The Sixth Senior Officials Meeting of the Renewed Northern Dimension

The sixth meeting of the Senior Officials of the renewed Northern Dimension took place in Brussels on 5 March 2019. The meeting was hosted on a rotative basis by the European Union and attended by the Senior Officials of the four Northern Dimension partners – the European Union, Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation.

The Northern Dimension participants; the regional councils, international financial institutions and other representatives involved in Northern Dimension cooperation also participated in the meeting. Belarus, Canada and the USA attended the meeting as observers.

The Senior Officials exchanged views and discussed the development within the Northern Dimension since the Senior Officials Meeting held in Reykjavik in 2016.

The Northern Dimension Partnershio on Culture (NDPC) was represented in the meeting by its Senior Adviser Ilze Gailīte-Holmberg who addressed the Steering Group speaking about NDPC's activities and future plans. The Senior Officials acknowledged the further development of the NDPC and its potential towards growth of the cultural and creative industries sector in the area. They welcomed the partnership's continued work on network development, knowledge building and policy exchange. They welcomed the NDPC initiated studies in creative innovation and cultural tourism and linking these studies to hands–on work with practitioners, as well as the development of synergies with other cultural and creative initiatives in the region. They called on national ministries and relevant regional actors to further cooperate in support of the work of the NDPC and to further support and build on on-going activities between NDPC partners' organisations. They welcomed the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Secretariat of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture, to be hosted in Riga; welcomed the appointment of the new Head of the Secretariat and positively evaluated the progress achieved in drafting the Host Country Agreement. They greeted the success of the partnership's Annual Forums in St. Petersburg, and called on the partnership to continue close cooperation with the Northern Dimension Institute, the Northern Dimension Business Council and relevant regional cooperation structures, such as the regional councils, to further regional and cross-sectorial links.

The Chair's conclusions can be viewed here.

Presentations and photo gallery are available here.