The conference is co-organised by the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Region Västra Götaland, the City of Gothenburg and the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise.
The conference was being co-organised by the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland, authorities of the Pomerania Region, and the city of Gdańsk.
The Commissioner Joe Borg, the State Secretary of the Spanish Government, Diego López Garrido, and the President of Asturias Vicente Álvarez Areces were in charge of formalising the agreement.
The main theme was innovation, in particular its role in the design of competition policy, environmental protection, improvement of working conditions and employment[2] On 20 May Felipe, Prince of Asturias, EU Commissioner Maria Damanaki, Diego López Garrido, Vicente Álvarez Areces, and the Mayor of Gijón Paz Fernández Felgueroso spoke.
High level speakers included Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, vice-president of the European Parliament and Stefan Füle, Minister for European Affairs of the Czech Republic representing of the Presidency of the Council of the EU; as well as around 30 ministers from EU Member States and MED countries The commission was also represented with Vice-Presidents Antonio Tajani and Verheugen, and Commissioner Joe Borg.