EU struggles to define maritime policy

Ministers have adopted a common position on a proposed Marine Strategy Directive, opposing the Parliament on a number of important points. Meanwhile, the Commission is faced with fragmented governance structures and poor coastal surveillance, which hamper its efforts to formulate a common EU maritime policy. 

• Marine strategy: a long road to adoption

On 23 July 2007, the Council adopted a common position on the Marine Strategy Directive, “bearing in mind that the proposal is for a Framework Directive that should not burden implementation with too much technical detail”. 

At issue is the question of determining “good environmental status”. In its first reading in November 2006, Parliament had proposed a detailed annex with conditions for assessment. Council rejects this notion, and calls instead for “generic qualitative descriptors”.  

Parliament and Council are also opposed on the issue of implementation deadlines – Parliament wants a tighter timetable – and on the legal obligations resulting from a new Directive. 

Council considers “that it would be unrealistic, no matter how desirable, to make achievement of good environmental status, even by 2021, a legally binding objective”. 

• Maritime policy: who governs what?

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas gave a speech in Lisbon on 19 July, offering insight on current progress towards the development of a common EU maritime policy.

Dimas cited governance  as “the  main issue that lies at the heart of a maritime policy for Europe”, in reference to the complications that can arise when different national, regional and local administrations are called upon to manage ecosystems that cut across administrative boundaries. 

“Governance as a process of policy management is a complex issue at the best of times,” Dimas said. “It becomes even more so within the current European set-up, because what we are talking about runs through very different levels of decision-making: the EU, national administrations and those who operate at a regional level.”

The Commission, which will present an action plan on the issue in October, faces a number of specific challenges, including accurate data collection, proper spatial planning of coastal regions and maritime surveillance (vessel tracking).

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