On 4th May 2021, the Steering Group of PA Secure gathered for its 15th meeting, which, due to the pandemic, was held online. Participants from 9 Baltic Sea Region countries were present at the meeting. The representative from the European Commission, Mr. Petri Koistinen (DG Regio) addressed the meeting with a presentation about the status of the updated EUSBSR Action Plan and the Commission’s priorities 2021-2027. Mr. Koistinen pointed out that in the filed of societal security, where PA Secure operates, more focus should be put on raising political commitments, encouraging participation of civil society and youth.
After the traditional updates by the Policy Area Coordinators, the members of the Steering Group presented their national activities in the filed of societal security and updates on the implementation of the Joint Position on Enhancing Cooperation in the Civil Protection Area.
Specially invited guest speakers, Taina Hanhikoski (SPEK) and Tuula Luoma (Red Cross) presented two projects’ results, both exploring the role of volunteer organisations in building resilience: ReSit and Baltprep. The members welcomed the CBSS Secretariat’s initiative, based on the final report from the ReSit project – to work on a concept of a volunteer organisations network in the Baltic Sea Region.
The Steering Group supported the Finnish initiative to structure the cooperation under Priorities 3, 4 and 6 of the Joint Position by introducing sub-groups.
It was agreed to meet for the next interactive session in September 2021.