INFORMATION WHICH COUNTRIES/ REGIONS/ AREAS ARE COVERED:

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1 ØRESUNDSKOMITEEN (DK/SE) Member of AEBR since 1990 Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) (Region 1 on the AEBR map Cross-Border Cooperation Areas 2011 ) FULL NAME: Öresundskomiteen (the Öresund Committee) INFORMATION WHICH COUNTRIES/ REGIONS/ AREAS ARE COVERED: The Öresund region is a Danish/ Swedish border region, on the Swedish side encompassing the region of Scania, and on the Danish side the Sjælland Region and the Capital Region of Denmark, Hovedstaden. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF MEMBERS: Our members are the regions and muncipalities of the Öresund region. On the Danish side, these are; Region Hovedstaden (The Capital Region of Denmark) Region Sjælland (the Zealand Region) Københavns Kommune (Copenhagen Muncipality) Frederiksberg Kommune (Frederiksberg Muncipality) Bornholms Kommune (Muncipality of Bornholm) Kommunekontaktråd Hovedstaden (Copenhagen City Council) Kommunekontaktråd Sjælland (Zealand Regional Council) On the Swedish side, the members are: Region Skåne (the Scania Region) Malmö Stad (Malmö City Council) Helsingborg Stad (Helsingborg City Council) Lunds Kommun (Lund Muncipality) Landskrona Stad (Landskrona City Council) YEAR OF FOUNDATION: 1993 YEAR OF JOINING AEBR: 1990 (as Øresunds Kontakt, later Øresundskomiteen)

2 DESCRIPTION OF MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS UP TO NOW The Öresund Committee is an organisation working to facilitate the continued political cooperation between Sweden and Denmark. As part of this, we work across a range of key political priorities, as identified in our regional development strategy, ÖRUS. This document was politically adopted in May 2010, and is one of the key achievements of the Committee, as it is the first strategy of its kind, bringing together trans-national priorities and strategies through comprehensive network consultation. The region aims to be the most attractive and climate friendly European region by 2020, and to achieve this sets out measures for the following priorities; A cohesive labour marked Culture and leisure Knowledge and Innovation Infrastructure and mobility Although climate and the environment is not an identified priority as such, these run through all other priorities and are as such of key relevance. The Öresund Committee also play s a large regional part through our lobbying initiatives, some of which include arranging seminars and networking events at the Swedish Almedalen event a full week dedicated to bringing together national political players. This year will also see the first ever similar event taking place on the Danish island of Bornholm, which hosts a three- day long political event called Folkemødet, sponsored by the Öresund Committee. Cohesive Labour Market: The Öresund Committee works to promote mobility and safeguard the rights of citizens and businesses seeking work and personnel on the other side of the Öresund Sound. To this end, the Öresund Committee has investigated the obstacles to cross-border labour market mobility that are related to unemployment benefits, pensions, social security cover, illness and taxes. At a meeting of the Öresund Forum (Öresundstinget) held on 10 May 2007 to coincide with the state visit to Denmark of the Swedish royal family, the Danish and Swedish ministers for employment, Claus Hjort Frederiksen and Sven Otto Littorin, signed a joint declaration entitled Two Countries One Labour Market. One of the results of this was the creation of an inter-ministerial Danish-Swedish working party to propose solutions to the list of obstacles that the Öresund Committee had compiled with the aid of its members, ÖresundDirekt, authorities, trade and industry, trade unions and individuals in the region. In December 2007 a further step was taken towards establishing a common labour market in the Öresund Region when the two governments met to present the preliminary results of their joint efforts to eliminate cross-border obstacles to labour market integration. Recent years have seen lobbying organisations intensify the pressure on the Danish and Swedish governments to eradicate obstacles and barriers to the free movement of labour in the Öresund Region. Furthermore, the Öresund Committee has also promoted this work through a comprehensive report called 33 Obstacles, Challenges and Possibilities, setting out our prioritised areas for creating a integrated labour marked.

3 The Öresund Committee is committed to following up the results of the working party and to monitoring progress in the Nordic Council of Ministers, which has set up its own Freedom of Movement Forum to remove barriers to free movement between the Nordic countries. Sweden s representative on the forum is Pia Kinhult of Region Skåne, who is a member of the Öresund Committee. The committee is also in the process of investigating the possibility of enabling citizens of a third country who are resident in Sweden to acquire a work permit in Denmark. Infrastructure and Mobility: The Öresund Committee is also an arena for joint political lobbying activities for new investments in infrastructure The committee s politicians work towards establishing a shared vision for the development of the Öresund Region and for placing the Öresund perspective firmly on the agenda of infrastructure planning work in the two countries. Regional and municipal politicians on Zealand and in Skåne are in agreement that it is now high time to jointly review the region s transport systems and to introduce into regional traffic policies a greater degree of consideration for traffic-related challenges in Sweden and Denmark. To this end, the Öresund Committee is lobbying the Danish and Swedish governments to make new investments in traffic and transport and for more efficient, more reliable and more environmentally friendly traffic solutions in the region. Öresund Committee proposals for infrastructure investments: Improvements to major trunk roads and mainline rail links and to feeder routes and access roads to the major ports in the Öresund Region Expansion of transport corridors to Copenhagen and Malmö Expansion of the Malmö-Lund mainline rail link and the Swedish west coast rail link north of Helsingborg Expansion of E6 and E22 European highways Links to/from the Fehmarn Belt Optimisation of passenger traffic to Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup Feasibility study/construction of rail link to Malmö Airport Investigation into high-speed connections between the Öresund Region and the rest of Scandinavia and the future European rail network Continued development of the Öresund Region as a hub for goods traffic Expansion of capacity in the current infrastructure system road, rail, passenger traffic based on a holistic view of needs Examination of the conditions for a fixed link between Helsingör and Helsingborg Kalundborg-Næstved road link Culture and Leisure: In 2008 the Öresund Committee set in motion a process enabling a dialogue to be conducted with representatives from trade and industry, the cultural sector and research

4 together with officials in regional and municipal government responsible for cultural services, and cultural politicians in Skåne and Zealand. The aim is to formulate the opportunities and challenges connected with adopting a regional approach to culture in Skåne and Zealand. As part of this process the Öresund Committee is also examining the opportunities to improve regional residents access to and use of the region s programme of cultural events and leisure activities. We are also investigating initiatives that can present and market the Öresund Region as a culturally dynamic and attractive region in order, in part, to support its development with regard to business and tourism. As starting points for this work, a reference group has been created, having both the Öresund Committee s underlying proposal for a vision for cultural activities in the region and the points of view raised in connection with the so-called Cultural Parliament conference, KulturParlament Öresund. Integration across the Sound is of great political interest, and the committee has, therefore, established three working parties; each concentrates on one of the three themes. The working parties consist of politicians who themselves sit on the Öresund Committee, and who can co-opt experts and others to help in the work as it progresses. The working parties will be disbanded when their work has been completed. Knowledge and Innovation: Last, but not least, The Öresund Committee accords high priority to knowledge and innovation in the Öresund Region. The development of knowledge and progress in the field of innovation are acquiring ever greater importance as factors behind the region s competitive strength. Here in the Öresund Region we are determined to make the best possible use of our skills and resources in the fields of knowledge and innovation on both sides of the Öresund Strait. It is only by virtue of such joint efforts that the Öresund Region can attain the critical mass that is essential to be able to compete successfully in the international arena. Together with other regional players, such as Öresund University, the Medicon Valley Alliance and the Öresund Entrepreneurship Academy, the Öresund Committee is working hard to create an even better climate in which knowledge and innovation can thrive. The Öresund Committee focuses on the importance of promoting: collaboration between the region s institutes of education in providing educational activities and opportunities; the Öresund Region is to be a single market in terms of education student mobility throughout the Öresund Region, both in relation to academic education and in-service training the appeal of the Öresund Region for international researchers and students cooperation, collaboration and knowledge transfer between business. academia and research institutes; for example in relation to the ESS and MAX IV projects

5 cross-border exchanges of positive experience about how to support innovation, entrepreneurship and movers and shakers on both sides of the Öresund Strait coordinated efforts to attract international research projects and funding; for example, EU funding. Knowledge and innovation is one of four main themes in the Öresund Committee s new regional development strategy (ÖRUS). In international comparisons, the individual Danish and Swedish constituents of the Öresund Region are relatively small in terms of population and economy. In its analysis of the competitive capacity of the Capital Region of Denmark, the OECD has shown that, in terms of a number of key growth indicators, the region lags behind other regions with which it is normally compared. To strengthen the region s competitive position, the OECD recommends the adoption of a broader, pan-öresund mindset to promote integration and develop cross-border collaboration. PLANNED ACTIVITIES FOR THE FUTURE THE COORDINATION AND CREATION OF A CROSS-REGIONAL DANISH/ SWEDISH STRATEGY FOR CLEANTECH AND CLIMATE. PARTICIPATE IN THE WORK AROUND CREATING A LAND BOUND LINK BETWEEN HELSINGBORG IN SWEDEN AND ELSINORE IN DENMARK. PARTICIPATE IN THE WORK AND LOBBYING EFFORTS AROUND IMPLEMENTING A HIGH SPEED RAILWAY NETWORK IN THE REGION AND BEYOND. CONTINUED WORK ON OR KEY STRATEGIES, SUCH AS ÖRUS, 33 ETC. CREATE A MUTUAL EVENT STRATEGY FOR THE SWEDISH AND DANISH SIDE, WHERE WE WORK TOGETHER ON BIG CULTURAL EVENTS UPDATED PRINT AND WEB VERSION OF TENDENSÖRESUND, A CROSS BORDER REGIONAL STATISTICAL DOCUMENT. REWAMP THE CULTURE ÖRESUND WEBSITE. VARIOUS CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS RELATING TO OUR KEY PRIORITIES. YEARLY MAIN EVENTS ÖRESUNDSTINGET; AN ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE THEME OF ONE OF ÖRUS PRIORITIES. THE CONFERENCE IS AIMED AT POLITICIANS, BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVES, DECISION MAKERS AND RESEARCHERS. AROUND 250 PEOPLE TEND TO ATTEND, AND THIS YEARS THEME IS CLEANTECH. ALMEDALEN; A WEEK LONG POLITICAL MEETING IN SWEDEN BORNHOLM; A THREE DAY LONG POLITICAL MEETING IN DENMARK. CULTUREPOLITICAL CONFERENCE ÅRSMAGASINET; AN ANNUAL PUBLICATION CONCERNING THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PAST YEAR. NAME OF SECRETARY GENERAL Mikael Stamming

6 CONTACT DETAILS Address: Nørregade 7b, 3. sal DK 1165 Copenhagen K Denmark Tel: Fax: rro@oresundskomiteen.dk Website: Contact person: Rebecca Rosenquist, Analyst PHOTOS FROM THE REGION The Öresund Bridge, connecting Sweden and Denmark. Seen from Malmö. Västra Hamnen, an environmentally friendly residential area, Malmö.

7 MAP OF THE REGION LINKS TO INTERESTING PROJECTS/ PARTNERSHIPS ESS Scandinavia ( Medicon Valley Alliance ( Interreg Öresund ( Öresund Direkt ( Culture Öresund ( Medeon ( Ideon ( TendensÖresund (