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The 27th meeting of the UBC Executive Board was held on the 1 April 2000 in the City of Kemi, Finland, upon the invitation of Mr Juhani Leino, Mayor of Kemi. The meeting was attended by the Members of the Executive Board and the Chairpersons of the Commissions.
1st and 2nd Vice-President
President Anders Engström reminded that since the beginning UBC had two equal Vice-Presidents. At its last meeting the Board decided that it should be determined who shall be the first and who the second vice-president. The Board decided that Mr Gentvilas shall serve as the 1st Vice-President and Mr Lahoniitty as the 2nd VicePresident.
UBC Action Plan
President Engström reminded at the last meeting that the Board authorised the Presidium, the Secretary General and the UBC EU Coordinator to prepare the draft of the UBC Action Plan 2000-2001. Mr Engström presented the first draft of the Action Plan. The Action Plan concerns the following UBC organs: Executive Board, Presidium, Commissions, networks, working groups, secretariat. All activities shall take into account the following guidelines: sustainable development, EU enlargement, young people involvement, gender equality. The Board decided the first draft of the Action Plan shall be send out for comments to the Commission and network chairpersons.
Financial report 1999 and budget 2000
Mr Paweł Zaboklicki, Secretary General, submitted the UBC financial report for 1999. Mr
Zaboklicki underlined that all member cities paid their membership fees and the financial position of the Union is stable. The financial report displays UBC incomes,
expenditure, a table with membership fees, expenditure of the Commissions, costs of the secretariats and UBC projects with external funding. Subsequently Mr Zaboklicki presented the adjusted version of UBC budget for the year 2000. The Board took note of the financial report for 1999 and adopted the adjusted budget for 2000.
Cooperation with LVRLAC
President Engström recalled that SIDA requested UBC to transfer know-how to the Lake Victoria Region Local Authorities Cooperation. Following his and Mr Jokinen's visit to Victoria Lake region in November 1999, the President informed that in April, the Secretary General and UBC-EU Coordinator would go to Uganda in order to work out the document indicating the areas of cooperation between UBC and LVRLAC. The document is to be signed in May in Uganda by the Presidents of both organisations. Cooperation will consist of joint projects, seminars and study tours for civil servants from Victoria Lake cities in the Baltic cities. All project costs are
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UBC Presidium during the Board meeting in Kemi |
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covered by SIDA. Remuneration for the UBC EU Coordinator's work will be transferred to the UBC budget. The Board authorised the President to sign the agreement on cooperation with LVRLAC.
Commission meetings
President Engström informed the Board, that the day before the Board meeting the Presidium met the chairpersons of UBC Commissions in order to discuss the ways of work in the future. The leaders of seven UBC Commissions were present. Participants discussed inter alia the following issues: UBC steering documents, guidelines for Commissions work, decentralisation of responsibilities, Commission secretariats, UBC Action Plan. The meeting was described by the Presidium and the Commission chairpersons as very useful - the participants expressed an opinion that such meetings shall be held regularly once a year. Mr Risto Veivo, UBC Environmental Coordinator, reported from the first meeting of the Commissions chairpersons, held in association with the Board meeting in Kemi. Commission leaders exchanged experiences and ideas on the activities, structure and ways of work of respective Commissions. The chairpersons expressed the opinion that such internal meetings are beneficial to all Commissions and should be held systematically.
Barents Region
Mr Rune Rafaelsen, Project Manager in Barents Secretariat, made a presentation introducing the Barents Euro-Arctic Region. The Barents Council was established on 11 January 1993 by the foreign ministers of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. The purpose of the Barents Euro-Arctic Cooperation is to secure stability and progress in the area. The Board expressed its thanks to Mr Rafaelsen for attending the UBC Board meeting and introducing the cooperation in the Barents Region. Both organisations expressed an interest in the exchange of information and experiences.
Interreg III initiative
Mr Juhan Janusson, UBC EU Coordinator, informed the Board that the President set up a working group to work out a programme for cooperation between local and
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regional authorities in the BSR. Mr Janusson presented the document "BSIC -Baltic Subnational Initiative for Cooperation", prepared by the working group. The programme should be financed by Interreg III B and shall consist of a bundle of projects, managed in the BSR. The project sizes shall vary between 50.000 and 200.000 Euro. The Board fully supported the initiative and authorised the working group to continue its work.
Outcomes of SAIL project
Secretary General Paweł Zaboklicki
informed the Board that the SAIL (Spreading Awareness to foster the Implementation of LA 21 around the Baltic Sea) project has been completed. The project was financed by BSPF EU program, 100.000 EUR from PHARE (applicant -UBC Secretariat) and 60.000 EUR from TACIS (applicant -City of Lahti). The project consisted of 10 seminars for the LA21 coordinators and municipal decision makers from cities in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia. The project produced information materials (manuals) on LA21 in five national languages of countries mentioned above. The Board expressed its satisfaction with the outcomes of the SAIL project.
UBC website
Secretary General reminded that during the last General Conference in Stockholm President Anders Engström agreed with the Chairman of Szczecin City Council, that the city of Szczecin will take over the UBC homepage from the city of Kalmar. Following this agreement the UBC homepage was transferred from Kalmar to Szczecin in February 2000. In March 2000 the webmaster started to update the homepage with the information sent from the secretariat. The Board emphasised the importance of professional internet service and expressed gratitude to the city of Szczecin for maintaining the UBC homepage.
Next meeting
Following an invitation from Mr Vladimir Yakovlev, Governor of St. Petersburg, the next meeting of the UBC Executive Board will be held in St. Petersburg, on 16-18 June 2000.
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