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MINUTES FROM THE 22ND MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE
UNION OF THE BALTIC CITIES
Szczecin, Poland, 16-17
October 1998 INTRODUCTION The
22nd meeting of the Executive Board of the Union of the Baltic Cities was
held on the 16-17 October 1998 in the City of Szczecin, Poland, upon the
invitation of Mr Bartłomiej Sochański, Mayor of Szczecin and
Vice-President of the Union of the Baltic Cities. The
first day of the meeting was attended only by the members of the Executive
Board. The second day was open for the representatives from all member
cities. FRIDAY,
16 October 1998 Opening
of the meeting and adoption of the Agenda. The
22nd meeting of the UBC Executive Board was opened by Mr Anders Engström,
the President of the Union. Mr Engström greeted all participants and
wished them a successful meeting. The
welcome words were given by Mr Bartłomiej Sochański, Mayor of Szczecin,
who wished all delegates the fruitful discussions and a pleasant stay in
Szczecin. Election
of two persons who, together with the President, will check the minutes. Mrs
Kari Maisol Knudsen, Bergen, and Mrs Lillian Westerberg, Stockholm, were
elected to check the
minutes. V
UBC General Conference. Proposal
of the conference date. Mrs
Lillian Westerberg, on behalf of the Mayor of the City of Stockholm,
proposed the 24-25 September 1999 for the conference date. Decision: The
Board decided to hold the V General Conference in Stockholm on the 24-25
September 1998. Discussion
on the conference programme. President
Anders Engström reminded that the first day of the UBC General
Conferences was so far devoted to specific theme while the second day was
devoted to internal UBC matters. Decision: 1)
The Board decided that the main theme of the V General Conference
will be devoted to the “EU enlargement process in the Baltic Sea
Region”. 2)
The Board encouraged all member cities to provide the Secretariat
with proposals of questions, related to above topic, to be handled at the
conference. 3)
The Board authorised the Presidium to meet in November/December in
Stockholm to discuss the particular subjects to be handled at the
conference. General
Conference in 2001. The
President informed about applications from two member cities namely
Aalborg and Turku to host the UBC General Conference in 2001. Decision: The
Board decided the Secretariat shall inform the member cities that
applications to host the General Conference in 2001 shall be submitted
before the next Executive Board meeting. Cooperation
between major Baltic organisations. The
President reminded that following the UBC initiative, the major Baltic
organisations (UBC, BSSSC, CPMR BSC, BCCA and Baltic Parliamentary
Conference) decided last year
in Gdańsk to meet regularly to discuss Baltic strategic issues,
particularly “common voice” towards the European Commission. So far in
1998 three meetings were held in connection with the international
conferences. Mr Engström informed that the next meeting is scheduled to
be held next week in Roskilde, and he is going to raise the following
questions: the Baltic Sea Alliance; preparation of regions and cities from
applicant countries for the entry to the EU; implementation of Agenda 21
for the BSR. Decision: The
Board supported the idea of annual meetings of major Baltic organisations
to be held in association with the Council of Baltic Sea States meetings. UBC
Strategy. Mr
Bartłomiej Sochański, UBC Vice-President, responsible for drafting the UBC
Strategy, reminded that the Strategy has been extensively discussed during
last three Executive Board meetings. Mr Sochański informed that the latest
draft, revised after the last Executive Board meeting in Klaipėda,
was sent out to Board members and only minor comments have been made. Decision: After
making a few changes in the document, the Board decided to send out the
Strategy to all member cities. The cities shall make their comments and
remarks by the 31 January 1999. The Strategy Working Group will compile
the cities remarks and present them to the Board at next meeting in March
1999. UBC
Internal Regulations. Mr
Paweł Żaboklicki, UBC Secretary General, responsible for drafting the UBC
Internal Regulations, informed that the latest draft was sent to the Board
members after the last Executive Board meeting in Klaipėda. The
Secretariat received only few comments to the latest draft of
the Regulations. Decision: The
Board decided the document shall be sent out for comments to all member
cities. The
Board stressed that subsequently UBC Statute must be also revised so it
will correspond with the Regulations. Questions
raised. Mr
Engström informed about the proposal of Mrs Maria Hutten-Czapska who
would like to offer her recently regained property in Poland to establish
a centre for youth from the Baltic Sea countries. The Board stressed that
the Union, due to lack of resources, is not able to take over the property,
however the UBC supports the idea of establishing the centre and will
present the concept to the institutions which might be capable to realise
the project. Mr
Michael Bouteiller, UBC Vice-President, raised a question how to take care
of new UBC member cities. The Board agreed that the relevant Executive
Board member city should take care of new member city from its country. SATURDAY,
17 October 1998 Report
from the Board meeting of October 16. President
Anders Engström summarised the main issues discussed by the Board on the
previous day. New
Member Cities. Secretary
General Paweł Żaboklicki informed the Executive Board about new
applications for Union membership submitted by: Bützow (Germany), Jēkabpils
(Latvia), Sillamäe (Estonia), Vordingborg (Denmark). The
following delegates made presentations introducing their cities and
requested the Board to accept them as UBC members: Mrs
Gabriele Behning, Deputy Mayor of Bützow Mr
Leonids Salcevics, Mayor of Jēkabpils Mr
Imre Brokko, City Secretary, Sillamäe Mr
Klaus Roos, Technical Director, Vordingborg Decision: The
Board decided to accept the cities of Bützow,
Jēkabpils, Sillamäe and Vordingborg as Members of the Union of the
Baltic Cities and wished them a successful cooperation with other UBC
members. The number of Union member cities reached the figure 84. Introduction
of IBSC - possible areas for cooperation. Mr Radoul Kovatchev, Managing Director, made presentation on the aims and structure of the International Black Sea Club (IBSC) which is an organisation similar to the Union of the Baltic Cities operating in the Black Sea region. Mr Kovatchev pointed out the following possible areas for cooperation with UBC: -
strengthening of twinning relations between Baltic and Black Sea cities -
joint applications to EU programmes -
exchange of information in different fields -
joint cultural events and tourism development The
Board thanked Mr Kovatchev for his presentation and expressed wish to
establish the links of cooperation between both organisations. Introduction
of CPMR BSC - possible areas for cooperation. Mr
Tommy Karlsson, Executive Secretary, introduced the Conference of
Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR) and its Baltic Sea Commission,
which associates regions from Baltic countries. Mr
Karlsson declared CPMR readiness to cooperate with UBC in the project
preparing cities and regions from applicant countries for the enlargement
of the European Union. It was also agreed that CPMR BSC and UBC should
cooperate in the implementation phase of Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea
Region. The UBC Commissions were encouraged to establish working relations
with the corresponding CPMR BSC working groups. The
Board thanked Mr Karlsson for his presentation and expressed hope for
further good cooperation with the CPMR BSC. *
Point 5 of the Agenda (Reports from the Commissions) was moved to the end
of the session Proposal
to create the Commission on Urban Planning. Mr
Jussi Kautto, Development Chief, Helsinki, reminded that the question of
UBC involvement in the field of urban planning has been raised at the 16th
UBC Executive Board meeting held in Stockholm in January 1997. The Board
appointed a working group led by Helsinki to prepare the basis for the
creation of the new UBC commission dealing with urban planning. Mr
Kautto, on behalf of the cities of Helsinki, Malmö
and Umeå, put forward a proposal to establish the UBC Commission on Urban
Planning. The
overall aims of the new Commission would be: ·
promoting
direct contacts and cooperation between Baltic cities in the field of
urban planning and construction; ·
increasing
the knowledge on urban physical planning, construction and architecture in
UBC member cities; ·
creating
the network between the town and regional planners, architects, civil
engineers and other UBC professionals in the field of urban planning. Decision: The
Board decided to create the UBC Commission on Urban Planning with the
cities of Helsinki, Malmö
and Umeå as leading cities. The Board encouraged all member cities to
take active part in the Commission’s work. UBC
role in the implementation of Baltic 21. Mr
Mikko Jokinen, chairman of UBC Commission on Environment, reminded that
the Baltic 21 (Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region) final document was
officially adopted by the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) during
the last meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs held in Nyborg on 22
June 1998. Mr Jokinen stressed that UBC should play a major role in the
implementation of the Baltic 21 programme at the local level. Decision: 1) The
Board appointed Mr Mikko Jokinen the represent UBC in the Senior Officials
Group (SOG) responsible for the implementation of the Baltic 21. 2) The
Board instructed the UBC Commissions on Business Cooperation, Environment,
Tourism and Transportation to appoint experts who would contribute to the
implementation of Baltic 21 in mentioned sectors. Report
from the Project Manager. Mr
Juhan Janusson, UBC Project Manager, reported on the results of his work
since the 20th UBC Executive Board held in Kalmar in March
1998. UBC
latest publications. Secretary
General Paweł Żaboklicki presented three latest UBC publications namely: ·
Baltic
Cities Bulletin 2/98 devoted to education in Baltic cities ·
new
colour brochure introducing the Union of the Baltic Cities ·
small
UBC leaflet Mr
Żaboklicki expressed thanks to those cities which sent stories to the
Baltic Cities Bulletin and the photographs to the UBC colour brochure. The
Secretary informed that mentioned publications will be soon sent out to
all member cities and may be used for general UBC information and public
relations purposes. Reports
from the conferences attended by Union’s representatives. The
following delegates submitted reports from the conferences where they
represented the Union of the Baltic Cities: ·
ACOPS
/ CEMR Conference, Lisbon, 28 June - 1 July 1998 - reported by Mr
Anders Engström
on behalf of Mr Juhan Janusson. ·
7th
Parliamentary Conference on Cooperation in the BSR, Lübeck, 7-8 September
1998 -reported by Mr Michael Bouteiller. ·
Transfrontier
Cooperation around the Baltic Sea, Klaipėda, 1-2 October 1998 -
reported by Mr Eugenijus Gentvilas. ·
ACOPS
/ CEMR Conference, Brest, 15-17 October 1998 - reported by Mr Anders
Engström. The
Board took note of the reports. Reports
from the Commissions. The
following persons submitted reports on Commissions' activities since the
20th UBC Executive Board meeting held in Kalmar on 27-28 March
1998. ·
Commission
on Business Cooperation: Lillian Westerberg, Stockholm ·
Commission
on Culture:
Mr Sławomir
Szafrański, Szczecin ·
Commission
on Environment:
Mr Mikko Jokinen, Turku ·
Commission
on Health & Social Affairs: Mrs Karin Wohlgemuth,
Rostock ·
Commission
on Sport:
Mr Zdzisław Urla, Gdynia
·
Commission
on Transportation: Mr Maciej
Krzyżanowski, Gdańsk The
Commissions on Communication, Education and Tourism were not represented
but provided the written reports. Decision: The
Board took note of submitted reports. Additionally
Ms Ewa Depka, Gdynia, reported on the UBC Task Force for PR project named
“Children of the Baltic Sea”. The project is an art competition for
children from UBC member cities. Ms Depka informed that the contest
announcements along with the small UBC leaflets will be soon sent out to
all member cities. Ms
Depka also proposed other projects which might be carried out by the Task
Force, for example UBC video or UBC statistical guidebook. Decision: The
Board decided that all Task Force initiatives must be approved by the
Commission on Communication. Matters
raised at the meeting. Mr
Finn Risom, Aalborg, recalled a letter sent out by the Secretariat on
September 21, passing a call from Kaliningrad and Baltijsk for
humanitarian help, in connection with the severe crisis in Russia, which
dramatically affected the living conditions in these cities. Such
institutions as orphan houses, houses for the aged, hospitals etc.
desperately need food, medicines, medical equipment, hygienic articles,
clothes etc.
Several representatives of the cities present at the meeting informed
about the aid for Kaliningrad and Baltijsk, already sent or being
presently organised. Decision: The
Board urged the member cities to organise aid for Kaliningrad and Baltijsk
if possible. The Board instructed the cities to report to the Commission
on Health & Social Affairs in Rostock about organised help. Next
Meeting of the Executive Board. Mr
Anders Engström
informed about the proposal of Mr Martti Sinisalmi, Mayor of Pori, to hold
the next (23rd) meeting of the UBC Executive Board in Pori on 6-7 March
1999. Decision: The
Board accepted the proposal. Closing
of the Meeting. Mr
Anders Engström
expressed his thanks to all participants for the fruitful meeting and
closed the XXII Meeting of the Executive Board of the Union of the Baltic
Cities. Mr
Anders Engström
Mr
Paweł Żaboklicki Chairman Secretary Mrs
Kari Maisol Knudsen Mrs Lillian Westerberg Adjuster Adjuster
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