Each year one Member State takes over the Presidency in the Strategy. This means overall strategic guidance, facilitation of decision-making and coordination of the NC group with the support from the European Commission and the Baltic Strategy Point. The rotating presidency lasts for one year starting from July and ending in June.
The current Presidency holder in the EUSBSR National Coordinators Group is Sweden (July 2022 - June 2023).
Swedish Presidency of the EU Strategy of the Baltic Sea Region: implementation, visibility, awareness
Sweden holds the Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region from 1 July 2022 until 30 June 2023. Work during the Presidency is mainly focusing on strengthening and developing implementation of the Strategy and its Action Plan, including by developing new forms of cooperation, spreading knowledge of how the Strategy contributes to societal development and creating the conditions that enable more people to take part in cooperation within the Strategy.
Focus areas of the Presidency
The Presidencies of the past three years focused on drawing up, gaining acceptance for and formalising a new Action Plan. One important focus of the Swedish Presidency is to ensure that the Action Plan is put into practice and implemented in all policy areas to the greatest possible extent. Regional cooperation in the Baltic Sea region must be developed and supported, and Sweden wants to contribute to this.
Another important issue is to improve the visibility of the Strategy and to communicate it externally.
A third issue that Sweden will particularly focus on is to provide support and awareness raising initiatives. Both institutional and individual capacities must be enhanced. Public authorities and organisations must cooperate to jointly achieve targets and indicators.
The Swedish Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region will promote cooperation on all levels by focusing on strengthening implementation, increasing exchanges of experience, improving communication and offering more professional development.
Among other priorities defined by Sweden for the Presidency year are the following:
- Funding
- Capacity building
- Supporting Ukraine
Read about the Swedish EUSBSR Presidency also on the website of the Governmental Offices of Sweden.
Upcoming Presidencies:
(according to the Rules of Procedure of the National Coordinators Group):
| July 2023 - June 2024 | Latvia |
| July 2024 - June 2025 | Poland |
| July 2025 - June 2026 | Estonia |
| July 2026 - June 2027 | Denmark |
| July 2027 - June 2028 | Finland |
| July 2028 - June 2029 | Germany |
| July 2029 - June 2030 | Lithuania |
Past Presidencies:
| July 2021 - June 2022 | Lithuania |
| July 2020 - June 2021 | Germany |
| July 2019 - June 2020 | Finland |
| July 2018 - June 2019 | Denmark |
| July 2017 - June 2018 | Estonia |
| July 2016 - June 2017 | Sweden |
| July 2015 - June 2016 | Poland |
| January - June 2015 | Latvia |
| July - December 2014 | Estonia |
| January - June 2014 | Finland |
| July - December 2013 | Lithuania* |
*N.b. Lithuania was formally not NC-chair but acted as one and coordinated the Baltic Sea Region Member States as president of the Friends of the Presidency group for macro-regional strategies and helped establish the first “NCP-guidelines” December 2013.