Towards a Baltic Sea Region Strategy in Critical ... - Helsinki.fi

PREFACE
PREFACE
With the Commission Green Paper, published in November 2005, and Proposal for
a Directive of the Council from December 2006, a European dimension has
emerged in the field of critical infrastructure protection. The purpose of this study
is to contribute to the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection
from the specific perspective of the Baltic Sea Region.
All countries have their own national traditions, institutional structures,
policies and strategies, vocabulary, technical and methodological approaches and
so forth as to how they protect their critical infrastructures or vital societal
functions against different types of risks, threats and vulnerabilities.
The development towards a more integrated European critical infrastructure
protection is a clear challenge for the national models and strategies, which differ
from country to country. How would it be possible to combine the national and
European levels of critical infrastructure protection into a harmonized and
effective strategy?
Another challenge is the regional dimension. How, in the context of the EU-
27, would it be possible to take into account the particular regional cross-border
effects of critical infrastructure vulnerabilities as well as the specific features –
such as particular weather conditions, technological capabilities, political and
administrative systems, safety culture – of European sub-regions, such as the
Baltic Sea Region?
This study aims at discussing these issues from several angles. While it
draws a general picture of critical infrastructure protection in the region’s context,
it initiates discussion about the issue of whether a regional level of critical
infrastructure protection would be needed as an intermediate level between the
strategies of national governments and the European Union. This study also offers
some detailed case studies, showing the complexity of the issues at stake. It
provides information, arguments and proposals that hopefully will lead to even
more vigorous debates and discussion on critical infrastructure protection in
Europe and elsewhere and aims to contribute to much needed awareness-raising in
this field.
This study is the result of a generous grant from the European Commission
Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security. We owe special gratitude to the
Commission for its kind support and smooth cooperation, which helped us to start
a year-long cooperation between several partners.
The project started in December 2006 and was led by Dr. Christer Pursiainen
from Nordregio – Nordic Centre for Spatial Development, a joint Nordic institute
located in Stockholm, Sweden. Other contributing partners included University of
Helsinki, Aleksanteri Institute (Finland), Emergency Services College (Finland),
Geological Survey of Finland, Communications Laboratory of Helsinki University
of Technology (Finland) and INFRASTRUKTUR & UMWELT, Professor Böhm
und Partner (Germany). We have prepared the current study together with these
partners.
NORDREGIO REPORT 2007:5
IX