37^th Executive Board in Rostock

The 37^th meeting of the UBC Executive Board was held on the 18 June 2003 in the City of Rostock, Germany, upon the invitation of Mr Arno Poker, Mayor of Rostock. In connection with the Board meeting the participants had a pleasure of visiting the impressive International Gardening Exhibition in Rostock.

General Conference in Klaipeda
Ms Ina Sidlauskiene informed the Board about the status of preparations to the General Conference in Klaipeda. Ms Sidlauskiene said that invitation brochures will be printed and sent out to all member cities, international organisations and others in July. The Council of Europe awarded the City of Klaipeda with the Europe Prize 2003. The Award ceremony will take place at the beginning of the General Conference.

Conference Programme
Secretary General Pawel Zaboklicki presented the preliminary programme of the General Conference. First conference day will be fully devoted to the conference theme: "The Baltic Sea Wave - Business Development in the New Europe". UBC invited interesting speakers from the European institutions and from the business sector. Three conference workshops will follow the keynote speeches. The second day of the conference will be devoted to internal UBC matters such as reports, elections, finances etc. The Council of the Baltic Sea States Committee of Senior Officials will have its meeting during the UBC GC in Klaipeda.

Elections
President Per B0dker Andersen informed the Board that himself as well as Vice-Presidents Armas Lahoniitty and Arno Poker are ready to candidate for the next period. Mr Gundars Bojars, Mayor of Riga, is the third candidate for the Vice-President. The Board decided to nominate mentioned above persons as the candidates to the UBC Presidium.

Fees and budget
Mr Zaboklicki presented the proposal of new membership fees and the budget for 2004 and 2005. The new membership fees are needed in order to cover the necessary costs and to give respective resources to the commissions and networks. The Board agreed that in 2004 the fees for "eastern" cities should be 65% lower than fees paid by "western" cities. The Board stressed that gradually the fees for member cities in all countries should be levelled, eg. in 10-13 years time perspective. The Board decided to propose mentioned fees and budget to the General Conference.

Environmental Award
Mr Risto Veivo informed that following the success of the 1999 and 2001 awards, the Commission on Environment has decided to organise the award again this year. Following the theme of the General Conference, emphasis will be put on involvement of local business in good environmental practices. Mr Veivo also informed that the Commission on Environment decided to start preparations of the new UBC Agenda 21 Program 2004-2009 to be adopted at the GC in Klaipeda.

UBC Strategy
President Andersen informed that the strategy working group submitted the first draft of the new UBC Strategy. The Strategy paper consists of the following parts: Origins of the UBC, Why City Cooperation, Common History and Destiny, Common Role of the Cities, Common Values, Vision, Mission, How We Work, Aims of the Commissions. The new strategy is to be adopted at the GC.

Baltic Cities Bulletin
Mr Zaboklicki presented the latest issue of the UBC Baltic Cities Bulletin, published in connection with the European Year of People with Disabilities, announced by the Council of European Union. The bulletin includes articles sent by member cities, presenting the situation of disabled people and their role in the society.

The next Executive Board meeting will be held during the General Conference.

by Pawel Zaboklicki, Secretary General