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Monday, 11.11.2024, 21:26
Baltic Sea region: attention to mobility and sustainability
Baltic Sea Region Forum of Finland (BSRF) has already been
functioning for more than 12 years organising discussions of different
socio-economic development aspects in the countries around the Baltic Sea area,
while providing scientifically based recommendations to the national decision-makers. Present forum took place
in Turku on 25 of March.
More on BSRF in: http://www.centrumbalticum.org/en/news_room
and http://www.centrumbalticum.org/en/about_us/contact_us
Modern regional challenges
This time in
March 2019, three BSRF’s panels covered not only the modern regional challenges
in general, but mobility and circular economy issues in particular.
In the opening
speech, the Centrum Balticum Foundation director and BSRF organiser, Professor Kari Liuhto stressed –among other
things - the importance of sustainable use of national resources. Finland’s
Minister of finance, Petteri Orpo added
another important challenge connected to the demands of digitally based growth,
so-called digital economy and agenda, which is going to be an integral part of
national political economy guidelines in the coming years.
The first,
so-called “ministerial panel”, consisting of ministers from Lithuania, Finland,
Sweden, Latvia and Russia (including the Latvian deputy PM and minister of
defence, Artis Pabriks, who send his
message through Skype), expressed the participants’ vision on increasing
populism in Europe, on regional security, on present welfare problems in the
states and on growth perspectives.
The ministers,
while underlining positive trends in Finland –the country was acknowledged as
the happiest state in the SDSN Global Report in 2019, with leading role of the Nordic
states, while their neighbors took a modest stance: Latvian on the 53,
Lithuania on the 42 and Estonia on the 55 place) – underlined an important
fact: it is the wellbeing that has been presently “turning to happiness”, with
the general happiness aim and purpose of reducing the distance between the
elites, decision-makers and the public followed by the peoples’ increasing
trust in governments’ policies.
The second panel on labour mobility in the region - chaired by Nils Karlson, the president of the Swedish Ratio Institute (www.ratio.se) - has gathered eight panelists, mostly from Finland- who underlined the existing problems concerning the EU-member states division of competence in movements of workers, the establishment of corporate entities and regional social law/policy issues (professor Ulrich Becker from German Max Planck Institute). The collective bargaining has to become “a must” in the national economic planning with the need for additional assistance from the EU special agency -the EU’s Labour Authority- and the EU’s consultative body, the European Economic and Social Committee.
During the third panel discussions, with an ambitious title
“circular economy –moving forward”, Ville
Niinistö, member of Fish parliament chairing the panel, underlined the
importance of the circular economy (CE) for the region as a new trend in
national economy uniting sustainability, the CE itself and the bio-economy
aspects. However, the differences in approaches among the states in the Baltic
Sea region abound: some states stress the priority of waste management and
environmental quality, others on renewables, etc. A member of Finish
parliament, Saara-Sofia Sirén
underlined, for example, the growing importance of the bio-economy’s direction
in national strategies. The panelist have been unanimous that the CE in the
future will become an integral part of national political economy, though the
move needs changes in national priorities from consumerism to welfare, the
trend which is still regarded in some states as full of contradictory
approaches.
Panels’ main recommendations
The general message from the “ministerial panel” formulated
a new challenge for the states around the Baltic Sea: modern post-industrial
society –the result of the so-called 4th industrial revolution –
requires changes in the traditional political institutions in the countries,
including –among others - in renewed approaches to democracy and towards new
narratives in national political economy structures.
Present political system’s components are not any more
reflecting the necessary “deliveries” concerning region’s population growing
welfare demands.
For example, the mobility panel voiced the need for a new
“social contract” reflecting optimal work-life conditions, progressive
collective bargaining and additional EU’s role in labour relations, with flexicurity
principles and “common European rules” in industrial relations.
The sustainability’s panel formulated a visionary
“state-of-circular-economy” for the decades ahead composed of the following
“ingredients”: first, the need for “teaching sustainability” in showing
inherent connections among circular- and bio-economies, well as sustainable
growth patterns; second, creation of public-private partnerships, PPP in
approaches to circular economy solutions; third, introducing financial
incentives for new sustainability decisions –mainly through the EU funds;
fourth, rising the sustainability and circular economy ideas in academic and
research communities to the upper levels of peoples’ consciousness and in
“behavioral economics”. Optimal circular economy shall be an integral part of
national pride; and scientists have to work hard for that to happen.
Conclusion
It has to be mentioned in the conclusion that the present
quite successful discussions of the major regional challenges during the
BSR-Forum-19 have shown once again that BSRF is capable of organising a
professional forum for discussion and dialogue, but also provides constructive
advices and recommendations for politicians, economists, academia, social
scientists, etc.
As to the perspectives, it seems that progressive Forum’s
directions shall include other vital growth strategies’ issues for the
countries in the region.
The following shall be the most adequate for the regional
needs directions: - research and innovation perspectives for the national
growth in the states of the region; - designing possible options and facilities
for the countries’ “smart specialisation” strategies, and – the effect of new
trends in the European education for national research potentials, to name a
few.
Attention to these issues would definitely increase already
high BSRF’s prestige as an important regional platform for both discussions and
productive recommendations for the countries’ political-economy decision-makers
in designing their perspective national growth strategies.
Closer attention
to these issues would additionally increase the BSRF’s role as an active communicator
of the multi-sectoral development issues and solutions in the Baltic Sea states
acting both as a fruitful catalyst for public debate and a forum providing
constructive recommendations for all spheres of national development.