BONUS shall enhance the Baltic Sea Region’s research capacity to underpin the development and implementation of ‘fit-for-purpose’ regulations, policies and management practices, to respond effectively to the major environmental and key societal challenges which the region faces and will face in the coming years and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Baltic Sea Region’s fragmented environmental research programming and approach by integrating the research activities in the Baltic Sea System into a durable, cooperative, interdisciplinary well-integrated and focused multi-national programme.

The European Council of 14 December 2007 highlighted concern for the status of the environment in the Baltic Sea, as reflected in the Communication from the Commission of 10 June 2009 to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions concerning the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

The Commission, in its work programme for 2007-2008 of 11 June 2007 for the implementation of the Specific Programme Cooperation, provided financial support to BONUS ERA-NET and ERA-NET PLUS in the field of Baltic Sea environmental research in order to strengthen cooperation between environmental research funding agencies in the Baltic region and facilitate the transition to a joint research and development programme in the Baltic Sea to be implemented on the basis of Article 169 of the EC Treaty.

BONUS aims to support scientific development and innovation by providing the necessary legal and organisational framework for trans-national cooperation between the Baltic Sea States on environmental research in the Baltic Sea region.

The Commission also launched two preparatory actions in the Baltic Sea (as part of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region) and the North Sea/North East Atlantic, aiming at developing cross-border cooperation aspects of MSP, as well as a study on the potential of maritime spatial planning in the Mediterranean Sea and the economic benefits of MSP.

For the Baltic Sea Region, Phare-CBC will provide co-funding for programmes supported by INTERREG IIIB; candidate countries and Member States bordering the Baltic Sea will develop a Joint Programming Document and co-ordinate it with the respective INTERREG IIIB programme with a view to merging the two documents into one Single Programming Document by the end of 2003.