The European Commission adopted a Communication on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) in June 2009. The European Council adopted the strategy in October 2009. This is the first time that a comprehensive strategy, covering several community policies, is targeted on a 'macro-region'. Eighty flagship projects are listed in the accompanying Action Plan, which will be reviewed regularly.

Download the above mentioned documents and read more on the strategy on the European Commission website here and about the Macro-Regional Strategies in the EU here.

How does the Central Baltic INTERREG IV A Programme support the implementation of the Strategy?

The Monitoring Committee of the Central Baltic INTERREG IV A Programme 2007-2013 discussed at its meeting on 25 November 2009 in Jurmala/Latvia the role of the programme in the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) and it was agreed that the programme will actively support the strategy's implementation with its co-financed cross-border cooperation projects.

Starting from the 4^th call for applications (May 2010), the application form includes an input field where all project applicants are asked to explain if and how they see their project supporting the EUSBSR. Project applicants which even see their project in the Central Baltic Programme (not the Southern Finland-Estonia or the Archipelago and Islands Sub-programme) as belonging to one of the Strategy Flagship Projects mentioned in the Action Plan will have additionally to provide a letter of recommendation by the Coordinator of the Strategy Priority Area to which the Flagship Project belongs to. The Recommendation letter belongs to the application package and can be viewed here.

The information provided by the applicants in the new input field (and, if applicable, the letter of recommendation) will be evaluated by the Joint Technical Secretariat in the assessment of the project applications and will become part of the assessment reports to the programme's three Steering Committees. Hereby, the Steering Committees will be enabled to take into account the relevance for the EUSBSR of the projects applying for co-financing when taking their funding decisions. Approved projects which support the implementation of the EUSBSR will also be highlighted in the programme'’s publicity measures as e.g. the Showcase Brochure.

Further details and instructions will be provided in the Programme Manual and other application material (e.g. Practical Guide for Applicants) which will be published on the programme's website in good time before the next call. In the meantime, you can always contact the Joint Technical Secretariat for further information and personal assistance.