The Mission of the B7:

The B7 aims to use its strengths to promote the strategic goals of the islands.
The B7 islands believe that they can better serve the interests of the islanders and achieve more as a co-operation than alone

Principles of membership:

· Each member is a Baltic Sea island.
· Each island contributes to the co-operation based on population size.  
· The B7 co-operation is a partnership of equals.

Organisation:

These two decision making bodies of the B7 are:
· Steering Committee - the political body
· Board - the management body.

They are supported by:
· WG Environment
· WG People-to-People
· the facilitator

The Steering Committee: is made up of leading politicians from the islands, normally the mayor or governor.

The Board: comprises senior executives from public administration.

These two decision making bodies are supported by: the Annual Conference, Chairmanship and Secretariat, Workgroups, Focus Groups, Facilitator, Brussels Representation.

Annual Conference: is the focal point of the B7 year. The Annual Conference is a forum with the purpose to convene all the members of the B7 once a year to review the past year and agree the plans for the coming year within the framework of a B7 Strategy. The Annual Conference consists of, as a minimum, a Steering Committee meeting, Board Meeting and open plenary sessions for debate and discussion.

Previous B7 Chairmanships:

In 2000 introduced a rotating chairmanship and secretariat which moves from island to island:

2010 Hiiumaa
2009 Öland
2008 Saaremaa
2007 Bornholm
2006 Åland
2005 Gotland
2004 Rügen
2003 Hiiumaa
2002 Öland
2001 Saaremaa
2000 Bornholm

Island size and population (2007):

BORNHOLM: Area: 587 km²,  Population: 43,000

GOTLAND: Area: 3,140 km², Population: 57,300

HIIUMAA: Area: 1019 km², Population: 10,000

RÜGEN: Area: 976 km², Population: 70,260

SAAREMAA: Area: 2,922 km², Population: 36,600

ÖLAND: Area: 1,342 km², Population: 24,500

ÅLAND ISLES: Area: 1,527 km², Population: 26,923