Conference of the Baltic Assembly Development of Human Resources under Conditions of Labour Migration , Final Document of the Conference, 18 May 2007, Sigulda, Latvia [18 May 2007]

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On18 May 2007, members of the Baltic Assembly, Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Baltic States, and members of the Nordic parliaments gathered in Sigulda, Latvia, at the theme conference of the Baltic Assembly on "Development of Human Resources under Conditions of Labour Migration" in order to discuss issues related to labour migration, return of migrated human resources, and increasing the labour efficiency in the Baltic States.

Participants of the Baltic Assembly's conference take into consideration the fact that Europe's population is aging and the size of the labour force is decreasing; however, in other regions and continents populated by millions of people – for example, Asia – the number of inhabitants is rapidly increasing, and there is a high proportion of young people, the future labour force. It means that all countries in the Baltic region have to join their efforts in solving problems related to strengthening families, raising the standard of living, and improving the quality and efficiency of their human resources in order to be competitive in the global labour market. Investment in human resources and technologies is the cornerstone of competitiveness in all EU member states, and it is one of our main long-term tasks.

Labour force migration

The Baltic Assembly conference:

acknowledges that free movement of labour from the new EU member states, including the Baltic States, is an issue related to EU's basic freedoms and also a social, economic and political issue which creates changes in the structure of the national labour force, causes the drain of highly qualified workers, depletes the labour force in certain spheres of the national economy and facilitates the rapid growth of salaries, which sometimes is not conducive to labour efficiency, creates social tensions and threatens the sustainability of the social welfare system in our countries;
emphasises that, first of all, it is particularly essential for each country to work out timely and sustainable solutions in forming migration policy and to coordinate cooperation of institutions involved in solving the problems related to migration policy;
encourages strengthening international cooperation in dealing with migration issues by sharing information and carrying out in the Baltic, Nordic and Benelux countries specific tasks aimed at sustainable development, as well as by taking advantage of benefits offered by free movement of labour.

Return of the labour force

The Baltic Assembly conference:

urges that relations with diasporas in their destination countries be maintained and strengthened on order to retain ties with potential reemigrants;
supports initiatives in promoting the return of people to their native country and their reintegration into the local labour market;
stresses that it is particularly essential for member states to implement a balanced regional development policy aimed at developing entrepreneurship, infrastructure and the transportation system, as well as to promote labour mobility within the country;
notes that a more flexible application of vocational and higher education would make it possible to respond more adequately to the needs and demands of the labour market;
recommends that greater attention be paid to the problems faced by certain groups of inhabitants – young and pre-pension age persons – for whom systemic unemployment problems are the most painful.

Increasing labour efficiency

The Baltic Assembly conference:

acknowledges that increasing labour force efficiency is one of the main guarantors for balanced development and rapid increase of the welfare level in any country and urges that EU funds be purposefully invested in developing human resources and increasing their efficiency;
supports closer cooperation between researchers and the private sector in order to strengthen a knowledge-based and innovative economy and urges the governments to promote businesses which offer new products and services with high added value;
emphasises that growing opportunities to work via the Internet, a rapid increase of available information and other conditions characteristic of the modern era necessitate the countries to constantly expand and raise human potential, as well as to diversify skills and abilities by studying and developing oneself throughout one's active life, i.e., to ensure appropriate lifelong learning opportunities;
calls on the countries of the Baltic region to determine which changes are necessary for dynamic transformation of the education system in order to meet labour market needs, as well as to develop and implement the most appropriate models for the use of human resources.