The Northern Dimension partnership on Transport and Logistics (NDPTL) is a regional intergovernmental initiative with the mission to facilitate improvements of transport connections and logistics, enabling sustainable development.

The Northern Dimension Partnership for Transport and Logistics was established in October 2009 and is one of the four existing Partnerships of the Northern Dimension: for Culture (NDPC), Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS) and Environment (NDEP). The ND structure includes also the Northern Dimension Institute (NDI) for cooperation in the field of the academic research, and the Northern Dimension Business Council, serving as a platform for cooperation of various businesses active in the ND region. Please see the section on “NDPTL History” if you are interested in more details on the background of the NDPTL cooperation.

The partnership works through funding targeted projects through the NDPTL Support Fund as well as by providing a regional forum for intergovernmental transport and logistics dialogue and cooperation.

Geographically NDPTL, and the Northern Dimension as a whole, focuses on north-west Russia, Kaliningrad, the Baltic and Barents Seas, north-west Europe as well as the Arctic and Sub-Arctic areas. The current members of the NDPTL are Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the European Commission.

Strategic priorities

The most recent strategic direction for NDPTL is provided by the Road Map for 2019 –2024, adopted in 2018.

As highlighted in the Road Map the current priority topics of the NDPTL cooperation are:

  • Meeting the need for reduction of greenhouse gasses
  • “Vision Zero” – Zero Road Deaths and serious Injuries
  • Digitalisation, robotisation and automatization
  • New emerging trade routes
  • Sharing best practices in transport education

High Level Meetings (HLM)

High Level Meetings (HLM) The overall general guidance for NDPTL is provided by the Ministers of Transport gathering annually for High Level Meetings. The Ministers assess the achieved results, agree on priorities, and give directions and instructions to the NDPTL Steering Committee. The HLM is chaired in turns by the European Commission, Norway and the Russian Federation, changing annually.

Chairmanship

2010 European Commission
2011 Russian Federation
2012 Norway
and so forth

Steering Committee (SC)

The NDPTL Steering Committee fulfils the practical implementation of the HLM´s
directives. The NDPTL SC meets normally twice a year to discuss, share experiences and
ideas and give guidance to the NDPTL Secretariat. The SC may establish working groups
to prepare material. During the year the fulfilment of the SC´s decisions is supervised by
the SC Chair. The Chairmanship of the SC changes annually between all NDPTL partner-
countries.

Chairmanship

2010 Lithuania
2011 Norway
2012 Germany
2013 Russian Federation
2014 Finland
2015 Estonia
2016 Poland
2017 European Commission
2018 Sweden
2019 Latvia

NDPTL Support Fund

It is envisaged that via the NDPTL Support Fund, NDPTL will accelerate the implementation of transport improvements of regional importance via funding to studies, planning and preparatory stages.

More about Support Fund

NDPTL Secretariat

The NDPTL Secretariat is a technical body which supports the work of the Steering Committee and the High-Level Meetings of the NDPTL to deliver on the goals set by the founding documents as well as HLM declarations.

The Secretariat serves the NDPTL by organising and documenting NDPTL meetings and events. The Secretariat is also an expert organization which follows and analyses recent developments in the field to ensures that the partnership is up-to date. Further, the Secretariat is engaged in information exchange with other organisations and fora that are of interest to the Partnership in order to avoid overlapping activities and utilise potential synergies.

In addition, the Secretariat assists the partners and stakeholders in preparing, managing and assessing NDPTL Support Fund projects.

Other networks and cooperation

NDPTL cooperates closely with sibling organizations of the Northern Dimension. NDPTL is a member of the Northern Dimension Steering Group and the Northern Dimension Institute Steering Group.
NDPTL cooperates with other regional organizations in the Baltic Sea and nearby regions:

the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC)

Steering Committee for the Barents Euro-Arctic Transport Area (BEATA)

Other regional organizations working with transport issues including CBSS
HELCOM, EUSBSR, CPMR, VASAB and the Nordic Council of Ministers

NDPTL also follows closely policy developments taking place on the global and pan-European levels (e.g. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and its committees on transport, the International Maritime Organization).

Read more:

Link: https://um.fi/northern-dimension

Heikkilä, Markku (2006). The Northern Dimension. Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. 86 pp. ISBN 951 – 724 -568-8