Documentation of kick-off meeting for the Political Committee and decision-makers

Transcription

1 Baltic MaSTER Documentation of kick-off meeting for the Political Committee and decision-makers Meeting held 29 August in Malmö, Sweden, during Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts 6&7 of the 32 nd America s Cup - Valencia Contact information Baltic MaSTER Daniel Sköld, project manager, , daniel.skold@regionblekinge.se Björn Martinsson, PR and communication manager, , bjorn.martinsson@skane.se Text: Björn Martinsson, Daniel Sköld and Gunilla Carlsson Photo: Björn Martinsson Lead Partner Conference Host Project part-financed by the European Union

2 Programme and contents Welcome and Kick-Off - page 3 Mr Uno Aldegren, President of Region Skåne and Chairman of the Political Committee, President of Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation (BSSSC) Louis Vuitton Cup for the first time in the Baltic Sea page 4 Mr Mårten Hedlund, representative from the regional sailing project management informed about the sailing event, Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Cup The Future European Maritime Policy page 4 Mr Paul Nemitz, Deputy Head of the Task Force on Maritime Affairs of the DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs of the European Commission European Maritime Safety Agency page 5 Mr Willem de Ruiter, Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Introduced the goals and tasks of EMSA Schleswig-Holstein Sea our Future page 6 Mr Uwe Döring, Minister for Justice, labour and European Affairs, Government of Schleswig-Holstein Maritime Safety from the Swedish Ship owners view page 7 Mr Jan Sonesson, Director at Stena Bulk that operates oil tankers in the Baltic Sea, gave his view on the maritime safety in the Baltic Sea PSSA Myths and Reality page 8 Professor Detlef Nielsen, Professor Malek Pourzanjani and Professor Olof Lindén from World Maritime University in Malmö, part of the International Maritime Organisation, gave a Baltic Sea perspective on maritime safety and of what the designation of the Baltic Sea as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area could imply. The future EU-Maritime Policy from a Baltic Sea view page 8 Mr Günther Schulz, Director of the Hanse-Office, Brussels Baltic MaSTER Take off page 9 Mr Daniel Sköld, Project Manager, Region Blekinge (lead partner of Baltic MaSTER), introduced the project Finally the experienced skipper s view on maritime safety page 9 Mr Roger Nilsson, famous Swedish skipper 2

3 Welcome and Kick-Off Mr Uno Aldegren, President of Region Skåne and Chairman of the Political Committee, President of Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation (BSSSC) Cross border perspective essential The immediate participation of over 40 regional authorities in our Interreg project Baltic MaSTER is a good example for the growing awareness concerning the safety at sea. The Baltic Sea is a fragile environment on which we depend, not only for transportation but also for production of food and recreation. The work within our project gives us an opportunity to influence the situation of the Baltic Sea through pro-active measures. If there is a political will, the Baltic Sea Region could be a model for the rest of Europe when it comes to maritime safety. But we have to think in terms of cross border on all levels. The transports, the environment and the maritime safety do not stop at national borders. They cross borders and they need resources and a common view. I m pleased to welcome you all to this kick-off for the political committee of the joint Interreg project Baltic MaSTER. Mr Aldegren also presented the intention of the political committee. It should: Use the results within the Baltic MaSTER project, have them spread and anchored among the committee members respective organisations and political arenas and networks Continuously gather for committee meetings (once a year) and participate in the think tanks organised for the regional political level (once a year) with the purpose of discussing current and emerging issues within maritime safety Take proper joint actions in lobbying towards European and international organisations as well as towards national authorities and other organisations with a responsibility for maritime affairs in general and maritime safety in particular Continuously share information, impulses and opinions with the project Mr Uno Aldegren, Mr Paul Nemitz and Mr Willem de Ruiter. 3

4 Louis Vuitton Cup for the first time in the Baltic Sea Mr Mårten Hedlund, representative from the regional sailing project management More than spectators expected during spectacular sailing event Sweden and the Baltic Sea were enjoying their first America s Cup racing during the period of 24 August - 4 September. The official name of the event was Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts 6&7 of the 32 nd America s Cup Valencia. Mårten Hedlund, representative of the competition s local management, informed Baltic MaSTER s political committee about the spectacular sailings which involved twelve teams. The event was expected to gather more than spectators, regarding to Mr Hedlund. The Future European Maritime Policy Mr Paul Nemitz, Deputy Head of the Task Force on Maritime Affairs of the DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs of the European Commission Positions from organisations and authorities wanted The Commission is now preparing a Green Paper on an all-embracing Maritime Policy, which is to be published in the first semester of This Green Paper will be the basis for a broad consultation of interested parties, a number of whom have already submitted their contributions. The Green Paper seeks to address the economic, environmental, social as well as governance challenges relating to the oceans and the seas, in a holistic manner. The objective is to set out options for a maritime policy that maximises the benefits Europe draws from ocean and sea related activities, in particular relating to the Lisbon strategy of employment and economic growth. The Commission has intensified its dialogue with relevant bodies within the United Nations and other international organisations, as well as with third countries, such as Canada, Australia and the United States, in order to identify best practices relating to integrated ocean policies. These contacts are also instrumental in discovering new possibilities to strengthen international cooperation in this area. There is much work to be done before the new white book will be ready. We are awaiting positions from organisations, national and regional authorities and others. And a wish is that you take the opportunity to make the positions non-political, with many ideas and wishes, said Mr Nemitz. The BSSSC took the opportunity to deliver its position directly to Mr Nemitz, made by the BSSSC reporter on Maritime Issues, Mr Günther Schultz from Hanse-Office in Brussels. 4

5 European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) Mr Willem de Ruiter, Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency EMSA takes action against sea pollution Mr Willem de Ruiter, Executive Director of European Maritime Safety Agency, introduced the goals and tasks of EMSA. The size and weight of the European Maritime sector is stressed by the fact that about one third of global shipping has an EU port as origin or destination. EMSA, still in its build-up phase, was founded in 2002 and has the European Commission and the 25 EU member states as the most important stakeholders. EMSA has three main tasks. It should within the fields of maritime safety, pollution prevention from ships and ship security: Provide technical advice to the Commission and member states with a view to ensuring the proper implementation of EU maritime legislation. EMSA audits are an important tool in the implementation process Foster technical cooperation between member states and disseminate best practice Provide operational capabilities, in particular to top up member state s capabilities for oil pollution response Examples of concrete actions within the fields mentioned above are: Assessments of maritime education and training systems in third countries Organising workshops with member states, Commission and industry on policy issues of common interest A detailed action plan on pollution response including conclusion of stand-by contracts with operators of commecial vessels that can be converted rapidly into response vessels Looking into the future, EMSA s short term priorities are to: Strengthen their action to ensure a harmonized implementation of safety legislation by means of audits/assessments/inspections Strengthen the pollution response chain Identify polluters at sea by means of satellite imaging EMSA s guiding principle for the medium term is to focus on those actions that can be undertaken more efficiently at EU level than national level. 5

6 Schleswig-Holstein Sea our Future Mr Uwe Döring, Minister for Justice, labour and European Affairs, Government EU s Green Paper needs thorough consultations Maritime safety is crucial for an integrative approach for a European Maritime Policy. Safety is the precondition for maritime environment, tourism, fishery, mariculture, offshore energy, and in general for the sustainable development of our coasts. In July Schleswig Holstein presented the draft initiative opinion on EU Maritime policy - a question of sustainable development for local and regional authorities to the respective Commission for Sustainable Development, of the Committee of the Regions. The initiative opinion contains 23 concrete examples, but four are of particular importance: First: For the development of a maritime policy we need sound scientific data. The Commission is asked to collect data on the economic and environmental values of the individual marine resources. Moreover, it is necessary to evaluate the current and planned use of maritime resources and, if appropriate, to deduce what changes may be necessary. Second: The Commission is requested to indicate the various sectors of the maritime economy's current and future potential for wealth and job creation and to put forward proposals as to how that potential might be realised. Third: An important instrument to link the sectoral policies is a spatial information infrastructure, for example the Integrated Coastal Zone Management. Trans-regional and trans-national approaches should be supported thereby enabling the various user interests to be weighed against each other on the basis of sound data. Fourth: The proposals of the EU Commission developed in the forthcoming Green Paper needs thorough consultations. We suggest that a number of regional conferences should be held in coastal regions in order, on the one hand, to bring regional and local expertise to bear, and, on the other, to help raise public awareness of maritime issues. 6

7 Maritime Safety from the Swedish Ship owners view Mr Jan Sonesson, Director at Stena Bulk that operates oil tankers in the Baltic Sea Oil should always travel 1st class especially in icy conditions. The Stena Group, in where Stena Bulk is one of six divisions, is situated in Gothenburg. The most valuable assets for Stena Bulk are the people, the employees. The Stena Bulk s fleet is in average 3,5 years old, which should be considered young. The Stena Bulk division operating with vessel traffic has a concept called the MAX concept. The MAX concept makes the vessels smaller but still keeps the amount of cargo. The vessels have more beam but less draught. The cargo, especially oil, doesn t come in contact with the outer hull of the vessel. It is important that organisations are able to plan their vessel traffic with regards to draughts, the increasing traffic, Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA), and especially icy conditions as in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea have icy conditions four months a year and an evolving problem is that it takes 8-10 years to train a person to gain specific knowledge on icy conditions. Shortly there will be a need for up to new employees with those specific skills. Professor Malek Pourzanjani and Mr Jan Sonesson. 7

8 PSSA Myths and Reality Professor Detlef Nielsen, Professor Malek Pourzanjani and Professor Olof Lindén from World Maritime University in Malmö PSSA classification in focus at Think Tank PSSA is the abbreviation of Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, a classification made by the UN s International Maritime Organization IMO. It is an issue of current interest recalling the recent IMO decision to PSSA classify the Baltic Sea. Professor Detlef Nielsen and his colleagues Malek Pourzanjani and Olof Lindén work at World Maritime University which is part of the IMO. Together they explained the PSSA concept. The PSSA definition consists of three criterias: the ecological, the socio-economic and the scientific. The framework is the UN law at sea, and therefore PSSA measures must be adoptable by the IMO in order to protect the classified area. Example of such measures are: ship reporting/routing, Vessel Traffic System (VTS), compulsory piloting, areas to be avoided and certain activities prohibited. The PSSA classification will be the subject of the Baltic MaSTER s first Think Tank, taking place this autumn and directed towards the Political Committee of the project. How to affect the IMO or Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) were mentioned as possible topics for the next Think Tank that will be arranged in The future EU-Maritime Policy from a Baltic Sea view Mr Günther Schulz, Director of the Hanse-Office, Brussels Baltic MaSTER highlighted in Maritime Policy input In the light of the ongoing work on a European Maritime Policy, Mr Günther Schulz, Director of the Hanse-Office in Brussels, presented a Baltic Sea view on maritime issues. Mr Schulz, is also the BSSSC s reporter on maritime issues and has recently compiled the BSSSC position paper on the EU s future maritime policy. In the field of maritime safety Mr Schulz pointed out several issues of special concern for the Baltic Sea area: Ratification and implementation of all international conventions Compulsory tanker transit route in the Baltic Sea Use of pilots in the narrow restricted waters of the Baltic Sea Introduce ship monitoring system by using the Galileo satellite navigation surveillance Increase cooperation and management structures in case to handle accidents/disasters Support regional initiatives and projects like Baltic MaSTER A regional approach from the BSSSC is to support maritime clusters with the existing EU programmes (e.g. Cohesion and Research Policy) including for example shipping, maritime technologies, maritime tourism and water management. 8

9 Baltic MaSTER Take off Mr Daniel Sköld, Project Manager, Region Blekinge (lead partner of Baltic MaSTER) Further development necessary in first phase The Baltic MaSTER project aims at increasing preparedness for preventing and managing a catastrophe through integrating local and regional authorities in the planning and implementation process. The project has now started and this first period will be characterized by further development of each work package and the consolidation of working groups and reference groups in order to get the project rolling. The project has a budget of approximately 3.5 million Euros divided on 40 partners and a project period of 2.5 years. Below is a figure of the project structure: WP 1 Preparedness and Division of Responsibility WP 2 Safe Transportations at Sea WP 3 Sustainable Spatial and Regional Development WP 4 Communication and Dissemination Matrix of responsibility PSSA Marine area spatial planning Strategies Problems and grey areas Maritime Traffic Monitoring Territorial impact analysis Political arenas Regional preparedness Waste management Lobbying This first political meeting is important in laying the ground for future work within the political committee. The committee is essential in sharing ideas and opinions with the project and for disseminating results within political arenas and networks, claimed Mr Sköld. The experienced skipper s view on maritime safety Mr Roger Nilsson, famous Swedish skipper Famous skipper: Oceans under threat from litter Experienced and famous Swedish skipper Roger Nilsson has sailed the oceans worldwide during three decades, participating in various race classes. Many racers are concerned about maritime safety issues, stated Mr Nilsson and expressed worries about the environmental changes that he has noticed. Since Mr Nilsson s first major voyage in 1971 the amount of plastics and waste, even far off shore in large oceans like the Atlantic, has steadily grown. Another observation is the increasing amount of ice drifting in the most southern sea regions of our planet, which might be signs of climate changes. 9