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Tampere started very early to study what kind of influence possible membership in the EC could have on Tampere and its surroundings. In 1991, the Mayor nominated a working group to study and report on this matter. The group consisted of representatives of universities, chamber of commerce and regional council.
The working group followed the national discussion about membership, its advantages and disadvantages. The biggest problem was that most of the written material and studies concentrated on influences at the national level. The working group had in any case a very clear estimation that membership in EC would give more advantages than disadvantages to the Tampere region. In May 1992 the report was compiled and had 48 recommendations in different fields of city activities. In 1994, there was a referendum in which Tampere parties clearly favoured membership, which influenced to the voting. The expectations were very high for membership and its
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impact.
As an industrial city which had undergone big structural changes it was believed that the city should have been eligible to be an objective 2 area because of a high unemployment rate. In spite of eligibility Tampere was not named an objective 2 area, because it was easier for the government to divide the same amount of population into different areas and smaller cities. This decision caused big disappointment in Tampere. The first years in the EU have been years of learning. We were involved in some EU-projects where we were able to improve our understanding of the process itself and gain experience. Networks like twin cities, UBC, Eurocities, ICLEI, etc. were very useful to find partners and create ideas for projects. We are open to EU cooperation and its future. Maybe we are more and more critical regarding which kind of EU projects we undertake, but we intend to be an active partner in the European and especially the regional level. |
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Vordingborg was founded on the Baltic Sea by the Danish King Valdemar the Great, who built his main castle in 1175 in the centre of his kingdom. In the same year his half-brother bishop built another castle in a remote location which later grew to be known as Copenhagen. Since then the development has gone round our part of the country, and today Vordingborg is a small town with 20.000 inhabitants.
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Lt. Commander Arunas Mockous (left) and Mayor Bent Pedersen after signing the adoption papers on 8 May 1999 in Vordingborg |
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When the EU enlarged its area to half the Baltic Sea and its sphere of interest to the other half, Vordingborg found herself in the centre of this process. The town council approved the commercial master plan for Vordingborg declaring it a Baltic City. The existing plans were accelerated for Ostersocenter Vordingborg OCV, a Baltic Sea Center Vordingborg for investigation, improvement and exhibition of the Environment of the Baltic Sea. In 1997 the Russian marine research ship Proff. Stokman visited Vordingborg as a part of the co-operation with the University of Roskilde on the coming Environment Centre. Following the first visit in 1998, this year the Lithuanian frigate Zemaitis visited Vordingborg. The Zemaitis was adopted by the Vordingborg Town Council. The papers was signed on 8 May 1999 by Lt.
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Commander Arunas Mockous of the frigate Zemaitis of Lithuania and Mayor Bent Pedersen, Vordingborg, saying "we will maintain a permanent bond and unite our
efforts to act for peace and progress". In fact, it was the first time a Danish City had adopted a foreign ship.
We also see the EU enlargement in the yacht harbour, at which usually 7000 visiting boats call every year. But the number decreases as many yachtsmen now go for holiday adventures in the Baltics and Poland. We do hope to see visitors from these countries in our harbour in the years to come.
A small but growing attention is concentrating on the development around the Baltic Sea. |
