today. One other thing, there is development in cooperation of BEAC with Nordic Council of ministers. The NCM and BEAC have agreed on the principles and subject areas of joint projects. The NCM will provide financing for pilot projects. Finally I would like to inform you that 3 weeks ago in Petrozavodsk we hosted the delegation from Oulu region on the issues concerning the future chairmanship. I hope that together we can manage to organize our common work so that the passing of chairmanship would not result in the break in the activities. To include information in the protocol. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

8 Item RC 13/2007 Information from the Committee of Seniour Officials Mikko Hirvi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Committee of Senior Officials, reports. See Annex 1 CSO RegCom TromsØ Discussion: Eilert Carlson: Concerning the Joint working groups especially the WG on energy it should start earlier why not discuss the WG promoting climate changes it could be one of the directions in Barents I believe we should at least discuss it. It is very interesting area for us in the Barents region. Dmitry Kislov: I think we will start the discussion with Oulu. Actually it is a very interesting idea and very new. We haven t discussed it earlier. It is definitely very important here in the North. But these issues should be treated very seriously and carefully. I don t think we should start the broad discussion right now. I am not sure we will be ready before Rovaniemi. But this a very good idea for the coming Chair on the regional level. This topic could be discussed with the coming national Chair Russia. Concerning the WG s I don t think we need to go very much in details now because today we have a very important issue the report of the ad hoc group, part of the work of that group was evaluation of the WG s. Harald Bolvag: I would like to inform that under our chairmanship we have arranged 2 workshops already in oil&gas sector and we are planning to organize one more in October. During these meetings we focused on environmental issues, such as oil spill. The results of the work as well as the established network could be used in further promoting these issues in energy group. Rune Rafaelsen: Concerning the Northern Dimension I would like to propose to activate further work aimed at promoting closer cooperation with new ND initiatives, to have constant regional representative (obviously this would be representative from the Chair region) in the meetings arranged under the ND policy and to inform Barents Regional Council on the results. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

9 Mikko Hirvi: I am not in the position to make any decisions, I think this is something that needs to be discussed. Dmitry Kislov: I am sure that this cooperation is useful for both sides and we already have good example of that the presentation made by member of Karelian government in Brussels during the experts workshop on a possible Northern Dimension transport and logistics partnership. This presentation was initiated from Russian national level the Ministry of foreign affairs. Harald Bolvag: This issue could be included in the joint statement. Dmitry Kislov: We would think how to put it in the statement. Thank you all for very interesting discussion. To include information in the protocol. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

10 Item RC 14/2007 Adoption of the ad hoc group report Esko Lotvonen, Regional Council of Lapland, chairman of the ad hoc group on organizational changes, reported about the work of the group. See Annex 2 Ad hoc group report See Annex 3 Presentation of the ad hoc group report RegCom TromsØ Esko Lotvonen: The ad hoc group has worked for 2 years, I hope that today the report would be finally adopted and the mandate of the group will end now and we will start something else and after that the responsibility of the chair would be to follow the proposals indicated in the report, put it into life. We have to work for concrete results so as not to spend our resources in wrong directions. Discussion: Kari Aalto: I have one question on page 32 it is indicated that translation services are covered by the chair of the Regional Council and in practice I understand that the host region arranges interpretation. Dmitry Kislov: As far as it comes to Russian regions it is not possible for us to pay directly abroad. It is more fair and technically easier if the translation services will be paid by the host region. Kari Aalto: Oulu doesn t have any difficulties in covering the expanses on interpretation. I would only express a wish that the host region would help making necessary arrangements. Hilde Jensen: I agree that it is absolutely necessary to have that support from the host region. For instance, this time we had problems finding good interpreters for the Regional Council meeting. I propose that a pool of interpreters would be formed under the IBS so that we could use the same interpreters at the meetings. Tore Gundersen: My view is that each participant is paying his or her expanses themselves and the host region is paying for all arrangements. Concerning the report Towards more effective Barents cooperation? We should ask ourselves how to make cooperation more effective. I don t think the answer would be establishing new WG. I believe we should bring Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

11 in more politicians, but we shouldn t make Barents cooperation bureaucratized. I want that the Regional Committee prepares papers and issues and present it to politicians to move them forward. Eilert Carlson: One of the problems and we experienced that during our chair is that the Chair could not create all these papers and arrange many activities. One of the best ways to make cooperation more effective is to be more active in all the regions. And I see no way how we can do it without bureaucracy. Kari Aalto: I see this report as a guide book for Barents cooperation. I think it would be necessary to translate it to national languages. Dmitry Kislov: Thank you Kari, this is a good proposal. As for the discussion I agree that we need to involve politicians more to the process, but we have to bring in more concrete issues into the agenda. Harald Bollvåg: I believe it is necessary to bring out important issues for discussion on the Regional Council meetings. But I believe that we miss some of the connections with the WG s. We have to create these effective direct links to be able to bring some concrete results on the table. Dmitry Kislov: There is a problem with interaction with WG s, but I have to stress that it is not the work of the ad hoc group to find these and secure these connections, the role of the group was to identify the problems, it is for Regional Committee as such to work on it meaning finding and securing connections. 1. To include information in the protocol. 2. To recommend the Regional Council to adopt the report of the ad hoc group on organizational changes. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

12 Item RC 15/2007 Agreement on International Barents Secretariat Esko Lotvonen, Regional Council of Lapland, chairman of the ad hoc group presented the agreement on International Barents Secretariat. See Annex 4 IBS Agreement Dmitry Kislov: What we are discussing now is either to suggest or not to suggest to the Regional Council to support the agreement on IBS. I have to say that this is very important that suggestions and comments from the regional level were considered on the national level and put into the document. 1. To include information in the protocol. 2. To recommend the Regional Council to support the agreement. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

13 Item RC 16/2007 IBS Terms or reference Esko Lotvonen, Regional Council of Lapland, chairman of the ad hoc group reported on IBS Terms or reference. See Annex 5 IBS Terms of Reference Esko Lotvonen: The scope of the IBS, in addition to the organizational setup, and the financial arrangements, are described in Terms of Reference. What might be pointed out is that one of the basic objectives of the IBS is to provide technical support to the multilateral coordinated regional activities within the framework of the BEAC and the BRC. What is important that the Head of secretariat will receive tasks from both Chairs. There will be three persons in the permanent staff. A balance among the nationalities shall be sought through a rotation when appointing the IBS staff. What is also important is that the CSO and BRC and the Head of the Secretariat may propose amendments to the Terms of Reference. Only amendments supported by the BRC may be approved by the CSO. Rune Rafaelsen: I was very impressed of how fast the question concerning the establishment of IBS moved on and of how much the regional level was involved in that work. I think that Kari will have a good possibility to test this new instrument in the coming two years. Tore was talking about efficiency in Barents cooperation and I think an important task is to involve more young people in the work. There should be at least two or three internship regularly in IBS. Kari Aalto: It would be also challenging to make use of new instrument in order to make Barents cooperation more effective. I believe it is for all of us and not only the chair region to put input in the work. All regions should be more active, the result depends on all of us. 1. To include information in the protocol. 2. To recommend the Regional Council to adopt the IBS Terms of Reference. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

14 Item RC 17/2007 New regional Barents Youth Programme Discussion of the new draft for regional Barents Youth Programme See Annex 6 Barents Youth Programme Dmitry Kislov: I would like to remind you in few words that this issue was on our agenda several times. At the meeting in Oulu we have expressed general support to the programme, but we requested the RWG on youth issues and Barents Regional Youth Council to make some clarifications in the financial part. The idea during our previous discussion was that many of the regions couldn t provide open check and our proposal was that the list of the projects would be elaborated and presented. But we received information from Laila Dalhaug that the position of WG and BRYC was that they were reluctant to make project list because they believe it might prevent new projects to get support. Some new formulations were proposed. Eilert Carlson: We agree on both formulations and support the programme. Dmitry Kislov: We support point 2, but the problem with point 1 is that if the region doesn t have a special programme it can not cover travel expanses for non civil servants. To be able to finance some activities we need the concrete project to be supported by the respective body in the region. Laila Dalhaug: If there are difficulties to support some projects maybe you could at least support the project Barents Regional Youth Council. What we are aiming at is to make the regions more obligatory for the work to move further on including BRYC Dmitry Kislov: We have to find the way out, because this item has been high in our agenda for a long time. Now we need to come to some consensus to be able to present the Regional Council the programme with amendments. Dmitry Kislov: My proposal is to change some formulations in the financial part: Each region considers it important to provide economic support for youth projects in order to ensure that the programme is properly implemented. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

15 Each region by its own decision contributes with economical support for participation of representatives from the respective county in multilateral youth events, including meeting activities for the member of The Barents regional Youth Council as an important tool promoting youth issues in Barents cooperation. This may be done by covering accommodation costs for events situated in the respective region and/or by allocation of money for travel costs. The grants may be allocated from regional or national funds supporting youth projects or by funds especially established to implement the Barents Regional Youth Programme. Other sources of funding are: The Barents Regional Youth Programme Interreg IVB and ENPI CBC programmes The Youth in Action Programme (The Youth programme of the European Commission) European Youth Foundation (youth programme of the Council of Europe) Nordic Council of Ministers Etc. 1. To include information in the protocol. 2. To recommend the Regional Council to adopt the programme with amendments. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

16 Item RC 18/2007 Adopting agenda for the Regional Council Suggested agenda for the Regional Council meeting (September 6, 2007): 01/2007 Adoption of the agenda 02/2007 Meeting publicity 03/2007 Welcoming speech from the Regional Council Chairman 04/2007 Adoption of the protocol 05/2007 Information from the Regional Committee Chairman 06/2007 Information from the CSO 07/2007 Barents and sector programmes 08/2007 Adoption of ad hoc group report 09/2007 Support to IBS Agreement 10/2007 Adoption of IBS Terms or reference 11/2007 New Barents Youth Programme 12/2007 Other issues 13/2007 Next meeting To adopt the agenda for the Regional Council meeting.

17 Item RC 19/2007 Other issues 1. Hilde Jensen informed on the new air link between TromsØ and Luleä. Hilde Jensen: Due to the signing of the agreement between Troms and Norrbotten we have managed to start the regular air link between TromsØ and Luleä. This new air link has been on top of the agenda during this week. Please consider the new opportunities of that air link while traveling in the Barents. 2. Esko Lotvonen informed on the procedure of the selection of the Head of Secretariat. See Annex 7 IBS Staff Selection Letter Esko Lotvonen: You all have the paper in front of you concerning the necessary procedures for the selection of the HoS. We would need to establish a new ad hoc group on the selection of IBS staff. Dmitry Kislov: I propose to establish the ad hoc group using the same model as it was with the ad hoc group on organizational changes when the group included representative from each country. If you all agree I recommend taking a 5 minute break so that we could have negotiations within Committee participants from each country. Dmitry Kislov: The Norwegian side proposed Hilde Jensen, Sweden Eilert Carlson, Finland Esko Lotvonen, Russia Dmitry Kislov and Indigenous peoples Kristina Henriksen. 1. To include information in the protocol. 2. To establish the ad hoc group on the selection of the IBS staff and to confirm the members of the group: Hilde Jensen, Eilert Carlson, Esko Lotvonen, Dmitry Kislov and Kristina Henriksen. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,

18 Item RC 20/2007 Next meeting The next meeting of the Barents Regional Committee to be held on November 13, 2007 in Rovaniemi, Finland. Regional Committee, Tromsø, September 5,