The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC)

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference takes place once a year and gathers parliamentarians from ten national parliaments, seven regional parliaments and five interparliamentary organisations around the Baltic Sea. The first Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference was held in Helsinki in 1991.

The BSPC website

Adopts resolutions

At the annual conference, the parliamentarians deal with specific policy areas that are important to the region. These include, for example, the environment, energy, the labour market, health and welfare. During the conferences, the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) also presents its work and its priorities. The CBSS is an organisation for cooperation between the governments in the Baltic Sea region.

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference cannot take any decisions that are binding for the member states. Instead, the parliamentarians adopt non-binding resolutions with political recommendations to the governments in the cooperating member states.

The Standing Committee is the permanent political body of the Conference. Its primary task is to prepare the annual conference and to follow up resolutions.

Work is also conducted in working groups, where the members prepare reports and political recommendations in various policy areas. There are also specially appointed rapporteurs, with the task of monitoring various policy areas.

The Swedish delegation

The Speaker appoints the Swedish delegation after consulting the party group leaders in the Riksdag for one term of office, that is four years. The delegation consists of five members, including a chair and a deputy chair.

Each year, the delegation gives an account of its activities as part of the Nordic Council's annual report. The report is considered by the Committee on Foreign Affairs and a debate is held in the Chamber.

The members of the Riksdag delegation to the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference