154
the strengthening of Baltic Sea governance and the possibility of deepened
collaboration.
Second, the expansion of the EU, with Sweden and Finland becoming members
in 1995 and the Baltic states and Poland in 2004, profoundly affected governance
patterns as the Baltic Sea had now almost become a sea internal to the EU (Hassler
et al. 2011 ). Only Russia among the Baltic Sea coastal states is not a member of the
EU. National legislation had to be adapted to the common EU regulatory framework, and enforceable directives were added to the arsenal of steering mechanisms.
Sizeable funds from EU’s regional programmes were also a bonus. Apart from the
direct effects the regulations and transposed directives have had on national legislation pertaining to marine environmental safety among the Baltic Sea EU member
countries, new opportunities have evolved for strategically scaling up national and
regional initiatives to the EU level in order to increase impact. Moreover, global
conventions too have been scaled down, and provisions from these conventions
added to the EU arsenal of enforceable law (Hassler et al. 2011 ). The vertical
dynamics of Baltic Sea environmental governance has thus increased signifi cantly
over the last two decades.
EU programmes and EU-funded projects of various kinds moreover have exerted
considerable and increasing infl uence on marine governance in the Baltic Sea
region. The largest initiative so far has been the Baltic Sea Region 2007 – 2013
Programme comprising a total funding of 223 million euros plus national cofi nancing.
3 Apart from Baltic Sea EU member countries, Russia, Belarus and
Norway are members of this Programme. Among its four priority areas, the third
one is focused on the ecological integrity of the Baltic Sea in a wide sense (BSR
programme 2012 ). The BSR programme is built on individual projects supported
within the programme. Among the 80 projects funded, 20 are specifi cally targeting
the Baltic Sea environment and concern areas such as maritime safety, climate
change, eutrophication and aquaculture.
4 It is clear that the substantial interactions
among project members and associated partners – researchers, public authorities,
companies, sector organisations, NGOs and other stakeholders – signifi cantly affect
contemporary Baltic Sea regional governance. Collaborations from this programme
will continue with a new Interreg BSR Programme for 2014–2020.
5
Taken together, the combined effects from EU regulation on the environmental
status of the Baltic Sea, the increased dynamics in terms of interacting regulatory
schemes at different levels, the growth of direct contacts between various stakeholders and EU authorities and the formulation of EU macro-regional programmes
3 While a co-fi nancing level of 25 % is required for the more affl uent Nordic countries and
Germany, 15 % is required from the Baltic states and Poland, whereas only 5 % is the minimum in
the case of Belarus (eu.baltic.net 2012 ).
4 A project database comprising all BSR Programme projects is available at http://eu.baltic.net/
Project_Database.5308.html?
5 For more info, see http://eu.baltic.net/Future_period_2014_2020.26029.html . Accessed 15
December 2014.
M. Boström et al.
the strengthening of Baltic Sea governance and the possibility of deepened
collaboration.
Second, the expansion of the EU, with Sweden and Finland becoming members
in 1995 and the Baltic states and Poland in 2004, profoundly affected governance
patterns as the Baltic Sea had now almost become a sea internal to the EU (Hassler
et al. 2011 ). Only Russia among the Baltic Sea coastal states is not a member of the
EU. National legislation had to be adapted to the common EU regulatory framework, and enforceable directives were added to the arsenal of steering mechanisms.
Sizeable funds from EU’s regional programmes were also a bonus. Apart from the
direct effects the regulations and transposed directives have had on national legislation pertaining to marine environmental safety among the Baltic Sea EU member
countries, new opportunities have evolved for strategically scaling up national and
regional initiatives to the EU level in order to increase impact. Moreover, global
conventions too have been scaled down, and provisions from these conventions
added to the EU arsenal of enforceable law (Hassler et al. 2011 ). The vertical
dynamics of Baltic Sea environmental governance has thus increased signifi cantly
over the last two decades.
EU programmes and EU-funded projects of various kinds moreover have exerted
considerable and increasing infl uence on marine governance in the Baltic Sea
region. The largest initiative so far has been the Baltic Sea Region 2007 – 2013
Programme comprising a total funding of 223 million euros plus national cofi nancing.
3 Apart from Baltic Sea EU member countries, Russia, Belarus and
Norway are members of this Programme. Among its four priority areas, the third
one is focused on the ecological integrity of the Baltic Sea in a wide sense (BSR
programme 2012 ). The BSR programme is built on individual projects supported
within the programme. Among the 80 projects funded, 20 are specifi cally targeting
the Baltic Sea environment and concern areas such as maritime safety, climate
change, eutrophication and aquaculture.
4 It is clear that the substantial interactions
among project members and associated partners – researchers, public authorities,
companies, sector organisations, NGOs and other stakeholders – signifi cantly affect
contemporary Baltic Sea regional governance. Collaborations from this programme
will continue with a new Interreg BSR Programme for 2014–2020.
5
Taken together, the combined effects from EU regulation on the environmental
status of the Baltic Sea, the increased dynamics in terms of interacting regulatory
schemes at different levels, the growth of direct contacts between various stakeholders and EU authorities and the formulation of EU macro-regional programmes
3 While a co-fi nancing level of 25 % is required for the more affl uent Nordic countries and
Germany, 15 % is required from the Baltic states and Poland, whereas only 5 % is the minimum in
the case of Belarus (eu.baltic.net 2012 ).
4 A project database comprising all BSR Programme projects is available at http://eu.baltic.net/
Project_Database.5308.html?
5 For more info, see http://eu.baltic.net/Future_period_2014_2020.26029.html . Accessed 15
December 2014.
M. Boström et al.