Baltic-Mediterranean cooperation has plenty of untapped potential

Societies in the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean regions are facing many common challenges related to environment, migration and intercultural dialogue. Enhancing cooperation between civil societies and other actors from the two regions would therefore be important for developing common solutions, sharing best practices and making the voices of the civil society actors better heard. This is the main message of the report Baltic-Mediterranean Dialogue: Building civil society cooperation across the regions, which summarizes the results of a cooperation project funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation.

The project Facilitating Political Dialogue in the Baltico-Mediterranean Axis brought together NGOs from Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Israel and Morocco with the goal of creating a platform where civil society actors from the two regions could discuss topics of common interest related to environment, mobility and culture. Thus the project aimed for its part to fill the obvious gap between the many common challenges that the two regions are facing and on the other hand the lack of dialogue between civil societies in the Baltic-Mediterranean framework. Different forms and methods for the future dialogue were also tested in the course of the project.

The first step was to map the importance of the project themes for the people in the two regions and to examine their ideas and prejudices concerning the other region. This was achieved through a survey-based study on the Attitudes and prejudices between the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean regions, which was published in autumn 2010. The results of the study provided the basis for nine thematic round table discussions, which brought together representatives of civil society, researchers and other experts from the partner countries to discuss specific issues connected to mobility, culture and environment. The discussions took place as videoconferences, thus providing a testing ground for the use of this kind of technology for the purposes of civil society cooperation.

The project culminated in a seminar Baltic-Mediterranean Axis: A New Framework for Cooperation?, which took place in Espoo, Finland on April 2011. It brought together experts from both project regions to discuss the role of regional actors and civil society networks in promoting Baltic-Mediterranean cooperation and its future perspectives in the light of the changes brought by the events of the Arab spring. The thematic working groups of the seminar discussed about cooperation also on a more practical level, drafting recommendations and producing concrete project ideas related to environmental cooperation, migration policies and the promotion of intercultural dialogue in the Baltic-Mediterranean framework.

Time is ripe for Baltic-Mediterranean cooperation

The results of the project show that even though the Baltic-Mediterranean framework doesn’t provide the same additional value for cooperation in all sectors, it is clear that it has still a lot of unused potential and that it has gained importance with the recent political and social changes in these regions.

The urgent, unsolved environmental challenges connected especially to marine pollution and climate change make the promotion of environmental cooperation an especially acute task, while the Arab spring offers a real possibility for change in cooperation related to intercultural dialogue between Europe and the Arab world. The xenophobic political tendencies gaining strength in many European countries also show that the voice of the civil society needs to make itself better heard in discussions and decision-making related to migration policies. In all these fields cooperation in the Baltic-Mediterranean framework could provide an important platform for voicing the common concerns of the civil societies in North and South, and for promoting cross-sectoral and cross-regional dialogue that is urgently needed. In many ways the window of opportunity for expanding and deepening this cooperation is now and it shouldn’t be missed.

More information about the project and its results are available in the report Baltic-Mediterranean Dialogue: Building civil society cooperation across the regions (The report will be available also in French in July 2011)

The project Facilitating Political Dialogue in the Baltico-Mediterranean Axis has been funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation and coordinated by the Finnish NGDO Platform to the EU, Kehys. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the Finnish NGDO Platform to the EU, Kehys, and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the Anna Lindh Foundation.

Civil society dialogue crucial for Baltic-Mediterranean cooperation

Historical events shaking up North African countries and the Middle East create new opportunities for cooperation in the Baltic-Mediterranean framework. Several experts on regional cooperation from the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean regions gathered in Finland on April 4^th-5^th to discuss these issues at the seminar “Baltic-Mediterranean Axis: A New Framework for Cooperation?”. Practical ideas and tools for developing dialogue and cooperation among civil society actors were presented by the thematic working groups – environment, mobility and culture.

“What the Mediterranean is experiencing is much more than a series of revolts, it is a moment where history is defined”, stated Anna Lindh Foundation’s Executive Director, Andreu Claret, in his opening speech.

Mr. Claret emphasised the role of the youth as actors for intercultural dialogue. There is a real opportunity for change in intercultural dialogue and cooperation between Europe and the Arab world.

“Arab uprisings offer an opportunity to challenge established stereotypes regarding our vision of the Mediterranean and the Arabs and to put an end to the distorted perceptions which have affected dialogue between Western and Arab societies.”

These changes are relevant for the EU in the context of its Neighbourhood policy reform. The EU’s role in its Southern neighbourhood raised eager discussion in the seminar. Debaters emphasized that EU must continue to be active in the region but with a humble attitude.

Egypt’s ambassador to Finland, Maasoum Masouk, remarked that EU should not act in a patronizing way as the revolutionary movement has risen as an internal development of society, especially among the youth. Strengthening the civil society is fundamental in advancing democracy in North Africa.

Professor Tuomo Melasuo, Tampere Peace Research Institute (TAPRI), reminded that socio-economic development in the region is crucial for future. After all, the turmoil during the spring 2011 has arisen from the disappointment of people, especially young people, in times of economic deprivation. Young generation needs clear indications for decent life in future that is why it is advocating democracy and freedom.

Civil societies in the two regions must work together to face the shared challenges

Practical tools to develop cooperation between Baltic and Mediterranean societies were discussed in three thematic working groups focusing on environment, mobility and culture.

The working group on environment stressed the importance of including environment and sustainability as cross-cutting themes in all cooperation. The two regions share many challenges related to environment, and as environmental problems don’t recognize state borders, regional and interregional cooperation is essential in tackling them.

Migration is also touching both regions in different ways, and there is a need for common efforts by civil society together with other actors to push especially the EU to adopt coherent migration policies grounded on human rights, instead of the current security based approach to migration. It is important to engage the immigrant communities in the policymaking and implementation processes especially concerning policies directly influencing them.

Strengthening intercultural dialogue between societies in the two regions is especially important in light of the events in the southern Mediterranean, but emphasis now should be especially on improving the socio-economical and political conditions of the youth in the region. The working group on intercultural dialogue highlighted the role of education as a crucial tool for development that should be supported by all actors.

The ideas from the working groups provide a good starting point for the future development of Baltic-Mediterranean cooperation, concluded the Secretary General of the Finnish NGDO Platform to the EU, Kehys, Rilli Lappalainen. It is evident that the two regions are facing many common challenges, and further cooperation would be important in providing solutions to them as well as making the voice of the civil society better heard.

Even though the Baltic-Mediterranean framework doesn’t provide additional value to cooperation in all sectors, environmental cooperation between the two regions, for example, has still a lot of unused potential. In the seminar discussions also the possibility of connecting the Black Sea region to this axis gained support.

The uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East have made it an urgent task for all actors to re-evaluate old cooperation models, and civil society should have a central role when planning future cooperation. The message of the seminar was that Baltic-Mediterranean axis has potential to become one of the frameworks for this cooperation: if we want it, now is the time to act.

The future perspectives of Baltic-Mediterranean cooperation – panel discussion

Risto Veltheim:

The southern Mediterranean is at the centre of world politics at the moment. We have to do more to help our southern neighbors; this is something that everyone knows in Europe at the moment. Importance of economic and social factors – development in these fields is required for achievement of wider development. The government cannot do this, but all kinds of actors are needed. So, to repeat, the question is: how can we do more? Using the existing instruments and enhancing them is the natural starting point. Mere monetary support is not enough, also new kind of thinking is needed. Conditionality in support is needed, even though it is a somewhat “dirty words”. This demans working consultation mechanisms. The right form of these mechanism has to be discussed. The Union for the Mediterranean has unfortunately been somewhat marginalized lately and has played no remarkable role in the recent debates. It needs to be brought back in. Industrial cooperation is one of the areas that are urgently needed in the area. On the multilateral side the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction needs to be mentioned. Also the European Investment Bank plays an important role in both public and private sector investments. Finally, what can Finland do? North Africa is not a major partner in Finnish development cooperation. Hopefully North Africa will receive more attention in the future. The important role of civil society; hence, Finland could support the NGOs in the area. As a private person Veltheim mentioned the problems of European visa policies.

Timo Behr:

Four topics or themes that earlier speakers have already raised. Discussing the related challenges. First theme is democracy.  The development has been very positive, but it also needs to be remembered that majority of countries in the area still are not democratic. The need for consistency. Second theme: development and prosperity. EU’s policies have focused on structural changes and neoliberal economic agendas. These have been successful is some respects, but they have failed in creating jobs. The solution is not more of the same. Third topic that needs to be raised is the institutional challenge, especially the Union for the Mediterranean. Finally, the question of scope needs to be discussed. Is Mediterranean the right context for discussing the southern partnerships and the revolutions of 2011? These have not been Mediterranean revolutions, but Arab revolutions. The EU needs to be cautious when it comes to be promises; it has to be more generous than it has been before; in also needs to be humble.

Tuomo Melasuo:

Without the Mediterranean heritage, Europewould not exist. Today’s policy goals can neither be achieved without active cooperation in the Mediterranean area. The focus should not been on religion, but on the actual social movements, processes and actualities. The requirements of the North African youth are universal, not culture specific. Socio-economic issues are the most important ones at the moment. If we are not able to solve the problems of housing, schooling and so forth, we run against the wall. Democracy cannot be achieved independently from the socio-economic questions. All the stakeholders (states, EU, civil society and so forth) have to work towards similar goals. What to do? EU needs to create more concrete programs for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. The money needs to be found somewhere. EU should require or at least encourage the member states to act: more cooperation, more direct activities toward the southern Mediterranean, more requirements and possibilities for civil society actors. Civil society actors, for example the Anna Lindh foundation, needs to answer to this call towards the southern Mediterranean area and this has to be done fast.

Rilli Lappalainen: conclusive remarks.

• The European neighborghood policy is coming to the agenda this spring.
• The role of civil society is fundamental.
• In addition to enviroment, mobility, and culture, economy is an important issue
• The important challenge for all actors involved is the cultivation of dialogue.

Reform of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the future perspectives of regional cooperation

Heidi Hautala, Member of European Parliament send her  greetings via video from Strasbourg.  She started by pointing out that the themes of the seminar are the key issues of today’s politics. Especially in the current situation, cooperation among the Euro-Mediterranean states has a tremendous importance. The developments in Tunisia and Egypt have been an especial  source of joy. Mrs. Hautala even suggested the possibility of considering EU membership discussions with Tunisia. Libya, in turn, has been a victory for international justice. It has, Mrs.Hautala argued, given us a lecture on what the responsibility to protect could actually mean in practice. She emphasized that it is very important that the European Union plays an active role in supporting the development towards democracy and the rule of law in southern Mediterranean countries.

Pirkka Tapiola from the Strategic planning division at European External Action Service  took up the theme of post-revolutionary development by asking how to take the ‘r’ away from revolution. In other words, how to move from revolution to evolution, and how can EU actors help the transition processes. He considered the European neighborhood policy as a useful toolbox. Even though the call for democracy, rule of law, and good governance have not always been taken seriously enough by EU actors themselves, now is not the time to look backwards. He named four important principles of neighborhood policy. First, the aim needs to be the creation of a partnership with societies, not just with states or leaders. Moreover, the promotion of democracy needs to play an important role. Thirdly, there needs to be better political cooperation, and fourthly, joint political steering through equal partnerships. In addition, he emphasized the crucial role of economy.

Recommendations from the working groups

1. Mobility

• critique of the security approach to migration
• human rights approach is crucial: the rights and needs of the human being must be in the centre of the migration policy
• policy coherence is crucial in order to ensure that the policies do not produce contradictory outcomes (see point 4 for a concrete example)
• selective migration policies need to be limited, because from the Southern perspective, they contribute to ‘brain drain’ thus hindering development, and in the North, there is the problem of ‘brain waste’ by which education and skills-base of migrants are not used due to structural racism in the European labour market
• extra effort by the European Union is needed to listen to the concerns of the residents
• the European Union needs to guarantee free visas and facilitated application processes for civil society actors coming from non-EU countries
• right to health: the migrant, notwithstanding the document status, has to be guaranteed access to health services
• migrant workers need to be guaranteed, by the law as in practice, equal salaries to those of the nationals
• right to education: all children, despite their document status, must be guaranteed access to public education
• the migrant should not be victim of the economic cycles and the resulting labour market policies
• concrete project proposal: e.g. Russian women were recruited for a course qualifying as a sales assistant for jobs where fluent Russian is an essential skill.
• example of a best practice: a project by the Finnish Interior Ministry to find work for highly-educated migrants already settled in the country. One of the interim results has been that even for the Ministry it was difficult to find employers for the highly-educated migrants, thus this remains an issue where the participation of all stakeholders (the state, employers, trade unions, migrants themselves and ngos) should be enhanced.
• educational centres specialising on integration courses, more language courses are needed on all levels
• The states are transferring their responsibilities related to integration to civil society actors, yet the efforts of the civil society actors are not facilitated enough.

2. Culture

Prejudices vs. shared values: the basis of intercultural dialogue in light of the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa

• Socio-economic and political conditions are the basis in order to have a positive perception for the future
• This is especially important concerning the youth and their vision of the sustainable future (education, housing, employment, founding families)
• Involvement of all the possible actors (EU, states, civil society, private sector)
• EU’s active role -> utilising the already existing institutions and bodies
• Now is the time to react positively by sending a strong message to the civil society of the South
• Transparency, coherence, good governance, awareness raising
• Solidarity and support in the whole EuroMed area: Civil society making statements and also acting in order to support the developments in North Africa
• Gender equality -> without that no real democracy
• Exchanging and learning from experiences, discussing the shared values, learning both ways, changing perspective and perceptions

Education as a tool for intercultural understanding in the framework of Baltic-Mediterranean cooperation

• Family education is a starting point
• Learning and teaching about the other and also learning together (online platforms, network tools, e.g. eTwinning)
• Critical thinking and questioning the “truths”
• Instead of tolerance affirming diversity, importance of the attitudes: changing the behaviour towards the other
• The role of the languages in intercultural understanding and in integration is crucial
• Education and access to it is the main tool for development
• Critical media education should be emphasized

3. Enviroment

• Added value Baltic-Med cooperation

§ Collect and exchange information and expertise

§ Link environment to inter-cultural dialogue

§ Environment is a way to promote peace, it unites people and countries not separates, pollution is cross border

§ Power in numbers, “look big and act big”

• Activities, recommendations

§ Increase political will for implementing existing legislation

§ Inter-sectoral cooperation

§ Education and awareness raising are important especially with the youth, engage people (“our sea” perception)

§ Find the ways for the common funding to address the environmental concerns

§ Environment should be considered in the cost benefit analysis

§ Support joint research, lobbyng, campaigns, awareness rising

§ Use on-line tools and virtual communities

§ Encourage corporate social and environmental responsibility

–> Raising awareness about the sustainable use of the seas

• Messages

§ Based on common concerns and  human values (pollution incl nutrient overflow), to build communities (cross border) which will perceive  “our sea” conception

§ Connect daily life concerns of people

§ Relate with specific values of traditions and culture of the given region

§ Suggest ways to act for the common people

§ Relate other topics (as labour market, trade, agriculture, economics in wider perspective)

• Activities

§ Research and development for innovation

§ Determine the change agents (public leaders, celebrity etc) and use them as a link to the common public

§ Simultaneously implement public awareness raising and lobbying

§ Information exchange between Baltic Sea and Mediterranean NGOs about best practices, case studies, approaches to awareness (incl change agents, use of new and old media) raising and lobbying

§ Cooperation between sectors (private, public, CSO, academic)

Culture

Prejudices vs. shared values: the basis of intercultural dialogue in light of the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa

Socio-economic and political conditions are the basis in order to have a positive perception for the future

This is especially important concerning the youth and their vision of the sustainable future (education, housing, employment, founding families)

Involvement of all the possible actors (EU, states, civil society, private sector)

EU’s active role -> utilising the already existing institutions and bodies

Now is the time to react positively by sending a strong message to the civil society of the South

Transparency, coherence, good governance, awareness raising

Solidarity and support in the whole EuroMed area: Civil society making statements and also acting in order to support the developments in North Africa

Gender equality -> without that no real democracy

Exchanging and learning from experiences, discussing the shared values, learning both ways, changing perspective and perceptions

Education as a tool for intercultural understanding in the framework of Baltic-Mediterranean cooperation

Family education is a starting point

Learning and teaching about the other and also learning together (online platforms, network tools, e.g. eTwinning)

Critical thinking and questioning the “truths”

Instead of tolerance affirming diversity, importance of the attitudes: changing the behaviour towards the other

The role of the languages in intercultural understanding and in integration is crucial

Education and access to it is the main tool for development

Critical media education should be emphasized

Regional and interregional cooperation

Professor Tuomo Melasuo from Tampere Peace Research Institute (TAPRI) opened this series of short presentations by reminding that the tragedy of Libya must at all time be part of the discussion when Euro-Mediterranean relations are considered.

Second presenter was Esa Kokkonen (the Baltic Institute of Finland, director) who spoke about EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and project cooperation. The basic parameters for the cooperation are Maritime policy, environmental question, the Northern Dimension. Kokkonen argued that different interest areas in the cooperation are mutually reinforcing. For instance, environmental issues, economy, and employment issues can be developed together. As a practical example Mr.Kokkonen discussed  BSR InnoShip, a project that bolsters cooperation for reducing ship and port emissions through knowledge and innovation based competiveness, hence pursuing economic and environmental objectives together.

Anna Kotsalo-Mustonen from BSAG: Baltic Sea Action Group, continued with similar themes. She pointed out that the Baltic Sea is very fragile an ecosystem with lot of user. Hence BSAG is a roadmap for action. The problems of this action are that nobody owns the sea, that there are different ‘silos’  where the decisions are made, and that the research-policy connection is not working. Since the Baltic Sea is, however, the most polluted sea in the world, every part of the society needs to do something. Mrs. Kotsalo-Mustonen gave a practical example: a virtual “Baltic Sea party” that candidates can join in addition to their own party if they are willing to make commitments for enhancing the condition of the Sea.

Paul Lwoff and Giuseppe Lugano, representing the Get to Know the World association, were the next ones to present. They offered the audience with research results concerning the differences and similarities among the Baltic and Mediterranean people, especially the Finns and the Italians, for example the amount of trust towards political, international and religious institutions among the youth, and, on the other hand, the level of information technology literacy among the elders. They also provided the audience an interesting comparison of the revolutions of 1989 (Baltic) & 2011 (Mediterranean) and raised the question of learning from history.

Mikko Lipsanen who acted as a substitute for Olga Borou gave a  presentation of the cooperation in practice. He concluded that the people in the two regions have a positive image of each other and also face similar challenges.

Professor Melasuo raised the events of the spring 2011 on forth again. He saw the events as a new phase of development away from orientalist prejudices. He stated that the Europeans and “the west” in general may have something to learn from the Arab countries.

Opening speech: The Finnish Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors

The first speaker of the seminar, Astrid Thors, the Finnish Minister of Migration and European Affairs, praised the excellent timing of the seminar. The recent uprisings in the North Africa have raised the inter-related questions of pluralism, social justice, rule of law, and democracy on the agenda very urgently.

She started by discussing the reactions to the uprisings among the EU member states. According to Mrs. Thors, the majority of the member states are emphasizing the emerging new conditions of possibility for intercultural dialogue. She expressed her worries for the sporadic tendency of Finnish discussion to partly ignore the humanitarian emergence and the long term needs in Libya and elsewhere. These include modernization, stability, economic growth, employment and so on; in other words: the basic conditions for democracy. In general the EU’s (re)actions concerning the uprisings have been commendable.

In relation to the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, Mrs. Thors pointed out the similarities of environmental needs. These include the prospects of producing “green energy” and limiting the transports at the seas. There are also both similarities and differences when it comes to archipelago policy. In the Mediterranean, the biggest problem is the lack of water, whereas in the Baltic the greatest challenge is social isolation and hence the lack of possibilities.

As a minister of migration, Mrs. Thors also paid attention to mobility and refugee questions. The question has two faces. On the one hand, there are people who are in need of international protection and acts of solidarity. On the other hand, there is also the European interest in promoting mobility across the boundaries. There have been rather difficult discussions in the Mediterranean area. Mrs. Thors pointed out the importance of people-to-people contacts. This is urgent for many reasons. Among these are the somewhat false picture of “European heaven” and the situation of minority groups such as the Christians in the Northern African countries. These questions go all the way down to the requirements of human rights and the rule of law. Only the civil society can fully deal with the needs of this kind of intercultural dialogue.