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RELEASE 29 SEPTEMBER 2009, UPDATED 1 OCTOBER 2009
Newsletter 5/2009ESIN and FÖSS at Elba, Italy, 7-9 September 2009The European Small Islands Federation, ESIN, held its annual general meeting on the island, in the Tuscan archipelago, in Italy, in September.
Youth meetingThe event was opened in the municipality of Marciana Marina with a workshop intended for juveniles from Elba, with Ms. Eelin Hoffström acting as the coordinator on behalf of ESIN. The activities of ESIN were presented at the workshop, and the problems, inclusive their potential solutions, the local young people encounter on their island were deliberated. A point of interest was that several of the problems were quite similar to the ones encountered on other European islands; communications to the mainland and employment options were among the questions taken up. The solutions that the young people designed in the working groups were solutions specifically suited for Elba; at the same time they might give food for thought on islands in other regions of Europe. An idea, for example, that was brought forth was to take note of multiplicity in the context of developing employment options on the islands, instead of being caught just with one branch of trade, and by this way guaranteeing the economic survival of the islands. On 10 and 11 September, it was time for the local Insulae conference, with attendance of Italian island politicians. At the morning session on 10th of September also the results of the workshop intended for juveniles were presented. The presentation was given by Eelin Hoffström. The annual general meetingThe ninth annual general meeting of the European Small Islands Federation (ESIN) was held on the island of Elba, Italy, on 8 September 2009. FÖSS was represented by its chairperson Ms. Pirjo Hoffström and its executive manager ms. Kristin Mattsson. The Åland Islands was elected at the meeting as the tenth member of ESIN. The proxy of this new member is held by the organisation Företagsamma Skärgårdar (Enterprising Archipelagos), covering the six archipelago municipalities of the Åland Islands. It should also be noted that at the meeting FÖSS was praised for its website. Next year the annual general meeting of ESIN will be organised in Denmark.
ESIN chairperson Bengt Almkvist (1) and secretary Ann-Sophie Brosseau (2). FÖSS was represented by executive manager Kristin Mattsson (3), youth section chairperson Eelin Hoffström (4), members Magnus Hoffström (5) and Stefano Gozzi (6) as well as chairperson Pirjo Hoffström (7). More photos at our media bank: Project ESPONDuring the third day there was a meeting of the delegates from various countries, at which, among others, the project ESPON, in the context of which Greece gathers statistical data from various European islands, was presented. Mr. Jean-Didier Hash, an officer of CPMR, delivered an update regarding the status of islands in the framework of European policy-making. Professor Gionnis Spinalis informed about the research project ESPON (European Spatial Planning Observation Network). This project aims at contributing to the accumulation of knowledge about territorial development, trends and structures in Europe. A study project EUROISLANDS - The Development of the Islands - European Islands and Cohesion Policy, subordinated to ESPON invests in assembling characteristics concerning islands and their power of attraction for people and enterprises. In the context of this study tools are to be created with the aim at making islands more attractive. Islands and island societies are characterised by isolation at various levels, which results in heterogeneousness of problems and options, and also in heterogeneousness in intervening. Within the realm of the study project it has been analysed, on one side, what have been the reasons for the current state of affairs on the islands, and, on the other, what can and should be done for the islands, i.e. so called policy formations. The study will be indicative as regards the EU and its islands. It will lead to an added awareness concerning the European small islands, as well as to concrete schemes and recommendations with respect to their development. The study will result in:
Data has been gathered from, inter alia, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Denmark, and also from the European organisations Network of the Insular Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the European Union (INSULEUR), the Committee of Islands of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), and the European Small Islands Federation (ESIN). The study project is coordinated by the University of Aegean, Laboratory of Local & Island Development, by the University of Malta, and by the Centre for Regional and Tourism Research of Bornholm, Denmark. It was initiated in February 2009 and it will be terminated in June 2010. The fisheries policy of the European UnionAlso fisheries problems connected with the small islands of the Atlantic region were debated on Elba. The Finnish legislation regarding fisheries is depended upon the CFP, Common Fisheries Policy of EU. Thus, CFP means that all the EU member states are covered by these very same regulations. The basic principle of the CFP is that fishing within the territorial waters of the EU is a common issue for the member states. There are, however, certain exemptions from this principle. Thus, within the territorial waters of the EU fishing rights within coastal water zones (within 12 nautical miles from the base line) are reserved for fishermen from the state in question or for those who traditionally have fished there. The ministers responsible for fisheries in member states decide about the quotas, i.e. the amount of fish it is allowed to catch for example in the Baltic Sea. Later this autumn, a decision will be taken on the fishing quotas for the year 2010, on the basis, inter alia, of scientific recommendations. The green paper of the EU on the fisheries policyIn 2002 the EU established the common fisheries policy at the moment relevant within the Union. At the end of April this year the Commission of the EU stated is a green paper on fisheries policy that the Union has not up to now been overtly successful in its attempts to attain sustainable fishing levels. The green paper is a kind of a discussion guide that provides the base for the reformation work in the context of the common fisheries policy. Until 31 December 2009 any EU citizen is allowed to provide his or her view on how the common fisheries policy should be formulated in the future, for example by answering the various questions presented in the green paper. New regulations by 1 January 2013The new regulations concerning the common fisheries policy, CFP, are supposed to be carried into effect by 1 January 2013. The European Commission:
Additional informationFÖSS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FINNISH ISLANDS Executive manager Youth section chairperson Translation Seppo Leppä |
