Executive Committee

Minutes of the 33rd Executive Committee Meeting on 18th June 2003, Cuxhaven, Germany
 

NSC Executive Committee Participants:

President Cllr. Bent Hansen (Viborg)
Vice-President Cllr. Gunn Marit Helgesen (Telemark)
Belgian Representative Not represented
Danish Representative Cllr. Harry Jensen (Ringkjøbing) accompanied by Karsten Bækgaard
Dutch Representative Cllr. Rinske Krusinka (Noord-Holland) accompanied by Toine Janssen (SNN) and Liwien van Schipstral (Noord-Holland)
English Representative Cllr. Ros Scott (Suffolk)
German Representative Cllr. David McAllister accompanied by Peter Best and Peter Wieland, (Niedersachsen)
Norwegian Representative Represented by Bjørn Reisz (Telemark)
Scottish Representative Cllr. Audrey Findlay (Aberdeenshire) and Alison McInnes (Aberdeenshire)
Swedish Representative Cllr. Annelie Stark (Västra Götaland) accompanied by Jörgen Niemann

NSC Executive Secretary Henrik M Jensen
NSC Assistant Executive Sec. Karen Greve Somerset

Observers Karin Cruickshank

NSC Thematic Group Co-ordinators present:

Business Development Vivien Collie, (Fife)
Transport & Communications Jon Halvard Eide (Vest-Agder)
Culture & Tourism Geir Sør-Reime (Rogaland)
Education & Research Ann Brown (Suffolk)
Environment Per Hörberg (Västra Götaland)
Fisheries Ann Bell (Aberdeenshire)

The President started by welcoming everyone to the 33rd Executive Committee and to the North Sea Commission General Assembly and he thanked Niedersachsen for hosting these events.

1. Minutes of the 32nd Executive Committee meeting
The minutes were approved as a true record of the meeting.

2. Financial Matters
 2a. Financial Statement up to 26th May 2003

The accounts of the NSC showed that most members had paid their subscription for 2003 and that expenditure was within the budget.

2b. Budget 2004
Due to new members there will be an increase in income. However, the item travel and accommodation has been under-budgeted during the last couple of years, so that was increased by € 5000. Other items also saw an increase of about 10% to reflect the actual costs. A surplus of €500 is budgeted.

The budget for 2004 was approved by the NSC Executive Committee.

2c. Membership update
This was noted.

2d. Application for membership
The NSC had received a request from Troms, Norway, and the South of Scotland consisting of Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. The latter will therefore join as an association consisting of 2 regions. Troms has already been accepted by the CPMR and Scottish Borders will be on the agenda for the CPMR Political Bureau in July.

Both regions were unanimously accepted as members of the North Sea Commission by the Executive Committee.

3. 12th NSC General Assembly 2003
Four resolutions will be presented at the General Assembly: the 2nd Northern Dimension Action Plan 2004-2006, Local Management of Inshore Fisheries, The 2004 Revision of the TransEuropean Network – TEN-T and finally one on discharges from nuclear reprocessing plants.

The 2nd Northern Dimension Action Plan 2004-2006
This resolution lists the North Sea Commission’s recommendation for the European Union’s work with the 2nd Northern Dimension Action Plan. It follows up the work carried out in the CPMR and stresses the importance of involving regional and local actors in the implementation of a 2nd Northern Dimension Action Plan.

Local Management of Inshore Fisheries
The resolution originates from the NSC Fisheries Group’s seminar in Tjärnö in Sweden in January and it states the importance of involving local stakeholders in the management of inshore fisheries. The resolution suggests setting up local advisory bodies, which have to be consulted on fisheries management issues or anything, which can have an impact on inshore fisheries. The local advisory bodies would as a core consist of local/regional authorities, the fishing industry and fisheries scientists. Other interested and relevant parties can be drawn in whenever necessary.

The 2004 Revision of the TransEuropean Network – TEN-T
This resolution is a summary of the comments, which the NSC has made on the revision of the TransEuropean Network. It, among other things, asks the EU Commission to support the development of alternative intermodal hubs, to facilitate the development of a polycentric sea highway, to increase investment in maritime transport and to integrate maritime safety considerations into the investment policy.

Discharges from nuclear reprocessing plants.
This resolution follows up the work during the past years by the NSC on discharges from reprocessing plants and it deals with the breach of promise by the British Government for not imposing a moratorium on discharges of Technetium-99 from Sellafield.

Michael Meacher is after the reshuffle no longer Environment Minister, but Ros Scott offered to try to get ½ hour with the new minister, Margaret Beckett, concerning Sellafield, if Per Hörberg, together with the Norwegians, could give her the facts. This was accepted by the Executive Committee.

3b. Nomination for the new Executive Committee
The NSC Secretariat had received a letter from Anne McGovern stating that due to her election in Fife, she had decided to concentrate on the tasks at home and would therefore not stand for re-election as vice-president. One nomination for this post had been received, which was from Audrey Findlay, Aberdeenshire. Both Gunn Marit Helgesen and Bent Hansen would like to continue as vice-president and president respectively.

The NSC Secretariat was still missing nominations from a few countries but they should be forthcoming after the national delegations’ meetings on the Thursday.

4. Thematic Groups
4a. Recent and future activities not covered during the General Assembly

Fisheries Group
Ann Bell mentioned that the group has had some new members, which she was very pleased about. The CPMR Intercom Group on fisheries does not seem to be as active as it could be and she would like to see it linking up more to the other geographical commissions.

The NSC Fisheries Partnership continues to be very active and it is going to apply for Interreg funding in September to run a pilot RAC (Regional Advisory Council) for the North Sea.

Ann Bell has also recently attended a conference in Canada dealing with North Atlantic Responsible Fisheries and the North Atlantic Ministers would like to establish closer links with the North Sea, which was fully supported by the Executive Committee.

Environment Group
Per Hörberg mentioned the joint conference in Esbjerg together with the Fisheries Group, which had provided a range of interesting presentations and discussions. It has been decided to have another joint conference in January on marine protected areas.

It was agreed that the NSC Secretariat should draft a position paper, which should be discussed at the Executive Committee in October, encouraging national governments to make stricter rules on where to, for example, place wind parks etc. The other Thematic Groups will also be involved and it is hoped to finalize the paper in January 2004.

The next conference organised by the Environment Group will take place in Fryslan on 13-14 November 2003 dealing with climate change and biodiversity.

Economic Development Group
The Group asked for its name to be changed from Business Development Group to Economic Development Group in order to better reflect the work, it is involved in. A renewable energy sub-group met for the first time in May, where it became apparent that there is a huge development potential within this field, which can be tapped into. Its next meeting will be in Suffolk in October.

A Business Centre Network group also met this week, which will exchange best practice and be encouraged to work more together.

The Economic Development Group also held its own meeting on the previous day in Wilhelmshaven and the next meeting will take place on 2-3 October in Fife.

Transport and Communication Group
Jon Halvard Eide gave an update on the work of the Transport & Communication Group. Since the last Executive Committee meeting, the group has held one meeting in Groningen in May and members have participated in two CPMR Intercom Group meetings. The group also want to establish a port and shipping partnership, which will also include regional authorities and companies.

Until the next Ministerial Conference, the Transport Group will be involved in the sustainable shipping group, and Jon pointed out that we need to improve sustainable shipping, but should not make such stringent rules that transport of goods will be moved from the sea onto roads.

The group also continues to progress the sustainable transport project, which is a follow-up of the conference in Aarhus in 2002. It also involves some of the other CPMR Geographical Commissions.

Education & Research
Ann Brown mentioned that it is now time for a change for the group, as it is dominated by further educational institutions, for which Interreg is not the best programme for accessing international funding and she would like to see the group dealing with a wide range of topics. Two projects would be presented at the Directoria.

The group is currently without both chair and vice-chair but hope some will be appointed later during the meeting. Ann would like to thank Joop Boertjens and Ted Harris for their work for the group. The group is planning a conference, which will take place early 2004 and it is increasing its workings with the other Thematic Groups.

Culture & Tourism Group
Geir Sør-Reime mentioned that the Culture & Tourism Group has had a meeting in May, where there was a presentation of the Culture 2000 programme. Concerning Interreg, there appears to be a problem with culture projects and particular intangible culture.

Ros Scott mentioned that she feels there is a need to discuss the role of culture within Interreg at a future Executive Committee meeting, and a paper will be circulated before the Executive Committee meeting.

Stavanger is trying to become European Capital of Culture in 2008, and it was felt that Bruges had been a missed opportunity, as no North Sea events had been organised.

The President thanked all the co-ordinators for all their hard work and for presenting the reports.

4b. Nominations of chairmen and vice-chairmen of the Thematic Groups

As there was great interest in becoming vice-chair of some of the Thematic Groups, it was decided to give the Thematic Groups the opportunity to have two vice-chairs. It was also decided that substitute members of the Executive Committee can be chair of a Thematic Group.

The new chairs and vice-chairs are as follows:

Chair of Economic Development: Group: Audrey Findlay, Aberdeenshire. New vice-chair: Rinske Kruisinga, Noord-Holland

Chair Culture & Tourism: Ros Scott, Suffolk, Vice-chair: Mr. Suurmond, Zeeland and Annelie Stark, Västra Götaland.

Chair Education & Research Group: still vacant. Vice-chairs: Alec Thomson, Fife, and Birgitte Josefsen, North Jutland.

A full list of all posts in the Thematic Groups is attached to these minutes.

4c. Action Plan relating to the NSC Vision document from the NSC Culture & Tourism Group
It was decided that all Thematic Groups should try to produce such an action plan and they will all be discussed at the next Executive Committee meeting in October.

5. CPMR matters of particular interest to the NSC
Nobody from the CPMR was able to attend the Executive Committee meeting. Sandra Mezzadri, who has followed the work of the North Sea Commission over the last few years, has been offered a new job with the EU Commission, where she will start in September. The NSC wished her all the best for the future.

However, Gunn Marit Helgesen mentioned that the conference on Maritime Safety, which had been planned for this week, had been postponed due to the strike in France. Concerning the convent, she was also pleased to see that the regions are now mentioned in the position paper.

Further details about the work of the CPMR will be presented at the Annual Business Meeting on Friday 20th June by Pascal Gruselle.

6. Relations with the Committee of the Regions
Ann Bell mentioned that she had been invited on behalf of the NSC Fisheries Partnership and the North Sea Commission to give a presentation to the Sustainable Development Committee of the Committee of the Regions. The Committee of the Regions had been very supportive of the work carried out and both the Committee of the Regions and the North Sea Commission would like to strengthen the work and flow of information between the two organisations.

7. Interreg IIIB North Sea Programme
Henrik M Jensen mentioned that there has been three calls for project proposals and that almost 50% of the funding has been allocated. Money may start being moved from one priority to another. The next call will be in September 2003. Many good projects have been approved and the programme is likely to fulfil its objectives.

Ros Scott mentioned that the Culture & Tourism Group has experienced some problems with some projects, where it is not apparent on what grounds the projects have been rejected and that they may appear to have been rejected on errors of facts. Coupled with the fact that there is no opportunity to appeal, she was wondering if there is a bigger issue here. Annelie Stark, who is on the Steering Committee for the Baltic Sea, could recognise some of the same problems and that it is not easy going to the national delegations, as they have to deal with so many projects.

Bent Hansen mentioned that it may be advantageous to learn from each other involved in other Interreg programmes and that he would mention the issues brought forward here, when he next time has a meeting with Lorraine George and Henrik M Jensen.

8. Correspondence to and from the North Sea Commission
Maritime Safety

Letters from the NSC president were sent out in February to all North Sea Ministers responsible for maritime safety and so far replies have been received from the UK, Denmark, Norway and Germany, which all support the 25% control target and the UK and Denmark will also reduce the interval of inspection from 12 to 6 months. It is hoped more replies will be received shortly.

9. Date and location of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on 28 October and preceded by a Thematic Meeting on the 27th October 2003. The venue will be Bergen, Norway.

10. Any Other Business
The President was pleased to inform the Executive Committee that Ann Bell had been given an order by the British Queen for her outstanding work with fisheries in Aberdeenshire, the North Sea Commission and with the NSC Fisheries Partnership.  Many congratulations to Ann Bell, MBE !

Karen Greve Somerset
North Sea Commission