Peipsi Forum VII: Cross-border cooperation on the EU external borders

On December 2-3, 2009, it was already the seventh occasion for the Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation to organise the Peipsi Forum in Tartu, Estonia. This time, it was entitled "Cross-border cooperation on the EU external borders: Environment, use of shared natural resources and regional development".

Peipsi Forum is a regular event that brings together major stakeholders in the regional development and cross-border cooperation in the Estonian – Russian border area but this year participants came also from other Baltic Sea region countries and even transboundary Dniester River region (Moldova-Ukraine).

Most of the Estonian – Russian border area is occupied by the Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe, the fourth largest lake in Europe in terms of surface area. This is why issues concerning the transboundary water management have always been an important topic on the Peipsi forums’ agenda. This topic was especially important at this Peipsi Forum 2009, the year which was announced by the United Nations as Year of Transboundary Waters.

In earlier years, discussions at Peipsi Forum focused mostly on topics of the local cross-border cooperation but since 2004 Estonia became a member of the EU and the Estonian – Russian border area is now EU external border; more attention at Forums was paid to the discussions on implementation of the EU strategies and initiatives in this region. The EU policies increasingly affect not only economic and social development on the Estonian side of the border area but also the dynamics and character of the cross-border cooperation with Russia.

This year around 90 participants of Peipsi Forum discussed on topics of the EU Baltic Sea Strategy, adopted by the European Commission in 2009, the EU Neighbourhood Policy and the EU Eastern Partnership. You can read more on Peipsi Forum at: http://www.ctc.ee

Information provided by Margit Säre, Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation, margit@ctc.ee