European Maritime Issues: Perspectives from the Baltic Sea

By Dr Esko Antola, Director of Centrum Balticum, and Mr Jarkko Virtanen, Deputy Mayor of Turku

Maritime issues in the Baltic Sea Region go hand in hand with the efforts to create an EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. This is a particular challenge for the cities in the region, which in many ways are in a key strategic position in both processes. Cities are also in an advantaged but demanding position to be able to converge key elements of the two policy areas.

States have traditionally been the main responsible actors in maritime issues. But gradually other stakeholders have entered the picture. The Baltic Sea Region today is not only a multi-level but also multidimensional region. The traditional national authority has been transferred to the level of common institutions at the European Union level. Subnational actors, cities in particular, have assumed their part of the traditional sovereignty. But also the horizontal dimension of authority has emerged. Private actors and civil society as­sociations have become increasingly meaningful in maritime issues.

The role of cities is pivotal due to the multilevel nature of maritime issues. The European level and the national level have a key role and responsibility in defining of common policies. European policy is monitored and put into practice by the European institutions and the Member States. Cities and regions are key actors not only in the implementation of the common maritime policy but also in contributing to the maritime policy planning.

Cities in the Baltic Sea Region have from the early stages of the evolution of the idea of the Motorways of the Sea shown interest and taken concrete actions to make the idea a reality. The "motorways of the sea" concept aims at introducing new intermodal maritime-based logistics chains in Europe. The aim of the concept is to make transportation more sustainable and commercially more efficient than the traditional road-based transport structure. The purpose of the system is to improve access to markets throughout Europe. The con­cept includes also the idea of combining rail and inland waterways, i.e. to contribute to an integrated transport chain.

The Baltic Sea area is one of the five motorways of the seas in the EU. Actors in the region have responded actively to the calls for projects and have submitted a number of concrete proposals. The advance of the initiative has a high priority in development plans of the coastal cities in the region. By 2010 a fully fledged network of motorways of the sea should be established throughout Europe on the defined corridors.

Motorways of the Sea concept attracts the interests of cities around the Baltic Sea in a number of projects. A particular attention is given to North-South dimension. Connections from Scandinavia to Poland and Germany have the main focus. Modernisation of the ferry facilities is taking place. A motivation to improvements of the North-South connection is explained by the development of new transport corridors from Northern parts of continental Europe to South-West Europe. The North-South dimension strengthens the impor­tance of port cities as hubs of transport corridors.

Two new issues have drawn interest of the Cities in the region. The concept of intermodal transportation now is present in a number of development plans of port cities. Increasing interest into intermodal transport systems is stimulated both by economical and environmental reasons. Efficiency is improved by new means of transportation. Energy-saving and environmental consideration support intermodal systems of transportation.

This is a major challenge for harbour cities many of which are currently engaged in reforms and designs that could make possible the adoption to new transport modalities. In several Baltic Sea cities wide-scale redesigns of harbour regions and facilities are underway. Redesigns also open possibilities for specialisation and division of labour between the ports.

Increasing volume of seaborne traffic demands increasing attention to security and safety issues. This is another concern that draws the attention of the cities in the Baltic Sea Region. Safety issues are diverse. Traditional concerns in the carriage and handling of goods remain firmly on the agenda. But new issues such as for instance the critical infrastructure concerns are part of the safety and security agenda. Port cit­ies also have to pay more attention to various forms of illegal trafficking

Cities and harbours have taken concrete steps to this direc­tion and the issues are high on their priority. Safety and security issues call for closer international cooperation and coordination. Intensified cooperation between various levels of governance as well as between public and private actors is needed. Identifying and disseminating best practises must be on topic of future actions in the region. In safety and security issues a close link to the emerging Baltic Sea Strategy is evident.

Seaborne tourism is seen as a potential growth area by many coastal cities. The Baltic Sea offers an optimal surrounding for leisure activities. However, port infrastructures are often poorly developed to furnish the full use of possibilities. The success in the growth of seaborne tourism is closely linked to the improvement of the marine environment and of course to the safety and security in the region.

Perspectives of seaborne tourism have also motivated the cities in the region to pay more attention to their maritime heritage. Elements in this are the conservation of marine culture and investing in environment friendly forms of tourism. Perspectives of the growth of seaborne tourism also motivate cities to invest in small ship ports and improving the quality of services for visitors.

Changes in the needs of modern logistics have made parts of the traditional port areas into wasteland in many traditional maritime cities. Now renovations and redesigns of these areas are taking place in many harbour cities. Only part of this rebuilding concerns tourism as such. In most cases the cities invest in creating attractive housing and residence areas for the citizens. The maritime nature of harbour cities is empha­sised in city planning in many ways. Many cities invest also in sailing traditions and promote actions that support the maritime environment.

The external dimension of maritime issues draws increasing attention as well. The Baltic Sea is an important international sea route from East to West as well as from North to South. Trade relations to Asia are on the increase and an ever growing share of intercontinental transit trade goes through the Baltic Sea. Becoming a hub in intercontinental trade, the Baltic ports' infrastructure calls for investments in adequate facilities and modernisation in many cities.

In a similar way cities in the North develop their port facilities to meet the future challenges of the North. The idea of a Barents Transport corridor from Northern parts of the Gulf of Bothnia to Murmansk Region and beyond seems attrac­tive. Expectations of an oil and gas transportation increase as well as the exploitation of iron ore deposits of Arctic regions speed up the reforms of harbour facilities of the North.

Implementation of the maritime policy in the Baltic Sea region is a crucial issue. Implementation must pay attention to the variety of actors involved and interested. A great number of stakeholders of the maritime policy face great challenges. A particular challenge is created by the fact that the implementation shall not be based on legal foundation but on projects, programmes and framework decisions. This calls for extended cooperation between stakeholders at all levels.

A particular challenge is the question of ownership: who and which level of authority in various dimensions should have the final ownership and responsibility in the implementation? Current activities of the cities in the region indicate that they are ready and willing to take responsibility in the implementation of the future maritime policy and thus take their share of ownership. Sharing and disseminating best practises and ensuring the ownership are already a practise in the region.

Maritime issues demand new thinking and great flexibility from the Baltic Sea cities. A particular challenge is that parallel with the advance of the Maritime Action Plan the preparation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea is in progress. The year 2009 shall be particularly challenging. The implementation of the Strategy is due to begin in mid 2009. Stakes for the cities are high. Cities are important actors in the Baltic Sea governance. They face big challenges but at the same time they are offered new possibilities and responsibilities. 2009 is a year of action for the Baltic Sea cities.