Ministerial meetings

Every few years, HELCOM arranges a Ministerial Meeting, bringing together the responsible ministers of the Baltic Sea countries and the EU Commissioner for the Environment. Political support is crucial for HELCOM and Contracting Parties in their continuous efforts to protect the Baltic Sea, and the Ministerial Meetings are important forums for shared discussions and agreements on a high level. 

HELCOM Ministerial meetings result in the adoption of political declarations, in which Contracting Parties bind themselves to take further actions to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea and agree on the future agenda for HELCOM. The declarations complement the Helsinki Convention and HELCOM Recommendations.

Ministerial Meeting Declarations and Statements

• 2024 Ministerial Meeting on the Baltic Sea Marine Environment, in Riga, Latvia, on 25 April 2024
• 2021: HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in Lübeck, Germany, on 20 October 2021 – “Updating the Baltic Sea Action Plan”
• 2018: HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 6 March 2018 – “Renewed Efforts for a Healthy Baltic Sea”
• 2013: HELCOM Copenhagen Declaration “Taking Further Action to Implement the Baltic Sea Action Plan – Reaching Good Environmental Status for a healthy Baltic Sea” (3 October 2013)– Associated documents
• 2010: ​HELCOM Moscow Ministerial Declaration (20 May 2010)– Associated documents
• 2003: HELCOM Bremen Declaration (25 June 2003)
  2003: Declaration of the First Joint Ministerial Meeting of the Helsinki and OSPAR Commissions (26 June 2003)​​
• 2001: Declaration on the Safety of Navigation and Emergency Capacity in the Baltic Sea Area – HELCOM Copenhagen Declaration (10 September 2001)
• 1998: Communique of the Ministerial Session (26 March 1998) 
• 1994: 15th Meeting of the Helsinki Commission (11 March 1994)
• 1993: Declaration on Resource Mobilisation for the Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environment Action Programme – Gdansk Declaration (24-25 March 1993) 
• 1992: Baltic Sea Environmental Declaration (9 April 1992)
• 1990: Baltic Sea Declaration – Ronneby Declaration
  (3 September 1990)
• 1988: Declaration on the Protection of the Environment of the Baltic Sea (15 February 1988)