1 Cross-border opportunities in the Barents Region: A new scope for action in the high north PhD Regis Rouge-Oikarinen Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland regis.rouge- Rovaniemi

1. Borderlands and barriers in the Barents Region ; 2. CBC and founding programs in the High North; 3. Thinking and working transnationally; 4. Implications and new opportunities for cross border activities; 2

3  Concepts of the border A. The physical barrier B. The border as networked C. The narrated or symbolic border D. Political-technological borders

 Ecological change & historical symbolism of river or sea boundaries (e.g. Barents Sea, Pats river);  Economic, geopolitical and cultural divides; 4

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7  Concepts of the border A. The physical barrier B. The border as networked C. The narrated or symbolic border D. Political-technological borders

 Deeper in space (at different level);  Restricted mobility for some;  Across and within the national territories; 8

9 Romanian gipsy family in Lyon (2010)

10  Concepts of the border A. The physical barrier B. The border as networked C. The narrated or symbolic border D. Political-technological borders

 Borders are socially constructed;  Us vs. other – identity vs. alterity ;  Understanding of borders; 11

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13 Eetu Isto (1899):” Hyökkäys” (attack)

14  Concepts of the border A. The physical barrier B. The border as networked C. The narrated or symbolic border D. Political-technological borders

 Heterogeneous assemblage of discursive and non discursive practices;  biopolitical borders; 15

 Important practical means of integrating post- communist states into European social and political economy;  Destabilising existing geopolitical imaginations;  Pioneering role: - bringing new formal institutional arrangemet; - transforming peripheral regions; - creation of new political/territorial spaces => Euroregions; 16

border regions in the year 2000 See Perkmann M. (2003). ”Cross-border Regions in Europe: Significance and Drivers of Cross-Border Cooperation”

 Founding programs/actions in the Barents Region: Finland's /Norway’s cooperation with neighboring areas; Northern Dimension; Eurorussia; Euregio Karelia; BEAR & BEAC; Arctic council; CBSS; Nefco; EBRD & IMF; EU; 18

19 Finland's cooperation with neighboring areas: In the years from 1990 to 2009, Finland allocated about 293 million (€) to projects carried out jointly with Russia; Finland's neighboring area cooperation with Russia is based on an agreement between the countries, signed in 1992; The cooperation focuses on Northwest Russia, especially the Republic of Karelia, the Leningrad and Murmansk oblasts and St Petersburg. Economic cooperation in particular can be conducted also with other regions in Russia that are important for Finland;

20 -The Northern Dimension policy aims to support stability, welfare and sustainable development in the region by means of practical cooperation; -The ND is an instrument through which the European Union, Russia, Norway and Iceland cooperate in selected fields, such as the environment and nuclear safety or social welfare and health care issues; -The ND also addresses questions that specifically concern the northern areas, such as the vulnerable Arctic environment and matters related to indigenous peoples. The Northern Dimension: US

21 EuroRussia: - EuroRussia is a private-public development programme; - EuroRussia is a networking project where Russian and EU economy and enterprises network with each other; - The objective of the EuroRussia programme is to become concrete and significant EU Northern Dimension project;

22 See: & Further information: Euregio Karelia encompasses Finland's three provinces (Kainuu, North Karelia and Northern Ostrobothnia) and the Republic of Karelia; - Euregio Karelia encompasses Finland's three provinces (Kainuu, North Karelia and Northern Ostrobothnia) and the Republic of Karelia; -It forms a cooperative regional forum for cross border cooperation. Euregio Karelia was founded ; - Euregio Karelia was founded to deepen programme and project-based cross- border cooperation in order to bring strategic and political guidance into the cooperation; - Euregio Karelia was founded to deepen programme and project-based cross- border cooperation in order to bring strategic and political guidance into the cooperation;

23 BEAR & BEAC The Barents Euro-Arctic Council (1993) includes representatives from the governments of the Nordic Countries and Russia, and the EU Commission. Several observers from other countries also participate in the Council’s activities. Important areas for co-operation include economic issues, transportation, environmental protection, social and health issues, rescue services, cultural activities, youth programmes and tourism. oschyr.pdf

24 BEAR & BEAC Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) is the forum for intergovernmental cooperation in the Barents Region. BEAC was established in 1993 in order to "provide impetus to existing cooperation and consider new initiatives and proposals“; BEAC wishes to provide you with extensive information about the history of the co-operation, its organisational structure, terms of reference and basic documents. And also information about the Region itself, maps, photos etc; Co-operation in the Barents Euro-Arctic region also operates at the regional level. The Barents Euro-Arctic Regional Council consists of representatives from the following regional authorities: Finland: the Provinces of Lapland, Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu, Norway: the Provinces of Finnmark, Nordland and Troms, Sweden: the Provinces of Norrbotten and Västerbotten, Russia: the Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, the Archangel Oblast, the Murmansk Oblast, and the Autonomous Nenets District.

25 Arctic Council The Ottawa Declaration of 1996 formally established the Arctic Council as a high level intergovernmental forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, with the involvement of the Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic; Member States of the Arctic Council are Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America;

26 Council of the Baltic Sea States CBSS 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.

27 NEFCO  NEFCO is an international financial institution established by the five Nordic countries;  NEFCO finances investments and projects primarily in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus, in order to generate positive environmental effects of interest to the Nordic region; 

28  NEFCO's field of action covers Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic Countries and Belarus. NEFCO's newly established carbon fund, NeCF, can finance projects across the world;  NEFCO is engaged in a wide variety of project types all with significant local and regional positive environmental impacts. For reasons of statistics the projects are divided into a number of categories as listed below. Water and Sewerage Industry/Cleaner Technology Environmental Services Energy Consultancy

29 EBRD & IMF The EBRD and Russia => Modernisation, competitiveness and diversification of the real economy will be the overarching priorities of the EBRD in Russia. This will be supported by active infrastructure development and efficient financing mechanisms. => Energy efficiency will become an integral part of the business of each sector of EBRD activity in Russia. The Bank will address the demand side of energy use by reducing waste of energy and greenhouse emissions in all sectors, which will be important to support corporate competitiveness and combat climate change. Strategy:

30 IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

 Founding programs/actions in the Barents Region: Finland's /Norway’s cooperation with neighboring areas; Northern Dimension; Eurorussia; Euregio Karelia; BEAR & BEAC; Arctic council; CBSS; Nefco; EBRD & IMF; EU; 31

 The EU-Tacis program as a tool for the neighbourhood cooperation between Russia and Finland during

 Trade and economic cooperation: liberalisation of trade based on most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment and the elimination of quantitative restrictions; legislative harmonisation;  Co-operation in science & technology, energy, environment, transport, space and a range of other civil sectors  Political dialogue: on international issues of mutual concern and on cooperation relating to observance of the principles of democracy and human rights  Justice and Home Affairs: Co-operation to prevent illegal activities, trafficking in drugs, money laundering and organised crime. 33

 In the long term: => promoting democracy in the neighborhood * ; => supporting the development of market economy;  In the short term: technical and humanitarian assistance & improving infrastructure; * See e.g. The Reluctant Debutante: The EU as Promoter of Democracy in its Neighborhood. CEPS Working paper no. 223/ July

The INTERREG IVC supports two thematic priorities:  Priority 1. Innovation and the knowledge economy Priority 1  Priority 2. Environment and the risk prevention Priority 2  Lisbon and Gothenburg agendas; 35

Some outcomes from the Finnish-Russian experiences of CBC:  categorization of cross-border cooperation activities along the Finnish-Russian border and pattern of the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation (CBC);  implications for the integration of the Finnish-Russian borderland;  meaning of the current border regime for CBC- activities;  the (non)importance of cultural differences/ language barriers; 36

37 The institutionalization of EU (Tacis) cross-border cooperation among Russian partners

38 The institutionalization of EU (Tacis) cross-border cooperation among Russian partners 1

39 The institutionalization of EU (Tacis) cross-border cooperation among Russian partners 2

40 The institutionalization of EU (Tacis) cross-border cooperation among Russian partners 3

 location/quality of the management of CBC => close enough to its participants: - cooperation based on local needs; - truly mutual cooperation;  major results of “transnationalism” in CBC - shaping/ changing stances; - development of human capital; - expansion of scope for action; 41

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 The cross-border Region is a reality only for a small group of people both at formal and informal level;  the circle of people who are active in cross-border interaction is rather small;  only 39% of the interviewees seemed to perceive a (new) common border region;  According to 51% of the interviewees EU’s co-operation succeeded at least to bring people together across the border; 43

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 no major obstacles for economic activities;  allows cooperation;  a guarantor of safety;  setting a visa free regime desirable; 45

 46% experienced strong disagreements;  According to 44 % of the respondents the Finnish partner didn’t pay attention to the socioeconomic challenges posed by transition;  the language barrier is not insuperable=> partner shared a common language of knowledge and science; 46

Opportunities for Cross Border Activities in the short run: 1. In particularly for Lapland’s economic life : - trade, timber, building and road construction; - mining technology and shipbuilding industry; - cross-border tourism; 2. and for all the social groups (i.a. authorities & NGO) - Creative industries: i.e. music, arts, fashion, crafts, advertising, publishing, design, architecture, technology and social media; 47

Implications for Cross Border Activities in the Barents Region:  How to approach Barents communities to each other?  People-to-people cooperation around common challenges;  How to establish a “supraregional” space in the High North?  A comprehensive information system for the Barents Region;  Popularizing and targeting information; Opportunities for the libraries in the Barents Region:  connecting & disseminating;  common place of (Barents) knowledge; 48

 Questions /Comments/Suggestions 49