About borders without borders. Challenges and prospects for the Eastern border of Poland and Europe at the Eastern Economic Congress

Białystok/Katowice, 18 September 2014 - Support for trade with the East; the role of local governments in initiation and creation of conditions for development of cross-border cooperation; development of border crossings as an element of boosting local entrepreneurship; facts, experience and examples. A debate on what is most important for the Eastern border of Poland and Europe opened the Eastern Economic Congress in Białystok.

The largest debate on economic growth and economic relations between Eastern Poland and the East and the West part of Europe – a two-day Eastern Economic Congress in Białystok – was opened with the debate devoted to the modern border and local border traffic.

A thematic session „Modern Border – Support for Trade with the East” covered discussion on the fact that the border less and less divides the European Union from the Eastern neighbours.

The “green” channels for passage of empty trucks, e-booking, joint customs clearance
for various services, the “one window” offer for reliable companies conducting customs clearance of goods, information exchange between customs services in real time – these are some of the already existing partial elements of the system for border customs clearance in various countries of our region.

Efforts should be aimed at possibly fastest expansion of the above-said to the neighbouring countries and popularisation of best standards to make customs clearance of goods and persons shorter – that was the topic of the debate entitled “Modern Border – Support for Trade with the East” during the Eastern Economic Congress in Białystok.

It is difficult because it involves different procedures of customs clearance at the meeting point of the European Union countries and the Eurasian Customs Union. Moreover, there are various conditionings in the development of border infrastructure.

‘When searching for an optimum model of customs clearance, traffic scale at given borders or specific conditions must be considered,’ said Jacek Kapica, Deputy Minister
of Finance and Head of Customs Service. ‘For example, there is a bridge in Bobrowniki
that can be passed by only one truck at a time, which obviously slows down
the rate of customs clearance.’

According to Erich Kieck, Director of the World Customs Organization, until recently, facilitation of trade between the countries was seen in the liberalisation of customs tariffs.

‘During last year plenum of the WCO in Bali, we agreed that for the first time since 1995, the emphasis has to be placed on non-tariff solutions, better coordination of work of various services on borders, as well as on on-line information exchange between
the mentioned services,’ emphasised Kieck.

He thinks that countries from our region follow this direction very fast. Many of them have already implemented modern solutions, and next countries are in the process of running the tests. A slight problem is the fact that the mentioned solutions are executed in one country or with the neighbouring one, and not on a general scale at the meeting point of two large economic groupings.

The example of a solution implemented in a few countries is the programme of customs clearance in intermodal train Viking, from Klaipėda (Lithuania) to Odessa. ‘Clearance time at the border: European Union – Ukraine has been shortened to half an hour,’ said Analotij Makarenko, President of the State Customs Service in Ukraine.

Another example of multilateral cooperation are Baltic countries, which a year ago implemented the system of automatic number plates recognition for trucks.

‘It is a very efficient solution, which allows us to recognise, among others, the degree of risk in border traffic in advance,’ said Antanas Sipavisius, Director-General of Duty Department of the Customs Service in Lithuania. ‘I encourage Polish services to join this system and to enrich the database.’

When asked about the possibility of using European Union funds to improve infrastructure on the Eastern border, Jacek Kapica, Deputy Minister of Finance and Head of Customs Service, said: ‘An important purpose for allocation of the European Union funds is to create conditions for business development. If the local government perceives the border as an important element for growth of the whole voivodeship, it will be the basis for use of the European Union funds. Many local governments included it in their plans. We are talking about investments executed on nearby roads, in the areas of logistics and distribution.’

The summary of another debate – devoted to local border traffic – may be a conclusion that local border traffic efficiently decreases unemployment in a given region.

‘Unemployment considerably decreased in our border belt poviats within the last two years,’ said Marian Podziewski, Head of the Warmia and Mazury Region, during the Eastern Economic Congress in Białystok.

Local border traffic within the Kaliningrad Oblast contributes to the fact that more and more people find jobs in the voivodeship. Some people, who provide for their living from trade, decide to register their business, and there are many investments stimulating the labour market.

‘Border crossings with the Kaliningrad Oblast are perfected. Large amount of money is allocated there, among others, for infrastructure. These types of investments mean work places as well,’ said Marian Podziewski.

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The idea behind the Eastern Economic Congress in Białystok is twofold: to present the economic potential of voivodeships of Eastern Poland and show the eastern regions as valuable intermediaries in the relations between the East and the West of Europe. During the two-day debate in Białystok, important issues will be raised, which are important from the point of view of both Polish and European economy and which have remained outside the mainstream debate so far.

The Eastern Economic Congress in Białystok – a debate on economic and trade relations between the European Union and the East of Europe – provides a logical follow-up to, and a completion of, the subject matter of the previous editions of the European Economic Congress in Katowice held so far. Both business conferences are organised by PTWP Group.

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The Eastern Economic Congress (EEC) in Białystok is a two-day series of debates, meetings and accompanying events with the participation of about a thousand guests, both from Poland and from Europe.

The organiser of the Eastern Economic Congress is PTWP Group SA, the initiator and organiser of the European Economic Congress in Katowice – the largest business conference in Central Europe, which has been organised since 2009 and deemed one of the most representative debates on the future of Europe.

For further information on the Eastern Economic Congress, please visit – www.wschodnikongres.eu/pl/.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WschodniKongresGospodarczy 

For further information on the organiser – PTWP Group SA – please visit www.ptwp.pl 

Additional information for the media can be obtained from:

Marta Stach, Imago Public Relations

M. 609 808 119, E. m.stach@imagopr.pl