Highlights of the Programme – Module Two in Brussels

Highlights of the Baltic Leadership Programme during the week in Brussels were meetings with officials of the European commission, DG REGIO and DG ECHO, as well as visit to the European Parliament.

On the occasion of the programme, a discussion and reception was organised at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU.  The  discussion  aimed to reconstruct the argument that EU macro-regional strategy, such as EUSBSR, can facilitate motivation, coordination and coherent cooperation within the field of civil protection cooperation on macro-regional level and thus be instrumental in uniting Member States to identify the major needs and list of actions needed to be implemented for common goals in EU civil protection, not least providing a constructive input towards processes like EU programming period.

The discussion showcased that by using the potential brought by a macro-regional strategy, a group of EU member states can provide a leading example of practical actions that can be followed by other EU macro-regions. This included the question of what challenges and obstacles can arise when applying such an approach, as well as what skills and experience are needed in order to enable Member States to fully use the potential of a macro-regional strategy as regards to civil protection.