HELCOM to convene Extraordinary Meeting ahead of Stockholm Ministerial

Helsinki, 1 November (HELCOM) - The Helsinki Commission will convene an Extraordinary Meeting of the Heads of Delegation of the nine Member States and the EU in Bonn, Germany, on 4th of November to prepare HELCOM’s input to the Stockholm informal Meeting of Ministers for the Environment of the Baltic Sea countries.

The Stockholm Ministerial set for 23rd of November has been called by the Swedish Minister for the Environment Lena Sommestad to dwell upon the current situation in the Baltic Sea marine environment and consider additional coordinated measures to fight pollution and restore the ecological balance of the sea.

It is expected that HELCOM will provide the Stockholm Ministerial with up-to-date information on the status of the Baltic Sea marine environment and current trends in the key areas of concern: eutrophication, hazardous substances, maritime activities and biodiversity. HELCOM is also planning to report progress on the development of the strategic Baltic Sea Action Plan to restore the marine environment and call on the Ministers to provide additional political support and contribution to facilitate its elaboration.

“We hope that the Ministerial Meeting in Stockholm will galvanize additional support needed to accelerate our joint efforts under HELCOM’s umbrella to draw up and implement this plan of actions,” said HELCOM Executive Secretary Anne Christine Brusendorff. “This commitment of additional support would come in a perfect timing. The recently released draft of the European Marine Strategy, which is expected to be built on Regional Seas Conventions, like HELCOM, foresees a separate action plan for each European sea to implement the EU marine policy.”

This summer, the HELCOM Member States and the EU resolved to develop a strategic Baltic Sea Action Plan by 2007, to ensure that all possible measures are taken to reduce pollution in the Baltic Sea and to repair the damage done to the marine environment. This plan is based on Ecological Objectives, which are defined to reflect a common vision of a healthy Baltic Sea. The Ecological Objectives and their associated indicators will be used to evaluate the efficiency of existing environmental measures and to provide guidance for the development of future management measures for the region. The development of the Action Plan will involve all the Baltic Sea coastal countries. Input and active participation from all major stakeholder groups in the region will also be required, to ensure that the Action Plan is relevant and can be effectively implemented in practice.

Contacts

HELCOM Secretariat

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary
Tel: +358 9 62202235
Fax: +358 9 6220 2239

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi