The Barents Regional Council unites (after the merger between Troms and Finnmark) 13 member counties and a representative of the indigenous peoples in the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway and Sweden and North-West Russia.
At the same time as the BEAC was established in 1993 by the signing of the Kirkenes Declaration, the regional representatives, together with the indigenous peoples signed a co-operation protocol that established the Regional Council for the Barents Euro-Arctic Region with the same objectives as the BEAC - to support and promote co-operation and development in the Barents Region. The protocol determines the structure and the general aims of the regional co-operation.
The Barents Region includes the following counties or their equivalents:
in Finland: Lapland, Oulu Region, Kainuu and North Karelia
in Norway: Nordland and Troms og Finnmark
in Russia: Arkhangelsk Region, Murmansk Region, Karelia, Komi and Nenets
in Sweden: Norrbotten and Västerbotten
Indigenous Peoples in the Barents Region:
Sami (in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia)
Nenets (in Russia)
Veps (in Russia)
The Barents Regional Council in Tromsø, October 2021
The establishment of a forum for the interregional Barents cooperation is an acknowledgement of the importance of local knowledge, the ability to identify the most urgent common priorities and the capacity to carry out cross-border projects and cooperate on implementation of common programmes.
The Barents Region comprises of 13 member counties, approximately 1.75 million sq. km and nearly 5.2 million inhabitants.
The Chairmanship of the Barents Regional Council rotates biennially between its 13 member counties. The Regional Council convenes twice a year. The Regional Council’s meetings are prepared by the Regional Committee, which consists of civil servants from the member county administrations.
The Barents Programme is the framework for co-operation where the priority areas of work are identified. The Barents Program for 2019-2023 was adopted on 24 May 2018.
The Communication Strategy for Barents Regional Cooperation was adopted in May 2016 and it sets the guidelines for communication within Barents Regional Council, Barents Regional Committee and Working Groups. The communication strategy is updated on regular basis.
Working Groups concretize the co-operation in the different sectors where co-operation takes place. This concerns sectors such asEnvironment; Business; Transport; Culture; Health and Related Social Issues; Education and Research; Tourism; Youth; Forests; Rescue. In addition, the Working Group of Indigenous Peoples (WGIP) are represented in all Working Groups. The youth themselves have their own Barents Regional Youth Council (BRYC), and are also taking part in the different Working Groups.
Contacts:
Chair of the Regional Council:
Nenets
Regional Government of NAO Smidovicha Ul. 20 Naryan-Mar, 166000 Nenetskiy, Russia Tel: +7 8185 343 087 E-mail: priem@adm-nao.ru
Members of the Barents Regional Council
Murmansk Region
Regional Government of Murmansk Lenina Pr. 75 183006 Murmansk, Russia Tel: +7 8152 48 62 01 E-mail: post@gov-murman.ru
Arkhangelsk Region
Regional Government of Arkhangelsk Troitskiy Pr. 49 163004 Arkhangelsk, Russia E-mail: interdep@dvinaland.ru
Karelia
Regional Government of Karelia Lenina Pr. 19 Petrozavodsk, 185028 Republic of Karelia, Russia E-mail: government@karelia.ru
Komi
Regional Government of Komi Kommunisticheskaya Ul. 9 Syktyvkar, 167000 Republic of Komi, Russia Tel: +7 8182 285 105 E-mail: uvs@adm.rkomi.ru
Regional Council of Kainuu Kauppakatu 1 87100 Kajaani, Finland Tel: +358 44 797 0197 E-mail: pentti.malinen@kainuunliitto.fi
North Karelia
Regional Council of North Karelia Pielisjoen linna, Siltakatu 2 FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland Tel: +358 50 357 7739 E-mail: markus.hirvonen@pohjois-karjala.fi
Lapland
Regional Council of Lapland Hallituskatu 20B 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland Tel: +358 44 76742 00 E-mail: mika.riipi@lapinliitto.fi