Areas of priority during Troms County Council’s regional chairmanship
During the ministerial session in Murmansk 14th October 2009, Sweden assumed the national chairmanship from Russia and at the regional level Troms County Council officially took on the regional chairmanship in the Barents Co-operation, following Oulu. The current leader of Barents Regional Council is Mrs Pia Svendsgaard, Chair of Troms County Government. In her inaugural address delivered in Murmansk she expressed the importance of strengthening the Barents Regional Council’s active role and setting of terms on current topics of high Barents relevance such as environment, infrastructure and energy. Furthermore, Mrs Svendsgaard emphasized the significance of well functioning working groups, since these groups are to lead the work on driving different processes forward. Furthermore Mrs Svensgaard stresses that close cooperation between the International Barents Secretariat and the national secretariats is of greatest value.
The Barents Regional Council’s prioritised ambitions for the next period are to be found in the Barents Programme 2009-2013, approved by the Barents Regional Council in 2009. A focus on implementation of the programme will be a central task in the coming months and Troms wishes to highlight the following areas:
· Strengthening the structures of political co-operation
- increase the contact between regional and national level within the Barents Co-operation
- strengthen co-operation with other regional arenas of collaboration, such as the Brussels based network Northern Sparsely Populated Areas (NSPA), Northern Dimension, other EU-programmes and regional representative offices in Brussels
- initiate contact with the Arctic Council
· Sustainable frameworks
- work towards achieving best regional benefit from the utilization of marine resources and offshore natural resources
- work towards a Barents Region becoming a leading region in implementing modern environmental technology and taking the lead in development of holistic integrated alert and surveillance systems
- focus on the challenges connected to developing adequate and sustainable infrastructure in the Barents Region
· Business development
- work to improve the regional potential in business development, for instance within the oil and gas industry, to obtain regional profit
- work towards improved frameworks for business development and work to reduce obstacles still present
- work to develop adequate infrastructure in connection with the prospect of a Polar Ocean becoming increasingly accessible and crossable and to take part in the creation of the politics aimed at making the foundation for our common future in this respect.
· Culture
- further strengthen the work aiming at utilizing the potential in cultural co-operation
· Indigenous Peoples
- encourage the preservation of indigenous peoples’ culture and traditions
- continue to have a strong focus on creating equal living standards amongst the different indigenous peoples in the Barents Region