significant bottlenecks (the prime example is Estonia, where there is a delay of several days at the border crossing in the current European Union border town of Narva), but also links to more distant European regions, which are similarly important. From this perspective, there is a definite benefit in the so-called Baltic-Adriatic corridor linking the Baltic Sea region with southern Europe. It has the unanimous support of all the affected regions and local authorities and will bring further positive effects in terms of economic development of areas far removed from the borders of the Baltic Sea macro-region.
Csaba Sándor Tabajdi
(HU) I congratulate Mr Olejniczak on his report, as the Baltic Sea strategy was the first macro-regional strategy in the European Union. Those of us who would like to createalready proven to be a big success, as many projects have already been created, speeded up and co-financed by Structural Fund programmes only eight months into the implementation phase.
The Commission is very committed to keeping up the momentum we have achieved so far with this strategy. The annual stakeholders' conference in Tallinn on 14 and 15 October of this year will offer an opportunity to learn the lessons of the first months of the strategy and to make further proposals if needed. The environment is the first of four pillars of the EU strategy for the Baltic Sea region, and the revitalisation of the water quality of the sea itself is the keystone of the strategy.
Several speakers referred to transport, which is, of course, another important issue that