# EUR-Lex - 52012DC0494 - EN

*|*

# 52012DC0494

**COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Blue Growth opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth /* COM/2012/0494 final */**

			*

			*

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

Blue Growth

opportunities for marine and maritime
sustainable growth

(Text with EEA relevance)

1.           Introduction

If we count all economic activities that depend
on the sea, then the EU's blue economy[1]
represents 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of just under €500 billion per
year[2].
In all, 75% of Europe’s external trade[3]
and 37% of trade within the EU[4]
is seaborne. Much of this activity is concentrated around Europe's coasts, but
not all. Some landlocked countries host very successful manufacturers of marine
equipment.

The sea and the coasts are drivers of the
economy. Because of their outward-looking geography, ports and coastal
communities have traditionally been centres for new ideas and innovation. In
addition to this traditional propensity for innovation, three new factors have
now come into play.

–
First, there has been rapid technological
progress in working offshore in ever-deeper waters. Robotics,
video-surveillance and submersible technology are now routinely packaged into machinery
for operations that were not feasible ten years ago.

–
Second, we are increasingly aware that land and
freshwater are finite resources. Further clearing of forests or draining of
wetland will deprive future generations of the benefits they provide. We need
to look how the 71% of the planet that is ocean can deliver human necessities
such as food and energy in a way that is more sustainable. Meeting
environmental targets can also be a source of innovation and growth.

–
Third, the need to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions has not only driven the deployment of offshore renewable energy
installations, but has also provided a further impetus for energy saving and an
additional reason to favour seaborne transport over land transport due to its lower
emissions per tonne-kilometre. There is significant potential to reduce these
emissions which account for about 3% of the total greenhouse gas emissions by
further improving the energy efficiency of ships.

This has opened up an opportunity for blue
growth – an initiative to harness the untapped potential of Europe's oceans, seas
and coasts for jobs and growth. The potential is significant, provided the
appropriate investments and research are made. Growth in the blue economy
offers new and innovative ways to help steer the EU out of its current economic
crisis. It represents the maritime dimension of the Europe 2020 strategy. It
can contribute to the EU's international competitiveness, resource efficiency[5], job creation and new sources
of growth whilst safeguarding biodiversity and protecting the marine
environment, thus preserving the services that healthy and resilient marine and
coastal ecosystems provide.

This Communication drives forward the Commission's
Integrated Maritime Policy and launches a process which will place the blue
economy firmly on the agenda of Member States, regions, enterprise and civil
society. It describes how Member States and EU policies are already supporting
the blue economy. It then identifies specific areas where targeted action could
provide an additional stimulus. A set of initiatives will subsequently be
launched to explore and develop the growth potential in these areas.

2.           What is the Blue Economy?

The individual sectors of the blue economy are
interdependent. They rely on common skills and shared infrastructure such as
ports and electricity distribution networks. They depend on others using the
sea sustainably.

Figure 1 Employment and economic size of marine and
maritime economic activities. Please note the logarithmic scale.

Figure 1 shows the blue economy's value chains in terms of gross value added
and employment. This includes their upstream and downstream activities. For
instance, the activity of the important shipbuilding and marine equipment
sectors has been distributed among the relevant value chains.

The picture may look different by 2020. We need
to prepare for technological progress, demographic shifts, increasing scarcity of
natural resources and growth in hitherto underdeveloped economies, including our
neighbouring countries. A number of traditional activities will remain significant
employers, while emerging sectors will provide new jobs.

The blue economy needs to be sustainable and to
respect potential environmental concerns given the fragile nature of the marine
environment. Efforts are needed to reduce negative environmental impacts of
maritime acitivies such as the emissions of pollutants and the discharge of
noxious substances.

3.           Member State support for the Blue
Economy

Member States are already making strategic
investments to unlock the potential of the blue economy. These include
Ireland's INFOMAR[6]
programme for mapping marine resources and the refurbishing of the Bremerhaven
port to meet the needs of manufacturers and suppliers in the offshore wind
industry. The €8 billion MOSE project currently under construction, is aimed at
protecting the city of Venice from floods and morphological degradation.

Legislative measures that reassure investors
that there will be no unforeseen delays in planning processes or infrastructure
connections can give as much impetus to investment as financial support. A UK
Department for Transport 'Harbour Empowerment Order' gave statutory powers to
the London Gateway as a port and distribution centre. Not only will this £1.5 billion
private investment reduce carbon emissions by bringing containers nearer to
their final destination, it will also deliver about 12000 new jobs by the end
of 2013.

Lack of access to finance and a shortage of
suitably skilled workers have been identified as blocking growth in nearly all
economic sectors. In the blue economy, Member States are tackling this by developing
maritime clusters. These are groupings of larger industries, smaller suppliers
and educational establishments that reinforce each other through their close
proximity. The better communication brought about by geographical proximity mean
that educational courses and research can meet the needs of local industry and suppliers
can understand the market and predict future trends. Examples include the offshore
energy industry in Scotland and the ship-repair business in Brest which plays
host to France's largest maritime cluster, the 'Pôle de competitivité mer'. Ostend
has made land and quays available for renewable energy companies close to
research institutes; and the Marine Institute in Galway is developing new ideas
for marine observation and communication with large multinationals and small
businesses in its SmartBay project.

In order to tackle the big research questions
more efficiently through commonly agreed work programmes, Member States are
collaborating on a Joint Programming Initiative on "Healthy and Productive
Seas and Oceans".

4.           Ongoing EU initiatives

EU policies are designed to reinforce the
efforts of Member States and regions and provide common building blocks for a
successful blue economy. These include the following:

(1)
A Commission initiative on maritime spatial
planning and integrated coastal zone management which should provide business
with the legal certainty it needs to invest.

(2)
The "Marine Knowledge 2020" initiative[7]. This will provide an
integrated knowledge infrastructure based on national data collection systems delivering
data products at a European-level through the internet. This will include a
flagship multi-resolution digital seabed map of European waters as well as
up-to-date information on the water column by 2020. Benefits of at least €500
million a year[8]
through increased efficiency and innovation are expected.

(3)
A Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE)[9] for the surveillance of the EU
maritime domain. This will allow maritime authorities responsible for
activities such as safe navigation or fisheries control to share information on
risks and threats. This reduces their costs and the risk to businesses
operating at sea.

(4)
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive[10] which introduces an
ecosystem-based approach, aiming to ensure that the collective pressure of human
activities on the environment is kept within levels compatible with the
achievement of good environmental status by 2020. The Rio+20 Summit commitments
also address the sustainable use of a diverse marine ecosystem.

(5)
The European Maritime Transport Space without Barriers,
which aims at simplifying administrative procedures for maritime transport[11] and which should be further
developed into a 'Blue Belt' of free maritime movement in and around Europe.

(6)
An Action Plan to facilitate access to finance
for Europe’s 23 million SMEs, adopted by the Commission in December 2011[12] and a proposal for a new EU
framework creating a genuine single market for venture capital funds.[13]

(7)
Actions in education and training financed by
the forthcoming 'Erasmus for All Programme', such as Knowledge Alliances and Sector
Skills Alliances; instruments for facilitating the mutual recognition of skills
and qualifications such as European Qualifications Frameworks; and better
anticipation of skills and labour market needs through European Sector Skills
Councils and the EU Skills Panorama.

(8)
The EU's programmes for marine and maritime
research and innovation[14]
funded through the framework programme. These include dedicated initiatives, such
as the FP7 Ocean of Tomorrow calls, to further our understanding of the marine
environment and its climatic and non-climatic stressors and to promote the
sustainable use of marine resources. The future Horizon 2020 programme will
target research and innovation on food security, clean energy, green transport,
climate action and resource efficiency, as well as cross-thematic marine and
maritime research.

(9)
The LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative which is
currently under review with the aim of adapting the strategy to better tackle
the new challenges the EU shipbuilding sector is facing.[15]

EU funding under the 2014-2020 financial
framework can reinforce these efforts. Member States and regions will be able
to focus EU-funded investment on promising maritime economic activities and their
supporting infrastructures.

Sea-basin strategies, such as those for the Baltic,
the Atlantic and the Adriatic-Ionian, complement preparations for the new
financial framework by identifying common issues, solutions and actions. They
offer a platform for Member States to engage at an early stage in defining priorities.
For instance, through the Commission's Atlantic strategy, national and regional
authorities along the Atlantic seaboard are identifying which priority
investments could be funded under the 2014-2020 structural budget envelope and which
knowledge gaps could be filled by research within the Horizon 2020 initiative.
Bringing in private sector funding, including through the European Investment
Bank, will also help unlock the potential of the blue economy.

5.           Blue Growth Focus Areas

An analysis of the job-creation potential[16], as well as the potential for research
and development to deliver technology improvements and innovation and the need
for action at EU level, has suggested that the following five value chains could
deliver sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. They could therefore benefit
from clear-sighted policymaking, allowing the private sector to play a leading
role in helping the blue economy reach its sustainable growth potential. This
list should not be considered exhaustive. Ongoing EU initiatives are already
encouraging innovation in sectors such as maritime transport. Other value
chains may emerge over time as suitable areas for further policy focus.

5.1.        Blue energy

Marine energies have the potential to enhance
the efficiency of harvesting the European energy resource, minimize land-use
requirements of the power sector and reduce the European greenhouse gas
emissions (by about 65 Mt CO2 in 2020). Thanks to the EU renewable
energy targets and incentives for investments such as feed-in tariffs or green
certificates, offshore wind power generation has started to expand rapidly in
Europe. In 2011, offshore wind accounted for 10% of installed capacity,
employed 35000 people directly and indirectly across Europe and represented €2.4bn
in annual investments. By the end of 2011 the total capacity offshore was
3.8GW. On the basis of Member States' National Renewable Energy Action Plans, the
electricity produced from wind power in 2020 will be 494.6 TWh and of that
133.3 TWh will be generated offshore. By 2030 the annual installation of
offshore capacity could exceed that onshore. Offshore wind could meet 4% of the
EU electricity demand by 2020 and 14% by 2030. This would mean 170000 jobs by
2020, increasing to 300000 by 2030. Continued efforts to reduce the cost of
offshore wind technology will accelerate this growth. This is a prime objective
of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan's (SET-Plan)[17] European Industrial initiative
on wind energy. Several Member States are active in this plan.

Other offshore renewable energy technologies
are still at an early stage of development, with Member States planning to
install only a moderate capacity of 2 to 4 GW by 2020. The challenge is to
accelerate the commercialisation of ocean energy through reductions in
technology costs as world-wide demand is expected to double annually in the
near future. Different combinations of geographic and oceanographic conditions
suit different technologies. These technologies offer a more predictable base-load
supply of electricity that compensates the fluctuating supply from wind:

–
Tidal barrage, a dam-like structure used to
capture energy from masses of water moving in and out of a bay or estuary. The
best example of this technology in Europe is the La Rance Power Station in
France with capacity of 240MW, which is the second largest plant of its kind in
the world.

–
Wave power devices are currently being
demonstrated and underwater turbines driven by currents (tidal or other) are close
to commercialisation. In all, 22MW of wave and current devices were installed in
2012.

–
Ocean thermal energy conversion, which uses the
temperature difference between cooler deep ocean waters and warmer shallow or
surface ocean waters to run a heat engine could be a feasible option for the
EU's overseas territories in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean.

Commercial operation of blue energy
technologies will need investments in grid connections and transmission capacity.
Long-term support mechanisms, which have been successful in encouraging investment
in other types of renewable energy, will also be needed for emerging wave and tidal
current technologies.

As recently stressed in the Communication
"Renewable Energy: a major player in the European energy market"[18], further efforts to reinforce
research and development in the field of ocean energy are needed. This will
help to further reduce costs, lengthen the operating life of equipment and
streamline logistics in technologies that will help to achieve the 2020 targets.
Given the long lead time for EU research projects, increased effort should now
be devoted to technologies such as wave and currents that will reach full
maturity in the coming decades.

EU measures, including funding, can have a
crucial role in providing a framework that gives investors the confidence to
invest. The European Investment Bank lent €3.3 billion for offshore wind projects
between 2005 and 2011. The sale of the first 200 million allowances for the
NER300 funding instrument[19]
will raise nearly €1.5 billion by October 2012. A proportion of this will
support demonstration projects for offshore energy in Member States. These
efforts in new technologies should be sustained and structural funds should be
mobilised for demonstration projects. At the same time efforts must be deployed
to reconcile tidal barrages with EU nature protection legislation, possibly in
the framework of integrated coastal zone management or strategic planning.

EU industry is a world leader in blue energy
and can contribute to reductions in carbon emissions outside Europe through
exports. In addition, synergies can also be explored with the offshore
conventional energy sector, for example by tackling safety and infrastructure
challenges together. The Commission proposal for levellling up safety standards
in the offshore oil and gas sector EU-wide[20]
is a key initiative. Working together with the conventional energy sector will
help secure affordable energy supplies in the EU.

5.2.        Aquaculture

Fish accounts for about 15.7% of the animal
protein consumed globally. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates[21] that aquaculture provides half
of this and that by 2030 it will reach 65%. It is currently 25% in the EU. Globally,
it has a growth rate of 6.6% per annum, making it the fastest-growing
animal-food-producing sector and faster than the 1.8% annual global population
increase. It is thus contributing to an overall improvement in human diet. Growth
in the aquaculture sector in Asia, which accounts for more than 89% of global
production is more than 5% a year, while EU growth in the sector is stagnant.

More than 90% of aquaculture businesses in the
EU are SMEs, providing around 80000 jobs[22].
Aquaculture has the potential to grow by providing more quality merchandise to
consumers willing to choose fresh, trustworthy products, increasingly including
those that are sustainably or organically produced. Moreover, it can help
coastal communities diversify their activities while alleviating fishing
pressure and thus helping to preserve fish stocks.

Lack of available maritime space for
aquaculture activities, competition in the global market and administrative
constraints in particular concerning licensing procedures are amongst the challenges
to growth. Sustainable aquaculture must also consider potential impacts on wild
fish stocks and water quality.  Since the start of the present economic crisis,
investment has been limited by the lack of capital.

As part of the Common Fisheries Policy[23] reform, the Commission proposes
to promote aquaculture through an 'open method of coordination' based on non-binding
strategic guidelines, multiannual national strategic plans and the exchange of best
practice. There is a wide scope for improving administrative practices,
especially in licensing. Member States need to be aware of ways of increasing
production that are sustainable and that meet the concerns of other users of
coastal or sea space – for example, by building cages along with offshore
windfarms or by integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. Such measures will be
supported financially by the proposed European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.[24] The future Horizon 2020
programme for research and innovation should also play an important role in
unlocking the growth potential of European aquaculture for instance through the
farming of new species or moving further offshore.

5.3.        Maritime, coastal and cruise
tourism

The extraordinary beauty and diversity of
Europe's coasts, as well as the wide range of facilities and activities on
offer, make them the preferred holiday destination of 63% of European tourists[25]. The maritime and coastal
tourism sub-sector has now become the largest single maritime economic activity,
employing 2.35 million people, equivalent to 1.1% of total EU employment.[26] More than 90% of enterprises
employ less than 10 people. In some areas, tourism is an additional source of
income for coastal communities, but in others it can dominate the local
economy.

While many of these tourists may not venture
far from the shoreline, open-water activities are on the increase. Yachting is
expected to grow by 2-3% a year. The cruise industry is also growing. Within
Europe it employs nearly 150000 people and generates direct turnover of €14.5
billion[27].
EU shipyards have been successful in serving this specialised market – both
with large cruise ships and small leisure vessels.

A healthy environment is fundamental to any
form of 'blue' tourism and favours the growth potential of new forms of tourism.
High quality bathing waters and pristine coastal and marine habitats have a
high recreation value. This increases the attractiveness of coastal areas which
in turn increases the growth potential of activities such as nautical tourism
and sports, and green tourism such as whale watching. The sheer variety of
Europe's tourism means that most growth-generating initiatives will inevitably
be on a local or regional scale. Each of Europe's sea-basins presents different
challenges and opportunities, requiring tailor-made approaches. Public
administrations will need to take a strategic approach to investments in
enabling infrastructures such as berthing capacity, port facilities and
transport. Higher education courses need to deliver a solid grounding in the
specific skills needed to maintain and increase market share in a discerning
and competitive global market. This needs to be accompanied by measures that help
to improve the tourism offer for low-season tourism and reduce the high carbon
footprint and environmental impact of coastal tourism.

Given the sheer magnitude of the activity, the
precariousness and low-skill level of much of its current workforce as well as tourism's
dominant impact on many European coastal and marine environments, measures at a
sea-basin or EU level could have a significant positive impact. Cross-border
coordination as part of a sea-basin strategy can contribute to the development
of high-value tourism areas. The Commission is already tackling issues such as the
regulatory burden on small and medium enterprises. It will shortly begin an
assessment of further specific measures to enhance the sector.

5.4.        Marine mineral resources

Between 2000 and 2010 there has been an annual
increase of about 15% in the price of many non-energy raw materials[28], mainly as a result of
consumer demand in emerging economies. There is a risk of supply shortage for
several of these, including those identified as critical to Europe's economy[29].

Advances in technology as well as concerns over
security of supply have encouraged mining companies to consider what the sea
can provide. The exploitation and mining of minerals, other than sand and
gravel, from the sea have just started. Most current activity is in shallow
water. By 2020, 5% of the world's minerals, including cobalt, copper and zinc
could come from the ocean floors. This could rise to 10% by 2030. Global annual
turnover of marine mineral mining can be expected to grow from virtually
nothing to €5 billion in the next 10 years and up to €10 billion by 2030[30].

It may also become economically feasible to
extract dissolved minerals, such as boron or lithium, from seawater. The most
promising deposits are found in metallic sulphides which emerge from hydrothermal
ore deposits (such as 'black smokers') in volcanically active zones. The
temperatures and pressures in these regions are extreme and the impact of
disturbance on these hot spots of marine biodiversity, which under the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) should be protected[31], is largely unknown. Such operations
are currently mostly located within areas under national jurisdiction
(exclusive economic zones and continental shelf) where it is easier to transport
ores to land. However there are opportunities outside jurisdictional marine
areas. In these areas, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is responsible
for organising and controlling activities, including monitoring all
mineral-related activities. This includes protecting the marine environment in
line with the provisions of UNCLOS, to which the EU and all its Member States
are contracting parties.

If this expansion in extracting minerals from
the seafloor does take place, European companies, with their long experience in
specialised ships and underwater handling, are currently well positioned to
provide high-quality products and services. Their continued competitiveness
depends on access to finance in an inherently risky market, targeted research
and development in extraction techniques, the ability to obtain licences in
international waters and robust measures to avoid harming unique ecosystems.
The marine minerals sector will be able to benefit from the experiences of the
offhore oil and gas sector here.

EU support could include measures to ensure
that European companies are not squeezed out of the value chain for marine
minerals by state-supported competitors. This might include a pilot action
within the framework of the proposed European Innovation Partnership on Raw
Materials[32],
supported by a structured EU research effort addressing main technology
challenges. EU engagement would help to ensure that high environmental, legal
and security standards are upheld.

5.5.        Blue biotechnology

The unexplored and understudied nature of much
of the underwater world means that the capacity of marine organisms other than
fish and shellfish to provide inputs to the blue economy is only just beginning
to be appreciated, partly through new gene sequencing technologies for living
organisms. There have already been successes. The anti-viral drugs Zovirax and
Acyclovir were obtained from nucleosides isolated from Caribbean sponges. Yondelis,
developed from small soft-bodied marine animals was the first drug of marine
origin to fight cancer. Exploration of the sea biodiversity is now helping us understand
for example how organisms that can withstand extremes of temperature and
pressure and grow without light could be used to develop new industrial enzymes
or pharmaceuticals. At the same time, concerns about the land-use impact and
the thirst for water of terrestrial crops grown for biofuel are driving efforts
to explore the use of algae as a source of biofuels, along with high
added-value chemicals and bioactive compounds.

While estimated current employment in the
sector in Europe is still relatively low, and a gross value added of €0.8 billion, the growth of the sector will
offer high-skilled employment, especially if ground-breaking drugs can be
developed from marine organisms, and significant downstream opportunities. In
the very short term, the sector is expected to emerge as a niche market focused
on high-value products for the health, cosmetic and industrial bio-materials sectors.
By 2020, it could grow as a medium-sized market, expanding towards the production
of metabolites and primary compounds (lipids, sugars, polymers, proteins) as
inputs for the food, feed and chemical industries. In a third stage, around 15
years from now and subject to technological breakthroughs, the blue biotechnology
sector could become a provider of mass-market products, together with a range
of high added value specialised products.

Accelerating this process will require a
combination of basic research on ocean life and applied research on possible
industrial applications with low probabilities but high rewards for success.

A strategic approach to research and innovation
would provide the scientific and technological bases for substantiating the
strategic decisions that emerging industrial sectors need. By reducing
technical bottlenecks in this area, the whole sector would become more
attractive to investors. It would also help EU industry to move from the
developmental stage to the commercialisation of innovative products. A European
approach would raise awareness among policy makers, the private sector and the
general public of the potential of marine aquatic products.

6.           Conclusion

This Communication has identified five areas
where additional effort at EU level could stimulate long-term growth and jobs
in the blue economy, in line with the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. With
increasing awareness of the blue economy, and further analysis, other promising
areas for EU policymaking may emerge.

For each of the five activities highlighted the
Commission will analyse policy options and consider further initiatives. This
will involve:

–
Assessing the options for giving industry the
confidence to invest in ocean renewable energy, taking into account the
framework provided by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, the aim being to address
ocean renewable energy issues in a Communication in 2013.

–
Working collaboratively with Member States to
develop best practice and agree on Strategic Guidelines on Aquaculture in the
EU to be adopted in early 2013.

–
Assessing how maritime and coastal tourism can further
contribute to economic growth and provide less precarious jobs whilst improving
its environmental sustainability. An impact assessment will be followed by a
Communication in 2013.

–
Assessing how European industry can become
competitive in extracting minerals from the seafloor and how best to ensure
that this activity does not prevent future generations from benefiting from
hitherto untouched ecosystems. An impact assessment followed by a Communication
will be delivered in 2014.

–
Assessing the options for blue biotechnology to harness
the diversity of marine life. An impact assessment followed by a Communication
will also be delivered in 2014.

In each of these areas the assessment of options
will begin with consultations with Member States and industry and other
relevant stakeholders in order to develop joint approaches that will provide
the extra push that the blue economy needs in order to provide a positive
contribution to Europe's economic future, while safeguarding our unique marine
environment for future generations.

[1]               not including military activities.

[2]               based on data from the Blue Growth Study 'Scenarios
and drivers for sustainable growth from the oceans, seas and coasts', ECORYS,
2012. https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/maritimeforum/content/2946

[3]               by volume.

[4]               per tonne-kilometre.

[5]               See Roadmap to a Resource
Efficient Europe COM(2011) 571.

[6]               Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of
Ireland’s Marine Resources.

[7]               COM(2012) 473 final.

[8]               European Marine Observation
and Data Network Impact Assessment, 8.9.2010, SEC(2010) 998.

[9]               COM(2010) 584 final.

[10]             2008/56/EC.

[11]             COM(2009) 10.

[12]             COM(2011) 870.

[13]             COM(2011) 860.

[14]             COM(2008) 534.

[15]             COM(2003) 717.

[16]             See Blue Growth Study, ECORYS, 2012.

[17]             COM(2007) 723 and COM(2009) (519).

[18]             COM(2012) 271.

[19]             http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/lowcarbon/ner300/index_en.htm

[20]             COM(2011) 688 final.

[21]             FAO State of World Fisheries and
Aquaculture 2010.

[22]             70258 reported under the EU's Data
Collection Framework.

[23]             COM(2011) 417 and COM(2011) 425.

[24]             COM/2011/0804.

[25]             ‘Facts and figures on the Europeans on holiday
1997–98’, Eurobarometer 48, Brussels, 1998.

[26]             based
on data from the Blue Growth Study.

[27]             European
Cruise Council (2011). http://download.ecorys.com/fuu/downloads/Europe_cruise_industry_markets_2011_ecc_jun11.pdf

[28]             WTO (2010) 'Trade growth to ease in 2011 but despite
2010 record surge, crisis hangover persists', PRESS/628, 7 April 2011.

[29]             London Metal Exchange (LME) indicates a price increase
of about 256% for the period 2000 to 2010 for non-ferrous base metals. See also
COM(2011) 25 final and its accompanying staff working document.

[30]             based on estimates given by industrial stakeholders in
the Blue Growth Study.

[31]             UN Convention on the Law of the
Sea, Article 194 paragraph 5.

[32]             COM(2012) 82.