Regional Cross-Border Co-operation in Adjacent Areas

The Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) has since 1970's supported and coordinated cross-border co-operation (CBC) of regions between Nordic countries. The necessity for co-ordination of existing CBC or euroregions also in the Baltic states and North-Western Russia was raised and formulated during a NCM conference in May 2001 at Birstonas, Lithuania, using the Network of Nordic CBC regions as an example.

The EU Enlargement, role of border regions, and changes in Interreg program are only a few new challenges for the CBC in the Baltic Sea area, which have to be met with new ideas and forms of cooperation. NCM started a new project in the spring 2002 called Regional Cross-Border Cooperation in Adjacent Areas. The main goals are: strengthening cross-border co-operation in the adjacent areas in the framework of EU enlargement; facilitating creation of a network of euroregions in adjacent areas, to be linked with a CBC network existing in the Nordic countries.

Since its beginning, 12 CBC regions/ euroregions indicated their interest to participate in the project network:

1. EuroregioLare/en(FIN, RUS);
2. Finnish-Estonian co-operation (FIN, EE);
3. Baltic Sea Seven Islands co operation B7 (EE, FI, SE, DK, DE);
4. Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation (EE, RUS);
5. Helsinki-Tallinn Euregio (EE, FIN);
6. Council for Co-operation of Border Regions (EE, LV, RUS);
7. Euroregion Bartuva (LV, LT);
8. Euroregion Country of Lakes (LV, LT, BY);
9. Euroregion Saule(LV,LT, RUS);
10. Euroregion Neman (LT, RUS, PL, BY);
11. Euroregion Sesupe (LT, PL, RUS)
12. Euroregion Baltic (LV, LT, RUS, SE, DK, PL).

The main activities of the project were formulated during the first meeting of the network in Anyksciai, Lithuania, in November 2002:

• Creation and coordination of a network of CBC, co-ordinated with networks in the Nordic countries;
• Keeping in touch with the European Commission and other organizations, and spreading of relevant information;
• Capacity development and transfer of knowledge from Nordic CBC regions.
• Dissemination of information about euroregions in the adjacent areas;
• Preparation of a strategy for further development of network of euroregions in the adjacent areas.

More information about the project can be found at: http://www.nmr.lt/Projects/ CBC/main.html.

You are welcome to the NCM conference Cross-border Cooperation after the EU Enlargement: Experience of the Nordic and Baltic countries, and Northwestern Russia which will be held in Tartu 16-18 June 2003.