Environmental Ministers take first steps to make the Baltic Sea a pilot area for implementation of the EU Marine strategy.
On 23 November, Environmental Ministers from all affected states met to discuss ways to deal with the environmental crisis in the Baltic Sea.
“We have had a successful meeting where the Ministers around the Baltic have given a strong political backup in terms of amending the environmental situation of the Baltic”, says the Swedish Environmental Minister Lena Sommestad, who called the meeting.
Ministers have agreed to take on a higher level of ambition than foreseen in the proposed EU Strategy and Marine Framework Directive (MFD) for the Baltic Sea and produce an action plan by 2007. This will be achieved by using and strengthening the current HELCOM action plan.
The HELCOM action plan will serve as a basis for a stronger action plan for the Baltic under the MFD. A special working group may be commissioned in order to speed up this work. Sweden will set aside half a million SEK for the task. Hopefully, additional funding will be provided by the European Commission.
The action plan will focus on four major environmental problems, such as eutrophication, pollutants, safety at sea and the loss of species and biodiversity. Sweden proposed the establishment of an international working group operating to reduce pollutants in the Baltic Sea, and in Baltic Sea fish in particular. The working group shall consist of representatives from all of the Baltic Sea countries, HELCOM and the European Commission. Regarding the environmental performance of ships, the safety of navigation and the capacity to combat oil spills, the Baltic Sea Ministers agreed on further development of HELCOM’s work in this area. They also agreed on the importance of consistent actions to stop the overexploitation of cod and to restore its spawning areas.
At the meeting, each country provided information about their existing work to improve the environmental situation in the Baltic Sea. Lena Sommestad talked about the Swedish Government’s plan to establish a new marine research institute. The institute will aim for increased collaboration between Swedish researchers and marine research in other Baltic Sea countries.
“We need more knowledge in order to carry out the right actions for the Baltic Sea. How to balance phosphorous and nitrogen purification in order to reduce eutrophication and blooming of blue-green algae, is an example of an area which needs further research”, says Lena Sommestad.