# EUR-Lex - 52011DC0782 - EN

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# 52011DC0782

**COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area /* COM/2011/0782 final */**

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Developing a Maritime Strategy for the
Atlantic Ocean Area

(Text with EEA relevance)

1.
Scope

The Atlantic Ocean, which marks the western
boundary of the EU, is the second-largest of the world's oceans. This
Communication responds to a request from the Council of the European Union[1]
(EU) and the European Parliament[2]. It
proposes a coherent and balanced approach that is consistent with the EU 2020
agenda[3] and its flagship initiatives that
promotes territorial cohesion and that takes into account the international
dimension.

Whilst this proposed approach will largely
focus on helping communities living and working on the Atlantic coast deal with
new economic realities, it also recognises that the EU shares responsibility
for stewardship of the world's oceans. Broadly speaking the strategy will cover
the coasts, territorial and jurisdictional waters of the five EU Member States
with an Atlantic coastline[4] – France, Ireland,
Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom[5] as well as international
waters reaching westward to the Americas, eastward to Africa and the Indian
Ocean, southward to the Southern Ocean and northward to the Arctic Ocean[6].
In addition to actions concerning the five EU Member States, both at a national
and local level, engagement is also sought with other EU states that use this
space and with international partners whose waters touch it. The implications
of Iceland joining the EU need to be considered.

All the proposed actions are to be financed
within existing programmes and will not create any additional impact on the EU
budget.

2.
Challenges and Opportunities

The challenges and opportunities facing the Atlantic
Ocean area can be grouped within five themes. However they do not form a
disjoint set. Actions in one theme may also contribute to the objectives of
another. All will contribute to the overriding objective of creating
sustainable jobs and growth.

2.1.
Implementing the ecosystem approach

Management of human activities in the Atlantic
must deliver a healthy and productive ecosystem. It is acknowledged that this
approach is best implemented by managing all activities that have an impact on
the sea together. The ecosystem approach is the basis for marine management in
both the Common Fisheries Policy and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive[7].
Both instruments include references to enhanced coherence[8].
However, the implementation processes for ensuring sustainable fisheries and
achieving a good environmental status are still largely separate in practice
and will require additional effort in the Atlantic Ocean area.

Therefore, the strategy for the Atlantic must
focus on developing the following aspects:

–
Fisheries have been a central plank in economies
on both sides of the Atlantic. They still provide about one third[9]
by volume of landings of the EU's fishing fleet. One quarter of the EU's
imports of fish by value are from Norway and Iceland. The proposed Common
Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform[10] proposes to manage these
stocks so as to achieve maximum sustainable yield whilst preserving goods and
services from living aquatic resources for present and future generations. Good
progress has been made. For instance, in accordance with United Nations
resolutions 61/105 and 64/72 both Regional Fisheries Management Organisations for the North
Atlantic, the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission and the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation have
closed fishing areas for bottom trawling not only to ensure the long-term
sustainability of deep sea fish stocks but also to preserve vulnerable marine
ecosystems including sponges and coral. But this should be taken further.
Single species management must make way for multi-species long-term plans that
take into account the wider ecosystem. Atlantic Member States must take up the
regionalisation opportunities that are created in the Common Fisheries Policy
Reform to adopt technical measures for the Atlantic. The Commission intends to
propose an appropriate framework as soon as the CFP reform is enacted.

–
Aquaculture can satisfy EU demand for healthy
and sustainably produced fish products over and above the level that can be
provided by capture fisheries. The Atlantic's clean coastal waters washed by
strong tides provide an opportunity for meeting this demand, remaining
competitive in a global market and respecting the environment. However,
shortage of space on the Atlantic seaboard currently limits expansion. While
continuing research, new technologies and innovative engineering will allow the
industry to move further offshore, the sharing of space with other
infrastructure such as wind turbine platforms is an opportunity that should be
considered at the outset of any licensing process. The strategy must therefore
promote spatial planning as a tool for implementing the ecosystem approach in
the Atlantic Ocean area. Such a process should strengthen coherence,
connectivity and resilience of marine protected areas in the Atlantic in line
with the EU biodiversity action plan.

EU instruments for an integrated maritime
policy and territorial cooperation are already supporting pilot projects on
spatial planning and coastal zone management in the Atlantic. The European
Commission is currently examining options for a more structured approach
towards these mechanisms that will allow the Atlantic Member States and
stakeholders to implement the ecosystem approach.

–
Finally, Atlantic oceanic circulation drives
changes in European terrestrial as well as marine ecosystems. Forecasting
future changes in Europe's climate and adapting to these changes will never be
achieved without better understanding of the Atlantic. This calls for
sustainable observation systems, from space and at sea, of key marine variables.
European and North American partners contribute to the Argo programme that has
already deployed an array of 900 floats that continuously monitor the temperature
and salinity of the upper Atlantic Ocean. The Commission intends to examine
options to support this ocean observing system and prepare, together with
partners, its extension to greater depths and biogeochemical as well as
physical parameters.

2.2.
Reducing Europe's carbon footprint

As climate change mitigation is an integral
part of all EU policies, the strategy must focus on the following elements:

–
The Atlantic has stronger winds than the other
seas that wash Europe's shores. Not only does this offer clean energy but it
can also contribute to reducing dependency on distant sources of fossil fuel.
Wind turbines are included in EU's Strategic Energy Plan and already moving
offshore[11] in order to benefit from
stronger winds and reduced landscape impact. The expansion of offshore wind
farms in the Atlantic will offer key industrial opportunities for the ports
that service them. By 2020, around 20% of the European offshore wind installed
capacity could be located in the Atlantic basin.

–
The potential of the Atlantic's powerful waves
and strong tides needs to be exploited as well. The predictable nature of
energy from tides can complement the fluctuating energy from wind. Islands can receive
a high proportion of their energy from the sea. However successful deployment
of large scale offshore renewable energy will only happen if grid connections
are ensured to link the main production centres to the consumption. Ten
European countries agreed in December 2010 to develop an offshore electricity
grid in the adjacent North Sea. In its new guidelines for implementing Europe's
energy infrastructures the Commission will propose that the Irish Sea be
included along with the North Sea and the Baltic in a "Northern Seas
offshore grid" that will be considered as an "energy infrastructure
priority". This will speed up the process for granting of permits.

The Commission intends to implement the Council
request[12] to explore synergies
between the European Energy Policy and the integrated maritime policy in order
to promote more energy generation from the sea, in particular wave, tide,
currents and thermal gradient sources, including from the Atlantic.

–
Changes in maritime transport will also
contribute to the carbon footprint reduction in the Atlantic.

Negotiations under the auspices of the
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) are underway to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from international shipping. The adoption of the Energy Efficiency
Design Index will reduce emissions from ships built after 2013. As well as
favouring more fuel-efficient ships, emissions targets may influence the
routing of Atlantic shipping. The Atlantic strategy should reflect how Atlantic
shipping would operate under the constraints of increased volume of shipping
and lower emissions of carbon dioxide.

Shifting freight from road to sea will also
lower emissions. In line with the recent EU White Paper
on transport, actions aimed at integrating waterborne transport into Europe's
transport network are underway. The Atlantic does not host any of Europe's
megaports but rather a number of significant smaller ports. The EU "motorways of the sea"
projects already contribute through existing routes between Bilbao and Zeebrugge, between Sines and La Spezia and a new
route between Gijón and Saint-Nazaire route that will soon be upgraded to
provide a higher frequency. A route is planned between Nantes-Saint-Nazaire and
Vigo, to be extended at a later stage to Le Havre and Algesiras. A line between Brest and Leixões should begin operations in 2014.
Atlantic regional authorities, are considering further development of
multimodal transport corridors, as part of the European Transport Network
(TEN-T). Other EU actions to increase the efficiency of short sea shipping in
the Atlantic include the implementation of the "European
Maritime Transport Space without Barriers"[13]
and the "Blue Belt" pilot project to reduce
administrative burdens such as customs procedures for intra-EU cargo traffic. The Commission will assess progress by 2012. A maritime transport
dialogue with the United States maritime administration has resulted in a
memorandum of cooperation on short sea shipping signed in 2011. Results from the regional authorities reflection, the Commission's
progress report and lessons learned from cooperation with other maritime
authorities will feed into the Atlantic strategy's
efforts to increase the volume of short sea shipping.

2.3.
Sustainable exploitation of the Atlantic
seafloor's natural resources

This strategy should aim to focus on the
following aspects in order to develop the sustainable exploitation of the
Atlantic seafloor's natural resources:

–
The recent Commission Communication on tackling
the challenges in commodity markets and on raw materials[14]
emphasises the need to increase investment in Europe's natural assets whilst
ensuring that minerals are extracted under safe conditions that respect the
environment and work force. In 2010 the International Seabed Authority adopted
regulations on prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules[15]
and in July 2011 issued a licence for prospecting an area in the northern zone
of the mid-Atlantic ridge. The efforts of current contractors with the
Authority are primarily directed at long-term geological and environmental
studies, financed through government funding rather than commercially driven
exploration. The European Partnership on raw materials planned by the
Commission within the framework of the EU2020 Flagship on Innovation Union[16]
will include promotion of research and innovation for sustainable access to
marine raw materials.

–
Marine research institutes on both sides of the Atlantic are well placed to
deepen understanding of what the rich biodiversity of the ocean can offer
further for food, fuel and pharmaceuticals whilst preserving its ecosystem
functions. Increasingly they are working together. The five EU Atlantic states
and other EU Member States as well as Norway and Iceland are already
cooperating under the umbrella of the Seventh Framework Programme [17]
SEAS-era coordination action[18] and are currently
preparing the new Joint Programming Initiative "Healthy and Productive
Seas and Oceans"[19] to share work amongst
national marine research programmes. While it has been hard to construct
transatlantic partnerships because of the need to align the timing of funding
opportunities, the Commisison will seek to define arrangements allowing
organisations on both sides of the Atlantic to contribute to joint projects .

–
Access to the data produced by research
institutes and other public authorities has not always been easy in the past.
The EU's marine knowledge 2020 initiative[20] will support
business and conservation authorities by providing a unique access point for
marine data harmonised over sea-basins, so reducing the cost of assembling the
data necessary to design, build and operate coastal or offshore infrastructure.
Unlocking the patrimony of marine data will not only make existing business
processes more competitive but will stimulate innovation by opening access to
previously-excluded researchers and small businesses.. It is intended that the
EU efforts also contribute towards global open access initiatives such as GEBCO[21]
and OneGeology[22],. The strategy should
reflect on the opportunities these developments open up for the Atlantic Ocean
area.

2.4.
Responding to threats and emergencies

The EU needs to be prepared for threats and
emergencies in the Atlantic whether they are caused by accidents, natural
disasters or criminal activity. The following aspects are priorities for the
Atlantic Ocean area :

–
The adoption of important legislative measures
on maritime safety, the latest being the third maritime safety package in 2009[23]
has reduced the risk of shipping accidents. The Bonn and Lisbon Agreements[24]
have driven coordination between Member States on marine disaster preparedness
and response. The Paris Memorandum of Understanding, has led to more than
24.000 ship inspections annually. However accidents can still happen and the
Atlantic seaboard remains vulnerable to natural events such as the storms which
struck the Vendée in 2010. The changing climate added to other human impacts on
the sea means that past behaviour may not be a guide for the future. The
unexpected must always be expected

The first hours in a crisis are vital and
events with a local impact need help from neighbours. Mechanisms must be in
place before storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear accidents, invasions of
alien species, or oil spills. Early warnings require continuous monitoring of
the sea, fast transmission of information, coordination of response teams and
mobilisation of expert advice The Commission is leading
work on prevention and preparedness including a risk management policy[25]
linking threat and risk assessment to decision making and the development of
scenario planning for cross-border disasters. In the event of a major emergency
the EU Civil Protection Mechanism facilitates coordination and transportation of
assistance from Member States and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).. Accurate marine forecasting built on the marine core service of
the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme can contribute. It
delivers separate forecasts for the North West shelf and the Iberian and Biscay
area. National and regional authorities responsible for protecting the Atlantic
coastline and the people who live there should consider projects for testing
readiness under the EU's territorial cooperation programme and take active
engagement in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

–
The Atlantic is Europe's lifeline for trade.
Europe's security of supply must be absolutely secure and the trafficking of
arms, people and drugs must stop The EU and US economies account for about half
the world's GDP and nearly a third of the world's trade flows. In June 2011
these two partners agreed to mutually recognise standards in order to reduce
regulatory bottlenecks to trade whilst ensuring security of the transatlantic
lifeline. The strategy for other critical maritime routes is to build capacity
in coastal states. A needs assessment is underway to determine what measures
under the instrument for stability could reduce piracy,
armed robbery at sea and hostage taking in the Gulf of Guinea.

The European Maritime Safety Agency's
SafeSeaNet already provides an integration of mandatory declarations from ships
and a gateway to signals from their Automatic Identification System (AIS)
picked up by coastal stations. Fishing vessels are tracked through the Vessel
Monitoring system and the Long Range Identification and Tracking system allows
all passenger and cargo ships above 300 tonnes within one thousand nautical
miles of the European coast to be monitored. Tracking of ships even further
away with other technologies[26] has also been
demonstrated. However those fighting threats such as smuggling, illegal fishing
or trafficking do not yet have access to the complete picture because data
sharing agreements between different authorities are not yet fully in place. Atlantic
regions will therefore benefit from ongoing EU-level measures to promote the
development of Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE) which will link
systems such as the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR), for the
exchange of information on irregular migration and cross-border crime and the SafeSeaNet
system. Sharing of information is not a purely internal EU concern. For
instance in September 2011 the United States and the European Union agreed to
share information on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The focus of
the Atlantic strategy must be to maximise the benefit from sharing.

2.5.
Socially inclusive growth

Whilst there is considerable variation along
the Atlantic coast, many communities need to cope with a decline in employment
in fisheries and shipbuilding, the shift of mass tourism to sunnier climes and
the tendency of elderly people to choose the coast for retirement. The
challenge is to ensure that new high-added value jobs are created at the coast
and at the same that those who seek employment in the new economy have the
right skills to do them.

–
Wider mutual recognition of training, including
the next generation of marine scientists[27], re-training
and professional qualifications are required to retain maritime expertise and
restore the attractiveness of maritime professions. There is a need to make
better use of the experience of people retired from maritime professions and to
attract young people to maritime careers. Dialogue with social partners on
working conditions for fishermen and seafarers should continue. The Commission
has begun work on evaluating the 2005 Professional Qualifications Directive
which will culminate in a Green Paper in 2011 and a revision of the Directive
in 2012. The strategy should aim to include input from Atlantic maritime
industries in these efforts.

Regional clustering of maritime industries with
educational establishments can ensure a skilled workforce and promote labour mobility
within sectors. For instance the Brest offshore industry benefits from the vicinity
of institutions providing teaching and research on the sea. And the Irish
Marine Insitute's SmartOcean initiative engages multinational information
technology companies and small enterprises in the development of high-value
products for the marine industry. The advent of new communication technologies
means that a critical mass of industries and researchers in geographically
separate locations can set up virtual clusters. The strategy should focus on
encouraging the development of these clusters through territorial cooperation
projects.

–
A discerning tourism[28]
can help regenerate some Atlantic coastal areas but it needs to attract
all-year round trade rather than summertime only in order to support quality
jobs. The Atlantic's rough natural beauty, rich biodiversity, traditional
seafood cuisine and Celtic culture are assets that can be readily exploited. Nautical
activities are an important source of revenue and a creator of high-value jobs,
however the Atlantic coast has a major deficit in berths especially for large
recreational vessels. The cruise industry's dramatic growth elsewhere has not
yet been replicated in the Atlantic. The Atlantic strategy should incorporate
the opportunities for development in this field.

3.
EU Tools

EU legislative instruments with important
impacts on the sea and allowing considerable local autonomy are at an early
stage of maturity and financial instruments for the EU’s programming period
2014-2020 are being prepared. Programming decisions made now and in the near
future will have an impact throughout this period. It is therefore essential
that the Atlantic stakeholders are ready to use these instruments to meet the
challenges identified here. The main tools are:

–
a Common Strategic Framework for structural
funding that will translate the targets and objectives of Europe 2020 into key
actions and focus on areas such as energy and the environment. It will identify
key actions needed in relation to headline targets and flagship initiatives. The
Common Strategic Framework will encompass the actions covered today by the
Cohesion Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social
Fund, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the European Agricultural
Fund for Rural Development and identify linkages and coordination mechanisms
with other EU instruments such as programmes for research, innovation, lifelong
learning, and networks

–
Horizon 2020 - a Common Strategic Framework for
research, innovation and technological development which will link strongly
with national research programmes to promote excellence, tackle societal
challenges and boost competitivess. Research, technological development and
innovation can create sustainable growth opportunities that compensate for the
relative decline of traditional maritime industries. The ongoing SEAS-ERA
project will deliver specific priorities for the Atlantic basin that can feed
into the work programmes of the new Framework.

–
a reformed Common Fisheries Policy. The
Commission has proposed[29] an agenda with ambitious
regionalisation and simplification targets. While key decisions on objectives,
targets, minimum common standards, results and delivery timeframes remain at EU
level, Member States should have the flexibility to decide on other measures
for fisheries management, under the supervision of the Commission and in full
compliance with EU law. Member States from the Atlantic have welcomed this
devolution and expect it to lead to a fisheries management that is able to
react more quickly and efficiently to changing ecological or economic
conditions.

–
the Marine Strategy Framework Directive[30]
which establishes a framework to achieve or maintain good environmental status
in the marine environment by the year 2020 at the latest. Good Environmental Status
is at the level of the marine region[31], so cooperation between
coastal states in defining, monitoring and assessing good environmental status
is necessary.

–
the maritime policy flagship initiatives on
maritime surveillance, marine knowledge and maritime spatial planning. These
will set standards at an EU level but will also include measures specific to
the Atlantic. For instance the process to improve marine knowledge includes
separate "checkpoints" to determine gaps, duplications and priorities
in marine monitoring programmes for the Bay of Biscay, the Celtic seas, the
Iberian coast and Macaronesia.

–
foreign policy instruments such as the EDF
(European Development Fund) and the EU’s Critical Maritime Routes programme to
engage third countries in protection of Atlantic shipping, but also through
international (through IMO) and bilateral dialogue with partners in the
Atlantic region.

–
There is a need to prioritise research, pilot
projects, dialogues, partnerships and investments in strategic and programme proposals
within this framework in order to deliver the most effective package for the
benefit of the Atlantic.

4.
Implementation of the strategy

The Atlantic strategy will not work only with
action from the EU institutions. It requires engagement from Member States,
regions, local authorities and private industry as well as think tanks.
Developing the strategy for the Atlantic Ocean area is therefore based on the
following methodology:

–
building on the active engagement and initiative
of Atlantic Member States, regions and other stakeholders in designing and
implementing actions including input from Local Action Groups. These are groups
of public and private partners who receive specific support from the European
Fisheries Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development in
order to identify investments by the EU. This self-help bottom-up approach has
provided local communities with the means to develop new economic activities in
areas where traditional opportunities are declining and should continue in the
new post-2013 structural funding.

–
promoting international cooperation on issues
such as observation, data sharing, marine assessments, research, reducing
emissions and pollution from ships, safe and secure navigation, port security,
the fight against piracy, and countering illegal, unregulated and unreported
fishing

–
adopting an Action Plan for the strategy by the
end of 2013, indicating specific projects and actions recommended for support.

–
"Smart governance" to implement the strategy,
building on current structures

The tools to implement the strategy are:

–
enhanced cooperation - meetings, conferences,
workshops, on-line discussion and information sites.

–
targeted actions within existing agreements and
structures such as the OSPAR Convention, regional fisheries organisations and
the International Maritime Organisation.

–
a strategic combination of the EU's financing and
legislative instruments defined in section 3 to achieve Atlantic objectives

As a first step, an Atlantic Forum will be set
up that will allow Member States, Parliament, regional authorities, civil
society and representatives of existing and emerging industries to contribute.
It will include a set of workshops focused on the challenges and opportunities
outlined above and a think tank to suggest options for achieving the
objectives. The Forum is expected to commence work in 2012 and be dissolved in
2013.

[1]               Council Conclusions on Integrated Maritime Policy of
14.06.2010

[2]               Resolution on the European Strategy for the Atlantic
Region, 9.03.2011 (ref B7‑0165/2011).

[3]               COM (2010) 2020

[4]               The somewhat different challenges facing the coasts
and waters of the North Sea are not considered here. No decision has yet been
made as to whether a separate North Sea strategy will be developed.

[5]               Including the Outermost Regions of the Axores, the Canary
Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Madeira, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy and
Saint-Martin

[6]               A separate EU approach to the Arctic has been
developed, see COM(2008) 763

[7]               See in particular OJ L 164, 25.6.2008,
p. 19., art 1(3) Marine strategies shall apply an ecosystem based approach to
the management of human activities

[8]               See e.g. recitals 39 and 40 of MSFD, and recital 8
and Article 2(4) of proposed Regulation for the CFP.

[9]               Excluding North Sea

[10]             COM(2011) 417 Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy

[11]             COM (2008) 768 , 13.11.2008).

[12]             General Affairs Council, 16 November 2009

[13]             COM(2009) 10 , January 2009

[14]             COM (2011) 25 , February 2011.

[15]             ISBA/6/A/18, annex

[16]             COM(2010) 546 final

[17]             EU chief instrument for funding research and technology
development

[18]             SEAS-era: Towards Integrated Marine Research Strategy
and Programmes – http://www.seas-era.eu

[19]             http://www.jpi-oceans.eu

[20]             Commission Communication "Marine knowledge 2020:
marine data and observation for smart and sustainable growth" (COM (2010)
461, 8.9.2010).

[21]             General bathymetric chart of the Oceans

[22]             an international initiative of the geological surveys
of the world launched in 2007 to contribute to the 'International Year of
Planet Earth',

[23]             Regulations of 23 April 2009 (OJ L 131, 28/05/2009) and
subsequent related Directives..

[24]             The Lisbon Agreement sets the
implementation of the International Action Centre for Pollution Incidents
Response in the north-east Atlantic (CILPAN).

[25]             Risk assessment and mapping guidelines for disaster
management SEC(2010)1626

[26]             For instanced using satellites to pick up signals from
ships' Automatic Identification Systems

[27]             European Maritime Day 2010 workshop "Towards a
European Young Marine Scientists and Technologist Forum": www.eurocean.org/euymast/

[28]             COM (2010)352 , 30.06.2010

[29]             COM(2011) 417

[30]             Directive 2008/56/EC of 17 June 2008

[31]             According to Article 4, the
north east Atlantic marine region is divided in the following sub-regions: (i)
the Greater North Sea, including the Kattegat, and the English Channel; (ii)
the Celtic Seas; (iii) the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast; (iv) in the
Atlantic Ocean, the Macaronesian biogeographic region, being the waters
surrounding the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands.