The informal meeting of the Prime Ministers of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania was held on 21 – 22 January 2010, in Mežotne, Latvia.
The key issues for the Baltic cooperation in 2010, as announced during the Baltic Council on 27 November 2010, in Vilnius, Lithuania were discussed:
- economic stabilisation and increase of competitiveness;
- security policy;
- promotion of Baltic - Nordic cooperation.
It was confirmed that the outlined areas of cooperation are of great importance for comprehensive and sustainable development of the Baltic States.
Conclusions on the discussion:
Economic issues
- Special attention should be paid to the stabilisation of economies of the three countries. The necessity to achieve sustainable growth promoting competitiveness was underlined. EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region should be considered as a tool in reaching these goals.
- Cooperation in the financial and economic areas should be enhanced.
- More attention should be paid to tax coordination.
- The adoption of the Euro in the shortest possible time should be pursued.
Security
- Existing excellent cooperation on the new NATO Strategic Concept should be maintained to promote the Baltic States' interests in the discussions [including through consultations with Allies].
Baltic-Nordic cooperation
- Baltic cooperation needs to be strengthened in order to facilitate the NB8 format in meeting new global challenges, inter alia demographic changes
Areas of cooperation
- Efficient and competent cooperation of institutions of our countries in the key areas is of utmost importance. The effectiveness of the existing Committees of BCM has to be assessed.
- Committees of Senior Officials shall evaluate the effectiveness and future perspective of the existing formats and present annual reports by 1 September 2010.
- Ministries of Finance shall evaluate and initiate formalization of cooperation within the BCM in the form of a Committee of Senior Officials or a task force by 1 September 2010.
- Ministries of Welfare and Health shall by 1 September 2010 elaborate action plan/ terms of reference of a task force to cooperate on projects proposed by the Baltic Council of Ministers and the Baltic Assembly.
Forthcoming events
23-24 September - Formal meeting of the Baltic Council of Ministers in Riga. Concurrently, a conference on competitiveness of the region, with the presence of the Prime Ministers of the Baltic countries envisaged at the opening session.
