HELCOM

<p>The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) is an<br /> intergovernmental organization of the nine<br /> Baltic Sea coastal countries and the<br /> EU and a regional environmental policy<br /> maker in the Baltic Sea area. HELCOM’s<br /> work on the protection of the marine<br /> environment is based on the globally<br /> agreed ecosystembased approach to the<br /> management of human activities.<br /> Eight of the nine HELCOM countries are<br /> also members of the European Union which<br /> gives reason for HELCOM to link<br /> tightly to European policies.<br /> As the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan<br /> (BSAP) and the EU Marine Strategy<br /> Framework Directive (MSFD) both have the<br /> same goal – good environmental status<br /> (GES) of the marine environment by 2021<br /> and 2020, respectively – HELCOM’s<br /> activities have been aligned so as to<br /> implement synergistically both the Plan<br /> and the Directive.<br /> The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive<br /> states very clearly that regional marine<br /> commissions, like HELCOM in the Baltic<br /> Sea, should play a key role in regionally<br /> coordinating its implementation. To ensure<br /> this, the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting, held<br /> in Moscow in May 2010, agreed to<br /> establish the role of HELCOM as a platform<br /> for the regional implementation of the<br /> Directive. HELCOM is also involved as a<br /> member in the EU MSFD Working Group on<br /> Data, Information and Knowledge Exchange<br /> (WG DIKE). </p>