One of the widest consultation processes in the Baltic Sea Region

To keep the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region relevant and up-to-date, the member states of the strategy review the Action Plan regularly.

The update is based on a wide consultation, building on the work in the thematic steering groups of the Strategy. The steering groups consist of specialist from the member states, and bring in the national views to the thematic discussions. With the current update, close to 200 Steering Group members from over 100 organisations have been working together to find a consensus and to build the roadmap for transnational cooperation which will benefit the whole region. The work of the steering groups and the operationalisation of the strategy is facilitated by policy area coordinators, who come from the member states’ official authority of the national or regional government, an organisation or an intergovernmental or non-governmental body.

Starting from 2025, Steering Groups, facilitated by the policy area coordinators, have defined the key challenges in the Baltic Sea Region. They have mapped the obstacles and existing policy and cooperation frameworks, considered the involvement of non-EU stakeholders such as Norway and Ukraine, and worked on a step-by-step pathway to find solutions to the said challenges. In the planning process, strong emphasis has been put on the measurability of the outcomes and the impact. This forward-looking emphasis makes the Strategy fit for purpose for the post-2027 era with the EU Multiannual Financial Framework, which calls for increasingly clear reporting on achievements.

In addition to the work of the steering groups, policy area coordinators and the support unit to the Strategy have facilitated discussions with Interreg Programmes in the region, managing authorities of the Structural and Investment Funds, relevant EU Commission departments, and cities and regions across the Baltic Sea. Finally, the updated action plan will go through the European Commission’s internal consultation process.

This close to two-year journey has made updating the EUSBSR action plan one of the widest consultation processes in the Baltic Sea Region. The thematic actions and the concrete steps laid out in the plan are a synthesis of the views of the eight member states and different governance levels. The aim of such wide consultation is to ensure that the Strategy remains true to what it was initially designed for: to maintain the ownership and commitment on all governance levels across the region and in the EU to build a green, prosperous and well-connected Baltic Sea Region together. To maximise the impact of the act, member states and other fund providers should ensure prioritisation in line with the Strategy objectives.