The 7th biennial Baltic Sea States Summit will be held on 3 and 4 June in Riga, Latvia. Reform of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region will both feature on the Summit agenda. The European Union firmly believes that the Summit will result in a more effective CBSS and looks forward to working with it as an important actor in the region.

The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) has a fundamental role to play in a region where the EU also interacts with three other partners – Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation. Together with those partners, the EU is engaged in developing the Northern Dimension policy. Joe Borg, the European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, will be representing Commission President José Manuel Barroso at the Summit on 4th June 2008. This is an opportunity for Commissioner Borg to forge closer links with political leaders and stakeholders in the region and to receive further valuable input as the Commission continues to make strides towards launching the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

"It is important for me to attend this Summit, which will certainly provide me with valuable insight into the challenges and opportunities ahead for this vibrant region and how the new, developing Integrated Maritime Policy can contribute towards its sustainable development." said Commissioner Borg.

The discussions on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region at the Summit will take stock of the progress made hitherto and look ahead to how the ambitions for the region can be realised and specific courses of action formulated to that end. The Strategy will be action-oriented, simple and flexible, to allow for other objectives to be added under an annual review. It will give a sharper focus to the opportunities and challenges offered by the Baltic Sea Region , and will therefore be instrumental in increasing the EU’s engagement in that region.

The Commissioner will appeal to all stakeholders in the region – be they from EU or non-EU Member States – to air their views.