Next steps in the preparation for 2014-2020

Legislation for 2014-2020

The European Commission, European Parliament and the European Council continue discussing regulations for 2014-2020. Nothing is agreed before all is agreed. The Joint Programming Committee (JPC) for the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-202 is closely following the development, especially the ETC regulation.

Thematic focus of the Programme 2014-2020

At its third meeting in Riga, on 27 and 28 November 2012, the Joint Programming Committee worked on the thematic focus of the future Programme.

The Joint Technical Secretariat of the current Baltic Sea Region Programme had carried out a survey among transnational organisations and institutions enquiring about their needs and interests for future transnational cooperation. Also stakeholders of current projects had been asked about their experience and recommendations for the next programme period.

In addition, a thorough analysis of relevant transnational and national strategies, policy papers and actions plans had been carried out by COWI Consulting as part of the ex-ante evaluation of the new Programme. The Programme will not only refer to Europe's growth strategy "EU 2020" focusing on the European Union to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy, and on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region as its macro-regional policy framework. The objectives of the Programme will also consider numerous other relevant development policies of the region including e. g. Russia's Northwest Strategy.

At its meeting, the Joint Programming Committee accepted the analysis presented by the JTS and by COWI, and added strategic national viewpoints deriving from national development plans. As a result, it became obvious that at least the following three thematic objectives will be addressed by the new Programme including its future projects:

• Strengthening research, technological development and innovation
• Protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency
• Promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures

The list is not exhaustive. Further topics may be added in the course of the discussions, and when the final EU Regulations will have been adopted.

Next steps

The thematic objectives of the new Programme will be further developed by the Joint Technical Secretariat of the current Programme. The collection of relevant statistical data is not complete yet; e. g. up-to-date data for Russia and Belarus are still missing. The Joint Programming Committee's Task Force will meet in early 2013 to agree on further directions of the programming process, and to discuss draft proposals. It is also planned to organised thematic workshops with experts and stakeholders of the region to define the needs for transnational cooperation in the three given fields more precisely.

The next meeting of the Joint Programming Committee will be held in Estonia, on 11-12 June 2013.