Northern Dimension Second Action Plan

The EU called for a second Northern Dimension Action Plan (2^nd NDAP) at the Luxemburg summit October 2002.

The first action plan was rather vague and it is difficult to trace any real results from it. But the Northern Dimension itself is a strong concept, and the process leading to the second action plan has been better structured and also created from the experiences of the first action plan.

The main objective of the 2^nd NDAP is to address the opportunities and challenges posed by the EU enlargement. "It will be important to strengthen efforts, on both sides of the borders, to stimulate trade, investment and infrastructure, to create productive employment and to promote social and cultural exchange...".

One very innovative aspect of the 2^nd NDAP is the creation process itself, where UBC has been given an important role. The Northern Dimension is considered as a process where all relevant actors were invited to take an active part. The richness of co-operation fora across our region is mentioned as a positive feature. The guidelines enhanced a division of responsibility between relevant actors: EU Member States and partner countries, regional bodies, local governments, the business community and civil society, academia and the scientific community. A review and monitoring mechanism should be established.

The Council of Baltic Sea States has co-ordinated the creation of the 2^nd NDAP. The UBC contribution can be downloaded from the UBC home-page at www.ubc.net.

In essence, the UBC contribution enhanced:

• that the new innovative thinking of the process to create the 2^nd NDAP is very encouraging for the future
• UBC is ready to participate in the planned monitoring mechanism of the 2^nd NDAP
• that it is important to adjust the future Interreg programs to the specific needs of the Baltic Sea Region. The region has access to about 2 % of available financial sources for cross-border co-operation, but has far more than 2 % of the borders. It is especially important to treating maritime borders on the same level as land borders.
• That the future EU policies on transportation should be better adapted to the specific problems of the Baltic Sea Region. The policies must take ferry traffic as integrated parts of a Trans European Network into consideration, as well as the long transport distances, especially between the northern parts of the BSR to central Europe.