Executive Board Meeting of the Euroregion Baltic - 26-27.09.2023

Members of Euroregion Baltic met at the ERB Executive Board meeting, which took place in Brussels on September 26 and 27, 2023.

Representatives of Euroregion Baltic, who took part in the meeting, among others:

• Poland (Association of Polish Municipalities Euroregion Baltic, Marshal's Office of Pomorskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeships),
• Sweden (Kronoberg, Blekinge, Kalmar)
• Denmark (Bornholm)
• Lithuania (Klaipeda)

On the first day, a meeting was held on the European Union's cohesion policy, structural funds and their statutes.

During the meeting, participants were able to learn about the regional offices and how they work for the regions

The ERB Board was opened by the current ERB President, Mikael Benzon, who welcomed all guests and presented the plan for the meeting. A representative of the Marshal's Office of Warmia and Mazury, Mr. Lukasz Bielewski, informed the participants about the current statute of work on the convention and the outline of the Statute. The next item was a presentation of the financial situation of the organization, which was presented by Mr. Marcin Żuchowski. Mr. Bielewski, as a representative of Euroregion Baltic in the Monitoring Commission of the Interreg South Baltic program, informed about the current situation of the program.

In addition to members of the technical secretariats and politicians, the meeting was attended by young people from the Euroregion Baltic Youth Council, for whom this was the first meeting in physical form in a long time. The voice of the youth was not to be missed, as they presented the activities of the ERB Youth Council and new members of the group were introduced.

The scheduled meeting of the technical secretariats of the ERB was held to discuss the future of the Euroregion, which is to be transformed into an EGTC organization in the future. In addition, the topic of the task forces that operate within the ERB (Water Group, Transport Group, or Task Force - Climate Change and Green Transition) was discussed.

As part of the promotion of the WaterMan project, the participants were presented with the activities carried out so far and the goals and objectives to be realized. Mr. Tobias Facchini, as Leader of the Water Group, via remote connection, presented the current situation and work on the main activities.
Among other things, the activity related to the pilot in Braniewo was mentioned, where, with the cooperation of scientists from the Gdansk University of Technology, work will be carried out on the Municipal Swimming Pool to reduce the use of drinking water and close the circulation of water already used. The main goal of the project is to promote the reuse of water and its sustainable use.

Mr. Robert Hedman, as the main person in charge of the Task Force group, presented the group's activities to date and opportunities for development. All members of the Euroregion were invited to the next meeting of the Group scheduled for 23.11.23.

Mr. Slawomir Demkowicz-Dobrzanski presented the plan for the next Board meetings for 2024. Decisions were made on specific dates that suited all participants.

The meeting of the Board of the Euroregion Baltic was attended by two representatives of the Association in the form of the Chairman Mr. Witold Wróblewski, the PResident of the City of Elblag and the Director of the Secretariat Mr. Marcin Żuchowski.