Agency of regional international organizations in the Baltic Sea Region: inter-organizational relations between the CBSS and the HELCOM

The main objective of this paper is to examine how the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the Helsinki Commission, the two most important international regional organizations in the Baltic Sea Region, use their relations to build their agency. Although the CBSS is often described as a “soft” international organization, as the Council communiques or declarations do not create legal obligations for its member states, the CBSS underwent a process of gradual institutionalization during the 1990s and 2010s. The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) was established in 1974. Member states extended, strengthened, and modernized the previous agreement to introduce more detailed technical provisions and more general norms to govern the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea. The analysis firstly focuses on the concept of inter-organizational relations (IORs). The second part analyses the sources, mechanisms, and consequences of these relations and how each IO utilizes this cooperation to increase its influences in 21st-century regional politics. This research takes an interpretative epistemological foundation by arguing that we cannot observe IOs agency objectively and that an individual’s perceptions and understanding are affected by the surroundings and social relations. This study is a qualitative comparative case study. The data will be gathered through qualitative means, specifically semi-structured interviews and document analysis.