Established in 1992, the Council of the Baltic Sea States is a forum for regional intergovernmental cooperation. The Council unites 11 states of the Baltic Sea region and the European Commission.
Participants at the summit outlined the organization's priority cooperation areas: the environment, energy security, economy, education, culture and civil security.
"The council's secretariat will also be restructured," the prime minister of the host country, Ivars Godmanis, said, adding that reforms will facilitate fund-raising and management for joint projects.
In addition, categories of 'special participants' and 'strategic partners' of the organization will be merged into a single category of strategic partners, to improve cooperation with these states.
Energy supplies from Russia, Europe's major energy supplier, have been a key issue on the event's agenda. Discussions focused on Nord Stream, an $11-billion project to build a pipeline under the Baltic Sea to supply gas directly from Russia to Germany.
"The Heads of Government stress that stable and secure energy supplies are important for the economic growth and welfare of the region," the final document said.
The next summit will take place in Lithuania in 2010.
