This is a working paper - please give your comments to the contact person of the thematic group.

Open Sesame! - Appealing transparency in co-operation between NGOs and authorities

The idea of the theme session is to discuss how and when NGOs and authorities are co-operating and how and when they should co-operate. There are many different models (for instance Nordic model) and experiences in the different countries in the region. In the beginning of the session the purpose of the discussion is to give a large picture on the current situation and give good examples in order to find solutions how and to which direction we could lead the situation in different countries of the Baltic Region. It is important to discuss in which means authorities should support NGOs - by sharing experiences it is easier to understand each other and find positive solutions. What would be the (common) goal? How to go there? One recent and concrete example is the national strategy of civil society development adopted by the Estonian Parliament.

Another interesting question where many countries of the Baltic Sea region differ with their opinion is the status of the political parties and trade unions in the society. Some can see them, especially on the local level, as NGOs with large and democratic basis - but some can see them as a part of the official decision making process, in other words closer to the governmental organisation. It would be important to share different opinions and viewpoints in order to understand the system in neighbouring countries. Hardly anyone can deny that the tight link between political parties - at least parliamentary groups - and NGOs is needed in order to provide possibility for NGOs to participate and have effect on the decision making and this way on developing democracy.

The third topic for the session deals with the EU enlargement - when Baltic countries and Poland are joining to the EU, the EU-Russia co-operation will have a larger role. It is to be discussed what is the political attitude in the becoming member states towards Russia? How can NGO's promote positive relations and create good projects? Worst scenario is that new member states do not have the same willingness to support EU's strategy towards Russia - how to avoid this worst scenario of happening? Another very important question concerning the EU enlargement is consequences of the Schengen agreement? How to avoid fortress Europe? How to support new members in the frontline, for instance Poland? What kind of role NGOs could have in the process of avoiding to create fortress Europe?

The aim of the session is to strengthen co-operation of the different sectors (public authorities, governmental organisation, non-governmental organisations, media, researches, business sector etc.) of the society within the region. Permanent contacts and open dialogue between NGOs and authorities is essential for democracy. The dialogue between all the above mentioned sectors is very important in view of the relations between real life and decision making. One very important task for NGOs is to pass different voices of the civil society to the decision making level. NGOs can be the bridge or channel between the various levels of the society - and this channel should work in both ways.