Jorodd Asphjell, in his capacity as BSPC President, emphasized the extremely close and successful cooperation between the Nordic Council and the BSPC on the occasion of the 70th session of the Nordic Council, pointing out the necessity of further action to improve the environment in the Baltic Sea Region.
He recalled in his speech that the Nordic Council, together with the Norwegian Parliament, had taken the initiative for the 2nd Baltic Parliamentary Conference in Oslo in 1992, which laid the foundations for the continuation of parliamentary cooperation throughout the Baltic Sea region.
The close cooperation, he went on, was additionally evident from the fact that he was not only the BSPC President but also a member of the Nordic Council, while a number of other members of the Nordic Council were very active in the BSPC.
The Nordic Council and the BSPC shared common issues on which both parliamentary institutions see an urgent need for governments to step up action not only in the Nordic countries but throughout the Baltic Sea region.
During the annual conference at the end of August, the BSPC had paid particular attention to urgent measures in the field of environmental protection and decided on very necessary steps for a better environment.
The BSPC had urgently called on the governments to realize the vision of
a clean Baltic Sea as well as more sustainable and clean shipping.
Mr Asphjell stated that the BSPC was looking forward to any initiative further promoting the sustainability in the whole Baltic Sea Area.
He reminded his listeners that one of the nominees for the Nordic Council environmental prize had also been an innovation project to prevent the flow of plastics into the ocean.
The Standing Committee of the BSPC, he said, would deal with environmentally friendly shipping and the improvement of the environmental situation in the Baltic Sea region during a meeting in Trondheim two weeks later.
Mr Asphjell pointed out the priority issues for the BSPC during the
current Norwegian presidency in 2018 – 2019:
Migration and Integration as well as the Future of Working Life under the
aspects of Digitalization, Integration and Labour Mobility in the Baltic
Sea Region.
He noted that the 28th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference would take place from 25 to 27 August 2019 in the Norwegian Parliament.
He expressed his hope to see many of the participants in the Nordic Council meeting again during the BSPC Annual Conference.