‘Northern dimension’ set to move up EU’s agenda

Date: 21/10/1999

By Renée Cordes

AS THE EU becomes increasingly dependant on Russia for gas and other types of energy, political leaders are crafting a new strategy aimed at ensuring long-term stability in the region.

The move to develop a policy for the EU's 'northern dimension' will get a major boost in the next several weeks from both the European Commission and member states.

The aim of the initiative, which was first called for by Finland more than two years ago, is to foster better cooperation between the EU and Russia, the Baltic states, Norway and Iceland.

A report by Energy and Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, which is due to be adopted by the full Commission next Tuesday (26 October), will examine what action is already being undertaken at EU-level to promote the northern dimension.

While the communication will not include proposals for new legislation, officials say it will provide the foundation for a comprehensive strategy. “We will see what we have and make it more effective,” said Juhani Joutsen, an official at the Finnish foreign ministry in Helsinki.

Finland, which has made bringing a northern dimension to EU policy a priority for its six-month presidency, will host the first-ever ministerial level meeting devoted to the theme next month when it welcomes foreign ministers from the 15 Union member states and seven partner countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Norway and Iceland).

Finnish officials say they hope to get ministers to agree on concrete goals for improved economic and political cooperation in the Baltic area, mainly in energy but also in other sectors such as environmental protection, transport and communications.

If ministers succeed in making as much progress as the Finns hope, EU leaders are expected to use their December summit in Helsinki to call on the Commission to draw up an action plan to implement the new strategy.

Union leaders first stressed the need to give the bloc a 'northern dimension' at their summit in Luxembourg in December 1997, and then again at the Cologne summit this June. But they stopped short of outlining concrete goals, leaving it up to the Commission to do so.

Securing the long-term stability and diversification of the Union's energy supplies has been one of the driving forces behind the idea.

Analysts predict that the EU will be forced to import 70&percent; of the gas it needs by 2020, up from 40&percent; today. Experts say the only way this increased demand can be met is by importing more from Russia, because current big suppliers such as Algeria and Norway do not have the capacity to raise production significantly while Russia has enormous potential to do so. It already produces about 500 million tonnes of gas a year and its known reserves are more than 85 times that amount.

Most of these reserves are in the Barents Sea region. With several possible routes for pipelines being examined, EU leaders are under pressure to forge common ground with Russia now to ensure long-term access to this energy.

Environmental concerns are providing a further impetus for a coordinated regional approach. Those pushing hardest to give EU policy a northern dimension see a mutual advantage for the Union and Moscow in working together to exploit Russia's minerals and other vast natural resources in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.

They are also seeking to guard against the potential threat posed by the eight Russian and two Lithuanian nuclear power stations which are within striking distance of the Union's eastern border.

Green campaigners are also putting pressure on the EU to make preserving the environmental integrity of the Baltic Sea - which is heavily used by shipping - a key part of its northern dimension strategy, and to take steps to protect the wide variety of wildlife in the area.

“This area is very vulnerable, and there are so many species there that are not found anywhere else,” said Marja Innanen, of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Finland.