Organisation
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – also known as the “Helsinki Commission” or “HELCOM” – was established in 1974 pursuant to and at the same time as the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (the “Helsinki Convention”).
The Helsinki Commission meets annually, with all Contracting Parties participating: Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. In addition, meetings at the Ministerial level are held every few years (usually every three years). The Contracting Parties are represented by Heads of Delegation (HOD).
The Commission adopts Recommendations related to the protection of the marine environment and sustainable maritime activities, decides on the budget and makes other key decisions. Decisions are made by consensus.
The chairmanship of the Commission rotates between the Contracting Parties every two years, according to their alphabetical order in English, the working language of the Commission.
The working structure of HELCOM consists of the meetings of the Helsinki Commission, the Heads of Delegation, and the eight main HELCOM Working Groups. The HELCOM work and meetings are coordinated by the HELCOM Secretariat.
HELCOM has 10 Contracting Parties: Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.
The Contracting Parties are the signatories to the Helsinki Convention.
Download the full HELCOM organigramme including the expert groups here.
The HELCOM Secretariat coordinates the work and meetings of the Helsinki Commission, and ensures that the contracting Parties meet their obligations under the Helsinki Convention.
The international team is led by the Executive Secretary. About half of the staff members perform permanent secretariat functions, with the other half working for projects.
The HELCOM Secretariat is located in Helsinki, Finland.
The Helsinki Convention is the set of guiding principles and obligations signed by the Contracting Parties on the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea.
Its official title is the “Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area”.
It was initially signed on 22 March 1974, and updated on 9 April 1992. The updated and current Convention entered into force on 17 January 2000.
On 4 March 2022, against the background of the geopolitical crisis, the German Chairmanship of HELCOM issued a statement declaring that the European Union and the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area that are Member States of the European Union (H9) unanimously agreed that they could not currently engage in business as usual with the Russian Federation in the context of HELCOM.
Therefore, all official meetings of HELCOM bodies and meetings of project groups with Russian involvement under the HELCOM umbrella were suspended with immediate effect. This applied to all HELCOM Working Groups, Expert Groups, and other subsidiary bodies of the Commission, as well as HELCOM projects. Informal consultation sessions without Russian participation could, however, be organized and hosted by a Contracting Party to move the work forward.
This position was reaffirmed during the 2024 Ministerial Meeting on the Baltic Sea Marine Environment, where the H9 adopted a statement on the geopolitical situation condemning the Russian Federation’s unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.
In this statement, the H9 reaffirmed their unanimous position that they cannot currently engage in business as usual with the Russian Federation in the context of HELCOM. In line with the statement by the Chairmanship of HELCOM of 2 March 2022, the H9 therefore upheld their decision to observe a strategic pause in regular HELCOM operations, whereby all regular meetings of HELCOM bodies and meetings of project groups with involvement of the Russian Federation under the HELCOM umbrella remain suspended until further notice.
The H9 emphasized that this strategic pause does not constitute a cessation of HELCOM activities.