The Baltic Market
The Baltic Sea region encompasses 11 countries with a total of 300 million inhabitants. It is a region full of contrasts, with nearly unlimited possibilities for companies seeking business opportunities.
Individually, the countries of the Baltic Sea region offer business advantages in different sectors and fields. Collectively, the region is a vast and growing market for any enterprise with the right business idea.
The aim of this site is to introduce to you the basic conditions for doing business in the Baltic Sea region. The information provided here has been compiled by partner organisations and institutions commissioned by the governments of the 11 Baltic Sea countries, and the sources of all information provided are governmental bodies.
The Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) has made every effort to ensure the quality of the information. The site will regularly be updated to reflect the latest legislation. However, the CBSS cannot assume responsibility for the information provided by third parties.
The Council
The Council of the Baltic Sea States is an overall political forum for regional inter-governmental cooperation. The Members of the Council are the eleven states of the Baltic Sea Region as well as the European Commission. The states are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and a representative from the European Commission. The role of the Council is to serve as a forum for guidance and overall coordination among the participating states. The foreign minister of the presiding country is responsible for coordinating the Council's activities and is assisted in this work by the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO).
The Council does not have a general budget or project fund. Members are responsible for funding common activities and/or for seeking and coordinating financing from other sources. Since 1998, the CBSS Member States have financed jointly the Permanent International Secretariat of the CBSS. To this end, the CBSS identifies political goals, creates action-plans, initiates projects and serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas concerning regional issues of common interest. The CBSS is responsible for overall co-ordination of intergovernmental cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region in accordance with the organisation's Terms of Reference.
As adopted in Riga in June 2008, in the context of the CBSS, the long-term priorities for Baltic Sea Region cooperation, without prejudging the right of initiative of any member, shall be as follows:
- environment, which may include climate change,
- economic development, which may include innovation and competitiveness and a favourable business environment, fostering entrepreneurship, cluster development, maritime economy, transport & logistics, research and development, customs cooperation and well-functioning labour markets,
- energy, which may include energy security, energy efficiency and saving, renewable energy and the impact of energy on the environment,
- education & culture, which may include the EuroFaculty concept, student and academic mobility, upgrade of science and research network capacity, cultural heritage, contemporary culture and the promotion of regional identity,
- civil security & the human dimension, which may include the fight against trafficking in human beings, the protection of children's rights, nuclear and radiation safety, civil protection, as well as consumer protection, youth affairs, people-to-people contacts and the promotion of tolerance.
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