Safety at sea and maritime policy

Meeting with Commisioner Danuta Hübner, EU Comission 19.11.07 on Safety at Sea and Northern Maritime Corridor.

Dear Madam Commissioner.

I appreciate this opportunity to continue the constructive dialogue with the Commission on Regional Development issues. I would also like to bring you greetings from Minister Haga and Minister Kleppa.

Minister Kleppa asked me to take part in this meeting as we from a Norwegian regional policy point of view, put great emphasis on the issues addressed by the two projects Safety at Sea and Northern Maritime Corridor.

Maritime policy is central to the EU and to Norway. The work on the Blue book on maritime policy is something we follow with great interest in Norway. Maritime policy is also an area where different levels of government work well together in Norway.

The dialogue on maritime policy between Norway and the EU is something that we emphasise strongly.

The lessons learned from the projects Safety at Sea and Northern Maritime Corridor should be followed up and further built on to improve maritime accessibility, crisis response and economic development along our coasts. I think that the new generation of INTERREG programmes will benefit from the findings and results of these two projects-

The Norwegian Mission to the EU organizes a seminar tomorrow, inviting a broad range of actors within the field of maritime politics. I am sure that the excellent co-operation between Norway and the European Union within this field will continue to bear fruits and I wish the project partners from NMC and Safety at Sea all the best with their continued work.