The conceived body, built around the Fisheries directors of those eight member states that surround the Baltic Sea, is budding from the EU Baltic Sea Strategy, launched as a pet project by the Swedish Presidency last fall.
The Fisheries directors, intended to constitute the platform’s steering group, have discussed the project under Swedish coordination, and the next step before a broader meeting in Stockholm in June with EU and member state officials as well as stakeholders, will be to sort out its role in relation to the EU Commission, Council and Parliament – a co-decision partner after the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty and other parties.
Those other parties include HELCOM – where also Russia is a member – and its Baltic Sea Action Plan, the Nordic Council of Ministers – where Norway and Iceland are members – and, not the least, stakeholders such as NGOs.
At a BS Strategy meeting in Helsinki in January it was clear, however, that the member states are calling for a regional platform of their own, since they are only members with observer status in the Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council, an advisory body to the Commission.
The RACs are also heavily dominated by the sector, which holds two thirds of the seats.
