Estonia in the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS)

Last updated: 10.02.2010

-	About the CBSS
-	Summit Meetings of the Heads of Government of CBSS
-	Most Important CBSS Co-operation Areas
-	CBSS Task Forces, Working Groups and Other Structures
-	CBSS Partners and Co-operation Institutions
-	Documents

About the CBSS

In March 1992, the Foreign Ministers of Denmark and Germany invited the Foreign Ministers of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Poland and Russia and a representative of the European Commission to meet in Copenhagen in order to strengthen the co-operation between the Baltic Sea States.The foreign ministers decided to establish the Council of the Baltic Sea States.

The council was created with the aim to tighten the partnership of the states of the Baltic Sea region and co-ordinate their co-operation in order to promote democratic development and economic growth in this region.

Later on, in 1995, one more state—Iceland—joined the CBSS according to a decision made at the Session of Foreign Ministers in Gdansk.

An important year in the development of CBSS was the year 2000, when the summit of the heads of government in the Baltic region decided to bring all the intergovernmental co-operation in the region into the framework of the CBSS.

The highest working level of the CBSS is the annual Session of the Foreign Ministers. The last ministerial session took place from 3-4 June 2009 in Elsinore, Denmark. Such sessions take place in every two years and in the interim the ministers’ deputies hold their meetings. On 3-4 June, three new observer states were accepted—Spain, Romania, and Belarus. Now there are ten observers all together, as the list also includes Ukraine, the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, Holland, and Slovakia. The next meeting of the CBSS foreign ministers will take place in June 2011 in Norway.

Meeting of foreign ministers in Elsinore, Denmark, 4 June 2009

The chairmanship of the CBSS lasts for a period that runs from the start of July to the end of June. The foreign minister of the chairing nation is the political organiser of the council’s work; he also leads the work of the CBSS. The last chairing state was Denmark, and as of 1 July 2009 the chair will be taken over by Lithuania. The state that holds the chair of the CBSS determines the main direction of its work in the chairing programme. The priorities of Denmark’s presidency were energy and climate, environmental protection, youth policies, and the safety of civil society.

To ensure the continuity and smoothness of the work of the institution, a Troika is used. It consists of the former, present and future holder of the chair. At the moment Latvia, Denmark and Lithuania are members of Troika.

Estonia has been the chairman of the CBSS twice—from 1993-1994 and 2003-2004.

Summit Meetings of the Heads of Government of the Baltic Sea States

Traditionally, the summit meetings of the heads of government of the Baltic Sea states are held every two years. The meetings do not belong to the formal structure of the CBSS, but they provide the overall political guidance for its work. Due to the increasing role of the CBSS as the co-ordinator of regional co-operation within the group of CBSS states, the importance of the Summits in evaluation of the CBSS work has grown as well.

There have been seven summits: Visby (3-4 May 1996), Riga (22-23 January 1998), Kolding (12-13 April 2000), St. Petersburg (10 June 2002), Laulasmaa (at the end of Estonia’s presidency, 21 June 2004), Reykjavik (7-8 June 2006), and Riga (3-4 June 2008). The next meeting of the heads of government of CBSS states will take place in Lithuania in 2010.

Ministerial Sessions
The CBSS had developed into a comprehensive network of co-operation. Under its auspices, several working groups of government officials as well as other experts take place. Meetings of ministers of transport, energy, culture, environment etc are held regularly.

Most important CBSS co-operation areas

Latvia implemented a comprehensive reform of the CBSS in 2007, with the goal of making the work of the organisation more effective, as well as more project-based and relying more on co-operation between experts. At the meeting of the heads of government on 3-4 June 2008, the CBSS’s long-term future priorities were established, which are:

Environment
Economic development
Energy
Education and culture
The safety of civil society

In between the Foreign Ministers' Sessions, the work of the CBSS is co-ordinated by the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO), which holds its meetings approximately once a month. It is the main institution that co-ordinates the activities of all working groups and it is the main structural unit that gathers information about co-operation in all fields.

The CBSS established its Secretariat in 1998 in order to assist the chairing country. The Secretariat is located in Stockholm and it provides technical, organisational and analytical support. The Secretariat also maintains the CBSS Homepage and publishes the official monthly newsletter of the CBSS –"Baltinfo".

CBSS Task Forces, Working Groups and other structures

The CBSS has become a regional umbrella organisation, co-ordinating the work of a number of institutions and working groups. The chairmanship of most of the working groups does not coincide with the CBSS Chairmanship. During the current reform of the CBSS, two permanent working groups were closed (the Working Group on Economic Co-operation [WGEC] and the Working Group on Democratic Institutions [WGDI]). From now on more co-operation will take place in expert groups with a set goal and time limit.

Examples of the co-operation structures currently functioning:

Working Group on Nuclear Radiation Safety (EGNRS)
http://www.cbss.org/Civil-Security-and-the-Human-Dimension/working-group...

Task Force Against Trafficking in Human Beings (TF-THB)
http://www.cbss.org/Civil-Security-and-the-Human-Dimension/the-task-forc...

Working Group for Co-operation on Children at Risk (WGCC)
http://www.childcentre.info/

Working Group for Youth Co-operation (WGYC)
http://www.balticsea-youth.org/

Baltic Sea Region Border Control Co-operation (BSRBCC)
http://www.bsrbcc.org/

Baltic Sea Monitoring Group on Heritage Cooperation
http://www.baltic-heritage.net/

Ars Baltica Organising Committee co-ordinates cultural and culture historical co-operation.
http://www.ars-baltica.net/

Baltic 21 Network is a multilateral process dealing with sustainable development. It was established in 1996 at the summit of prime ministers in Visby and its mandate was confirmed by the ministers of foreign affairs. Its main working unit is a group of senior officials—Baltic21-SOG.
http://www.baltic21.org

Task Force on Organised Crime (TF-OC) was established with a decision of the prime ministers at the Kolding summit in 1996 and its mandate was prolonged by the prime ministers at the Laulasmaa summit in 2004. The group consists of representatives of the CBSS prime ministers (Estonia is represented by Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry Märt Kraft). This year Estonia holds the chair of that working group.
http://www.balticseataskforce.ee/

Baltic Sea Region Energy Co-operation (BASREC) is the main regional institution focused on energy issues. It was established in 1997 with the Bergen Declaration. A group of senior officials of energy (GSEO) co-ordinate its work.
http://www.basrec-extra.net/www/index.html

More information on the working groups and co-operation formats:
http://www.cbss.org/Civil-Security-and-the-Human-Dimension/creating-a-sa...

As a result of the CBSS reforms, the organisation has become more project-based. One of the best examples of the CBSS’s project-based work is the project EuroFaculty Pskov (EF-K), which is geared towards developing teaching methods at Pskov State Polytechnic Institute and the Pskov Volny Institute. The previous very successful EuroFaculty project in Kaliningrad ended in 2007.
http://www.cbss.org/Energy/eurofaculty-pskov

The CBSS and the Nordic Council of Ministers co-operate through the Baltic Euroregional Network (BEN). The goal of BEN is to advance co-operation among border areas in the Baltic region and implement projects to improve the capabilities of their municipal governments and increase specialised skills in these areas. There are five co-operation partners in Estonia that participate in the network: The Peipsi Centre for Transboundary Co-operation, Hiiumaa County Government (representing B 7), Euroregio Helsinki-Tallinn, Euroregio Pskov-Livonia, and the Valga County Government. www.benproject.org

CBSS Partners and Co-Operation Institutions

Co-operation with such regional institutions as the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and the Arctic Council is especially important to avoid the duplication of activities. Co-operation with the Central European Initiative, the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative and the Black Sea Economic Co-operation is also considered as important.