BALTIC SEAENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS No. 59 - Helcom

In earlier days it was unthinkable to give observer status to such organization within HELCOM, but
at a certain stage it was realised that the work of the Commission could benefit from more openness
towards these organizations.
With a couple of years observership from these organizations the Commission, as the first regional
organization, granted them full observer status and this initiative is now under application in other
regions.
Conclusion
I have been working within the Helsinki Convention process since 1973 as National Delegate, as Head
of Delegation, as Maritime Secretary and later as Executive Secretary of HELCOM and now as
Chairman of HELCOM so maybe I am somewhat biased when I look backwards on the achievements
from this process.
First of all I know that we have organized ourselves in a splendid way and I judge that from the fact
that the Commission has been able to cope with new and additional topics without changing the
structure of the basic set-up.
When I compare the results from HELCOM with the results from other regional organizations we
should not be ashamed, on the contrary ,we should be proud and happy of what we have achieved
under conditions that have been completely different from what is experienced in the other regions.
The professional standard of our work is very high and that is recognized also outside the region and
the same goes for the efficiency of the HELCOM Secretariat.
The co-operation within the Commission is constructive and pleasant and that goes for both delegations
and observers.
The host country of the Commission, the Republic of Finland, has always been very helpful to the
Commission and its Secretariat as well as the host country has financially supported the Commission
substantially.
So, all in all we should be quite confident when closing in on the twenty years anniversary next year,
however the confidence very much depend on whether we have solved our financial problems in
relation to the Commission’s budget and last but not least regarding the Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive
Environmental Action Programme.
11