How to enhance cross-border cooperation on local development and governance?

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• How to enhance cross-border cooperation on local
  development and governance?
• Šarunas Radvilavicius

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CONCEPTS OF CBC

• WIDER MEANING international cooperation
• cooperation on national level
• cooperation of border authorities.
• NARROW MEANING
• concrete border as obstacle and possibility
• cooperation on local/regional level
• NB land and sea borders

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CBC in Baltic Sea Region

• Separate projects
• Town-twinning
• NGOs
• Euroregions

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EUROREGION - definition

• Cooperation on local/regional level
• Formalized political cooperation (agreement)
• Permanent joint structures (Council, Board,
  Secretariat etc.)
• Broad field of collective actions
• Cross-border oriented activities.

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EUROREGIONS

• Platform for local partnership
• Local/regional authorities
• Representatives of national authorities
• Local NGOs
• Local business
• High schools etc.
• Cross-sectoral
• Education
• Social and labour policies
• Economic development
• Environment
• Culture etc.

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WHY CBC AND EUROREGIONS?

• Political function (peaceful neighborhood)
• Solution of specific problems of border regions
  (peripheral status, border as obstacle for
  development, divided communities etc.)

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LEVELS OF COOPERATION

• Euroregions in Western Europe, Nordic countries
• Strategic level
• tool for socio-economic development of the
  region
• services for community
• Euroregions in Central and Eastern Europe
• Project level
• fancy name as umbrella for projects
• politically loaded

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Project of the Nordic Council of Ministers
Cross-border cooperation in the Baltic Countries
and North-West Russia 2002-2005

• GOAL
• To facilitate creation of a network of CBC
  regions/euroregions in the Baltic states and
  North-West Russia, which can be linked with a
  network existing in the Nordic countries.

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• 1. Euregio Karelia (FIN, RUS)
• 2. Finnish Estonian co-operation 33 (??, FIN)
• 3. Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation
  (EE, RUS)
• 4. Helsinki-Talllinn Euregio
• (EE, FIN)
• 5. Euregio Pskov-Livonia (EE, LV, RUS)
• 6. Euroregion Bartuva (LV, LT)
• 7. Euroregion Country of Lakes
• (LV, LT, BY)
• 8. Euroregion Saule (LV, LT, RUS)
• 9. Euroregion Neman
• (LT, RUS, PL, BY)
• 10. Euroregion Šešupe (LT, PL, RUS)
• 11. Euroregion Baltic
• (LV, LT, RUS, SE, DK, PL)
• 12. B7 Islands (EE, FIN, DK, SE, DE)

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GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLE

• Partenariat meeting of local businessmen, Polva,
  Estonia, 14 December 2004
• Partners
• Euregio Pskov-Livonia (EE, LV, RUS)
• Østfold-Bohuslän Border Committee (SE, NO)
• - 50 local businessmen
• - 200 meetings
• - New business contracts ???

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INTERREG IIIB project BALTIC EUROREGIONAL
NETWORK (BEN)

• Goal Establishment of a network of CBC
  regions/euroregions in the Baltic Sea Region.
• Participants around local, regional and national
  authorities, euroregions, NGOs, international
  organizations from the BSR
• Activities training seminars, network meetings,
  regional seminars, national roundtables
  information material etc.

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ŠARUNAS RADVILAVICIUS

• Nordic Council of Ministers office in Lithuania
• Didžioji g. 5, LT-01128, Vilnius, Litauentel.
  370 5 2123697
• mobile [phone]fax 370 5
  2122423e-mail sarunas_at_norden.lt
• http//www.norden.lt/