BackEU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region invited to the 8th Meeting of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (CoR)
The Baltic Sea Strategy Point, as the Support Unit to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, was invited to present the experiences of the Strategy at the 8th Meeting of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER), during the exchange of views on the Atlantic strategy.
Together with three other guest speakers, Kirsi Ahlman, Advisor at the Baltic Sea Strategy Point, took the floor to comment and explain the macro-regional or territorial strategy approach in the EU.
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) intervenes at several stages of the EU law-making process. CoR commissions draft opinions on EU legislative proposals, and members gather in plenary to vote and adopt those opinions. In addition to cohesion policy, the COTER commission closely follows the Multiannual Financial Framework and EU Budget, as well as transport policy, territorial development, cross-border cooperation, spatial planning and urban matters.
Territorial cooperation facilitates structured cooperation
In her statement on behalf of the Baltic Sea Strategy Point, Kirsi Ahlman
- presented the EUSBSR as a practical example of how a macro-regional strategy can organise structured cooperation, connect actors and governance levels, keep priorities adaptive, and link implementation with funding
- stressed that the EUSBSR did not replace existing actors, but has created a shared frame and clearer distribution of labour between ministries, regions, cities, businesses, civil society, thematic experts and funding actors
- presented the multilevel governance approach, where the right level depends on the policy field. Regions and cities matter where they have competences, implementation capacity, funding roles or territorial knowledge
- highlighted the role of regional organisations such as CPMR Baltic Sea Commission and BSSSC in bringing regional perspectives into the Strategy, including through the Action Plan update, visibility work, Annual Forum and Policy Areas
- underlined the need for adaptability, referring to the updated Action Plan (2026, pending Commission approval) and Norway joining the Strategy
- stressed that alignment of funding must be built in from the start and that the Strategy is engaging funding programmes ahead of post-2027 programming.
The meeting was chaired by Vasco Alves Cordeiro, and the Rapporteur for this agenda item was Ander Caballero. Thank you for this possibility to contribute to the discussion.