Legal elements of the BeaC
Legal elements of the BeaC
The BEAC has its own establishing international instrument – the Kirkenes Declaration – and has produced several documents since its inception, most of which are ambiguous in terms of creating obligations on its members. The Kirkenes Declaration is not an international treaty. The Declaration states some common problems of the Barents Region and makes general promises concerning cooperation rather than creating any legally binding obligations. Following the introduction, there are sections on the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and its objectives: participation and area of application, the environment, economic cooperation, scientific and technical cooperation, regional infrastructure, indigenous peoples, human contacts and cultural relations, and tourism. None of the parts actually creates legal obligations. However, in the course of time, the promises contained in the Declaration The BEAC has its own establishing international instrument – the Kirkenes Declaration – and has produced several documents since its inception, most of which are ambiguous in terms of creating obligations on its members. The Kirkenes Declaration is not an international treaty. The Declaration states some common problems of the Barents Region and makes general promises concerning cooperation rather than creating any legally binding obligations. Following the introduction, there are sections on the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and its objectives: participation and area of application, the environment, economic cooperation, scientific and technical cooperation, regional infrastructure, indigenous peoples, human contacts and cultural relations, and tourism. None of the parts actually creates legal obligations. However, in the course of time, the promises contained in the Declaration
The signatories of the declaration affirmed their commitments with respect to the declaration on global environment and sustainable development (Rio Declaration ) and the rights of indigenous peoples (Agenda , chapter ) articulated in international law (Kirkenes Declaration , ’The Barents Euro-Arctic Council and its objectives’ and ‘Indigenous peoples’). They have committed themselves to strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation, as mandated by the OSPAR Convention (Convention on Marine Environment ) and the Espoo Convention (Environmental Impact Assessment Convention ), to protect the fragile environment of the region (Kirkenes Declaration , ’The environment’ and ‘economic cooperation’).
The BEAC has its Terms of Reference which create obligations on the member states to a limited extent. For example, the Terms impose all financial responsibilities with respect to the arrangement of meetings of the BEAC on the host country (BEAC Terms of Reference , section ), which the states have followed up to this day. There is a provision that prevents the members from infringing on any international legal or even political obligations by participating in the Cooperation; this provision expresses the intention of the
parties not to breach any binding obligations (BEAC Terms of Reference , section ) . It provides less authority by using ‘will’ or ‘will not’ in the provisions instead of stronger words like ‘shall’ or ‘shall not’. Subsequently, it has included words that make the provisions flexible: ‘will normally be conducted’ (BEAC Terms of Reference , section ) ‘will normally convene’ (BEAC Terms of Reference , section 5). Furthermore, it leaves room for options by using terms like ‘may decide’ (BEAC Terms of Reference , section ). 10
10 Section 11 reads: “The Council and its working bodies may decide to invite special participants, guests or observers to contribute to its work. This may include representatives of regions, sub-regions and international organizations.”
The BEAC meetings, other than the first one, which drafted the constituent declaration, have adopted either a joint communiqué or a report. The exception is the Declaration adopted by the Heads of Government at BEAC’s ten-year anniversary in (Barents Summit Declaration ). However, the words chosen in phrasing those instruments (the constituent declaration, joint statements, joint communiqués and summit declaration) may be categorized in three groups in terms of the level of obligation they create: simple recognition or appreciation (examples of words in this category are ‘recognizes’, ‘takes note of ’, ‘encourages enhanced cooperation’, ‘expresses its appreciation’, ‘welcomes’, ‘appreciates the activities’ and ‘notes the active role’); serious concern but loose commitment (phrases like ‘continues to pay special attention’, ‘underlines the need to address’, ‘emphasizes the importance’, ‘commends the enhanced cooperation’ and ‘believes that’); and intent to do
a little (e.g., ‘supports efforts to further improve’, ‘stresses the urgent need to affirm’, ‘Parties should’, ‘reaffirms its willingness’ and ‘considers the application of ’). In fact, none of the words or phrases used in the instruments is sufficient to create real commitments or binding obligations on the member states. The BEAC’s commitments and support for certain international legal instruments can be evaluated as facilitating compliance with international law.
the Barents regional Council
The regional governments of the Barents Region and the Sami Council established the Barents Regional Council (BRC) by signing a co-operational protocol (Protocol Agreement ) aimed at promoting basic day-to-day cooperation in the region (Kozyrev , 45; Holst 4). In fact, the BRC was established at the same place on the same day as the BEAC, and it was created with the same aims and objectives. It is true that the absence of participation in the BRC by national governments gives it a lower organizational and legal standard than the BEAC; however, international cooperation through sub- national governments is very important in addressing local issues in a region where the national capitals are far away in the south.
organizational elements of the BrC
The organizational framework of the BRC includes members and an Executive Regional Committee (and observers to a limited extent). The members of the BRC are sub-national governments in the Barents Region: three from Norway - Nordland Fylke, Troms Fylke and Finnmark Fylke; two from Sweden - Västerbotten Län and Norrbotten Län; three from Finland - Kainuu, Oulu and Lapland; and five from Russia - Murmansk Oblast, the Republic of Karelia,
Arkhangelsk Oblast, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and the Republic of Komi. 11 The seven regional governments 12 , along with the Sami Council, that adopted the statutory protocol are considered to be permanent members of the BRC. The chairmanship of the BRC rotates among the member regions every other year (Protocol Agreement , section 4). The BRC meets twice a year.
The idea of observer status, which is fairly new in the BRC, can be seen as a way of involving new regions in its activities without granting them membership. In fact, the BRC refused to grant membership to North Karelia, having made a decision not to include any new members for a five-year period (BEAC Report , p. 5), then approved observer status for North Karelia in .
The BRC has a central functional unit, the Executive Regional Committee (RC), which consists of advisors, mainly subordinate officials, from regional governments of the member regions along with the Sami Council in order to generate new business and follow up approved projects (Protocol Agreement , section 4). The region that holds the chairmanship of the BRC also holds the chair of the RC at the same time.