50th MEETING OF THE UBC EXECUTIVE BOARD

PÄRNU, 26 SEPTEMBER 2007

Memo

The Executive Board meeting in Pärnu was chaired by Per Bodker Andersen, President of UBC. The meeting was mostly devoted to the General Conference in Pärnu (GC). The Board discussed the rules of procedure for the GC. The first day of the GC was planned to discuss three main topics: Cities’ response to the climate change, Culture as a driving force for municipal development, Involvement of youth in democracy and in the life of the society. The second day was planned for internal UBC matters such as reports, elections, finances etc.

PLENARY SESSION
The following speakers were invited for Plenary Session:
Mr Mart Viisitamm, Mayor of the City of Pärnu
Mr Per Bødker Andersen, President of the Union of the Baltic Cities
Ambassador Valdis Krastins, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Latvia
Mr Jüri Ratas, Vice President of Riigikogu – the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia
Mr Alan Lloyd, Vice-President of the Bureau of the Congress of Local & Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
Mr Uno Aldegren, President of RELEX commission, on behalf of the President of the Committee of the Regions, Mayor of Dunkerque, Michel Delebarre
Mr Toivo Klaar, representative of the European Commission, Head of Representation in Estonia
Mr Xosé António Sánchez Bugallo, Mayor of Santiago de Compostela, President of the Conference of Atlantic Arc Cities
Mr Michel Sudarskis, Secretary General of International Urban Development Association INTA

CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
The following workshops were planned concurrently after the plenary session:
I. Cities’ response to the climate change.
Workshop introduced by prof. Björn G. Karlsson, Institute of Technology, Division Energy Systems, University of Linköping
II. Culture as driving force for municipal development.
Workshop introduced by Ms Marie-Louise Rönnmark, 1st Vice-President of the Union of the Baltic Cities, Mayor of Umea

III. Involvement of youth in democracy and in the life of the society.
Workshop introduced by Charlotte Gustafsson, Chairperson of the UBC Commission on Youth Issues, Kalmar

The following items were planned to be treated at the General Assembly:

Meetings of the Commissions
Report on UBC Activities October 2005 – September 2007
Reports of the UBC Commissions
Auditor’s Report
Board of Audit Report
Absolving the Presidium, the Board and the Secretary General
Membership Fees 2008-2009
Executive Board in the next period
President and Vice-Presidents in the next period
Board of Audit in the next period
Auditor in the next period
Secretariat in the next period
Adoption of the Conference resolution on climate change
Venue of the IX UBC General Conference in autumn 2009 (Kristiansand)

Candidates to the Presidium:
Mr Per Bødker Andersen, Mayor of Kolding – candidate for President
Ms Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Mayor of Umeå – candidate for 1st Vice-President
Ms Urve Tiidus, Mayor of Kuressaare – candidate for Vice-President
Mr Jarkko Virtanen, Vice-Mayor of Turku – candidate for Vice-President of the Union

Other matters discussed at the Board meeting.

The Board accepted cities of Trelleborg (Sweden) and Jogeva (Estonia) as new members of the Union of the Baltic Cities.

Two cities have not paid membership fees – Baltijsk for four years and Moletai for two years. The Board authorised the Secretary General to ask mentioned cities in written whether they are interested to continue to be UBC members.

The UBC Antenna in Brussels.
The Board decided that UBC is interested to continue cooperation with Stockholm Region as regards antenna. UBC would like SR to be still a UBC antenna in Brussels. UBC is interested to receive information on seminars and policies. At the same time the Board concluded that the cities prefer to use the rooms of their own representations in Brussels (or regional).
Having in mind above UBC would like to continue cooperation with SR concerning representation and information for another year, but without renting a room.
The President informed about latest international conferences and meetings attended by UBC representatives.
City of Turku mentioned joint Turku and Helsinki initiative to improve the state of the Baltic Sea through active cooperation of all stakeholders. The cities have agreed on concrete actions which aim at improving the quality of water in the Baltic Sea. Turku and Helsinki invited all UBC member cities to endorse and join this initiative.

The Board decided to hold the next meeting in February 2008.

Participants of the Board meeting in Pärnu:
Mr Maciej Lisicki, Deputy Mayor, Gdańsk
Mr Adolfas Antanas Balutis, Councillor, Kaunas
Mr Vytautas Juodagalvis, Adviser to the Deputy Mayor, Kaunas
Mr Per Bødker Andersen, Mayor, the President of the UBC, Kolding
Mr Jan Odegaard, International Adviser, Kristiansand
Mr Oddmund Sjoveian, Head of Social Department, Kristiansand
Mr Tor Sommerseth, CEO, Kristiansand
Mr Gunars Ansins, Deputy Mayor, Liepāja
Mr Soeren Revsbaek, Councillor, Naestved
Mrs Anu Juurma-Saks, Advisor on Foreign Relations, Pärnu
Mr Roland Methling, Mayor, Rostock
Ms Karin Wohlgemuth, UBC consultant in Rostock
Mr Per Spolander, Head of EU & International Affairs, Stockholm
Mr Mikko Lohikoski, Director, Com.& Ext. Affairs, Turku
Mr Mika Akkanen, Manager, International Affairs, Turku
Ms Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Mayor, 1st Vice-President of UBC, Umea
Mr Jan Björinge, City Manager, Umeå
Mr Markku Lumio, Mayor, Vaasa
Ms Tarja Hautamaki, Director of Cultural Services, Vaasa
Mr Paweł Żaboklicki, UBC Secretary General, UBC/Gdańsk