Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Progress report on the EU's integrated maritime policy {SEC(2009) 1343}
Date: 2009-10-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: environmental protection, freedom of navigation, governance, maritime area, maritime safety, maritime transport, report, shipping policy, the EU's international role

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 15.10.2009 
COM(2009)540 final 

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

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE EU'S INTEGRATED MARITIME POLICY 

{SEC(2009) 1343} 

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

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE EU'S INTEGRATED MARITIME POLICY 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The EU Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has established itself as new approach to enhance 
the optimal development of all sea-related activities in a sustainable manner. It has confirmed 
the vision that, by joining up policies towards seas and oceans, Europe can draw much higher 
returns  from  them  with  a  far  lesser  impact  on  the  environment.  EU  institutions,  Member 
States and regions have set-up governance structures to ensure that policies related to the seas 
are no longer developed in isolation and take account of connections and synergies with other 
policy  areas.  Stakeholders  have  confirmed  the  considerable interest shown  during  the  broad 
consultation  process  of  2006-07,  establishing  the  IMP  as  a  particularly  bottom-up  driven 
policy  of  the  European  Union.  Cross-sectoral  tools  such  as  maritime  spatial  planning, 
integrated surveillance or marine knowledge have registered tangible progress and should lead 
to  substantial  improvements  in  the  way  we  manage  our  oceans.  EU  sectoral  policies  with  a 
bearing  on  our  seas  and  coasts,  like  fisheries,  transport,  environment,  energy,  industry  or 
research  policy,  have  all  taken  substantial  moves  in  the  direction  of  greater  integration  and 
consistency. The Commission has also made first steps to implement the IMP on a regional 
basis. In short, the EU IMP is changing the way Europeans look at their seas and oceans and 
reaffirmed the strategic importance of the continent’s seas and coastal regions.  

When  it  endorsed  the  EU  IMP  and  the  Blue  Paper1,  the  European  Council  of  14  December 
20072  asked  the  Commission  to  report  within  two  years  on  the  achievements  of  the  policy. 
The  present  Communication  sums  up  these  achievements  and  charts  the  course  for  the  next 
phase of the IMP. It also highlights how joined-up policy-making towards our seas, maritime 
sectors and coastal areas can contribute to addressing challenges posed by the current global 
economic  crisis  and  by  the  need  to  take  decisive  action  against  climate  change  and 
environmental degradation. The October 2007 Blue Paper set out an ambitious Action Plan. It 
includes new working methods, cross-cutting tools and a wide range of specific actions that 
aim to improve the maritime economy, protect and restore the marine environment, strengthen 
research  and  innovation,  foster  development  in  coastal  and  outermost  regions,  provide 
leadership  in  international  maritime  affairs,  and  raise  the  visibility  of  Europe's  maritime 
dimension.  

Essentially  the  framework  provided  by  the  IMP  seeks  to  achieve  (and  has  started  to  do  so) 
four objectives: 

-  To  promote  integration  of  governance  structures  by  making  them  more  inclusive  and  co-
operative; 

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An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, COM(2007) 575 final of 10.10.2007  
and SEC(2007) 1278 of 10.10.2007 
16616/1/07 REV 1 

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- To build the knowledge base and cross cutting tools necessary to enable the implementation 
of integrated policies; 

-  To  improve  the  quality  of  sectoral  policies,  through  an  active  search  for  synergies  and 
increased coherence across sectors; 

-  In  implementing  all  above,  to  take  account  of  specificities  of  the  regional  seas  around 
Europe, through tailor-made solutions. 

The implementation of the Action plan has progressed well: Of the 65 actions in the plan, 56 
have been launched or completed (mostly in the form of Commission or Council acts). On 9 
actions various initiatives have been undertaken, although no formal documents are adopted 
yet. Following the first phase, the Commission and Member States are now focusing efforts 
on  effective  implementation  on  the  ground,  with  additional  activities  in  all  relevant  policy 
areas pursued where needed. 

The Blue Paper and Action Plan were drawn up in a radically different economic climate. The 
crisis has not spared the maritime economy from declining revenues and downturn. Beyond 
achievements so far, this paper therefore also sets out where further action will be required in 
order to unlock the undeniable potential of our oceans, seas and coastal regions, but also to 
address the economic problems faced by maritime sectors. 

2. 

MARITIME GOVERNANCE AND STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT 

The  Blue  Paper  advocated  a  major  re-think  of  our  governance  approach  towards  seas  and 
oceans  at  all  levels  of  government:  EU  institutions,  Member  States  and  regions.  Political 
actors have on the whole been very responsive to this approach: two years on, steps have been 
taken throughout the Union to overcome the compartmentalised nature of several sea-related 
policies, involve maritime stakeholders more broadly, and identify policy synergies.  

2.1. EU institutions 

The  Commission  has  taken  several  steps  towards  integrating  its  maritime  policy-making.  A 
Steering  Group  of  Commissioners  has  been  operational  since  2005  and  has  debated  all  the 
major  policy  initiatives  included  in  the  Blue  Paper’s  Action  Plan.  Structures  have  been 
established for regular meetings among the Directorates-General involved in order to identify 
synergies and defuse possible policy inconsistencies. The Commission has also re-organised 
its  services  and  expanded  the  mandate  of  its  Directorate-General  for  Maritime  Affairs  and 
Fisheries  in  order  to  ensure  overall  co-ordination  of  the  policy  and  to  develop  cross-sector 
tools where needed, as well as to take regional specificities into account. 

The Council has shown a strong commitment to the IMP. In its conclusions of 8 December 
20083  it  not  only  recognised  the  IMP's  cross-cutting  nature  by  dealing  with  it  through  the 
General  Affairs  and  External  Relations  Council,  but  also  "confirm(ed)  that  an  integrated 
approach to maritime issues constitutes a major objective, since the synergies, the coherence 
and  the  added  value  of  sectoral  action  undertaken  by  the  European  Union  need  to  be 
reinforced by being integrated into a comprehensive vision of the seas, oceans and coastlines, 
taking account of distinctive regional features (…)."  

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In institutional terms, the active involvement of the Council and Member States is ensured in 
both  General  Affairs  Council  work  and  in  the  IMP  Member  States  contact  groups.  These 
groups  guarantee  that  existing  expertise  in  national  administrations  is  fully  used,  that  the 
specific  needs  of  Member  States  and  coastal  regions  are  given  full  attention,  and  that  a 
political consensus is formed with maximum transparency and impact. 

Support  for,  and  coverage  of,  maritime  policy  in  the  European  Parliament  has  been  very 
positive4. However, maritime policy issues are still being dealt with separately by a number of 
committees and structures.  

The  Committee  of  the  Regions  has  been  providing  beneficial  impetus  for  the  IMP.  The 
Commission  has  in  particular  taken  note  of  its  opinion  on  the  Blue  Paper5  which  contains 
important  input  for  future  work.  The  Committee's  recent  "Maritime  and  coastal  package" 
opinion6  is  a  valuable  example  of  how  diverging  interests  can  be  linked  in  a  coherent, 
complementary and synergetic fashion. 

The  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  issued  an  opinion  which  was  particularly 
supportive of the IMP on 14 April 20087. 

2.2. Member States 

At  the  time  of  the  Green  Paper,  only  a  few  initiatives  for  integrated  approaches  in  Member 
States existed. Two countries, France and the Netherlands, reported having the administrative 
structure  in  place  to  organise  policy  coordination  of  sea-related  matters.  Portugal  had  then 
already initiated concrete work towards an ocean strategy. 

Since then substantial progress has taken place and more Member States have taken initiatives 
towards the integration of maritime policy and increasingly share best practice in integrated 
maritime  policy  approaches.  These  are  fully  in  line  with  the  guidelines  published  by  the 
Commission  in  June  20088  and  concern  organisational  changes  and/or  the  development  of 
longer  term  integrated  strategies  for  the  sustainable  development  of  maritime  sectors  and 
coastal regions.  

Important  examples  are  the  Dutch  "Nationaal  Waterplan",  the  French  "Grenelle  de  la  Mer", 
the  German  "Entwicklungsplan  Meer",  the  Swedish  bill  on  a  coherent  maritime  policy,  the 
Polish interdepartmental maritime policy plan and the UK Marine Bill.  

Ireland,  Portugal,  Slovenia  have  also  taken  steps  in  this  direction.  Related  activities  are 
reported  from  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  the  Czech  Republic,  Denmark,  Italy,  Greece,  Finland  and 
Spain.  

2.3. Regions 

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Not  least  through  the  report  by  the  late  Willi  Piecyk,  MEP:  A6-0163/2008  (Committee  on  Transport 
and Tourism) 
CoR 22/2008 fin, adopted on 9 April 2008 
CoR 416/2008 fin, adopted on 17 June 2009 
O.J. 2008/C 211/07 
COM(2008) 395 final of 26.06.2008 

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The coastal regions have been fully-fledged partners of the IMP since the very start. They are 
best placed to identify what is required to implement the policy locally and at the level of each 
sea basin. They have also shown great ability to work with their national authorities as well as 
with regions from other Member States in order to promote integrated solutions to sea-related 
issues. The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), which brings together some 
160 European regions, closely follows the progress of the Action Plan through regular work at 
the  meetings  of  the  Aquamarina  working  group,  set  up  to  promote  IMP  actions  at  regional 
level. 

Three major initiatives are worth underlining in this context:  

- The first regional action plans on Integrated Maritime Policy - the Asturias Maritime Plan9 
and the Schleswig-Holstein Maritime Action Plan10. 

- The Brittany coast charter of 29 April 200911.  

-  The  atlas  "Channel  Spaces  —  A  world  within  Europe"12,  by  Arc  Manche  of  November 
2008, is a best practice example in the documentation of transnational maritime relations. 

The  Commission  is  aware  of  other  regions  following  innovative  integrated  practices  on 
coastal and sea governance and is fully supportive of them.  

2.4. Stakeholders 

Ever  since  their  overwhelming  response  to  the  consultation  process  carried  out  in  2006, 
stakeholders have been instrumental in establishing an Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU. 
Regional,  business  and  NGO  actors  were  the  first  to  champion  the  need  for  joining  up  EU 
policies  affecting  seas,  maritime  sectors  and  coastal  regions.  Their  contributions  have 
provided the ground for innovative concepts and tools. 

The  afore-mentioned  CPMR,  the  Maritime  Industries  Forum13  (MIF),  which  currently 
represents 25 maritime trade associations, and the European Network of Maritime Clusters14, 
have  been  active  supporters  of  the  EU  IMP.  Major  environmental  NGOs  are  also  actively 
participating in the IMP process. 

The European Maritime Day stakeholder conference has established itself as the annual event 
where  highly  productive  exchanges  take  place  across  the  different  constituencies15.  The 
Commission will further support increased stakeholder involvement in this event. At the same 
time,  stakeholders  will  be  encouraged  to  organise  again  de-centralised  events  around 
European Maritime Day on 20 May, thus reflecting national, regional and local contributions 
to the IMP. 

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See "inforegio panorama", No. 23 of September 2007, ISSN 1608-389X 
Landesinitiative Zukunft Meer, see http://www.schleswig-holstein.de 
Charte des espaces côtiers Bretons, see http://www.bretagne.fr/ 
Espace Manche : un monde en Europe, see http://www.arcmanche.com 
See http://www.mif-eu.org 
http://www.european-network-of-maritime-clusters.eu/ 
The EMD 2009 full documentation can be found here: 
http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/maritimeday/index_en.html 

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There  have  been  recent  and  very  encouraging  signs  that  IMP  stakeholders  are  establishing 
their  own  more  permanent  exchange  structures.  Whilst  the  research  community,  regional 
organisations,  the  maritime  industries  and  environmental  NGOs  traditionally  have  their 
individual  means  to  speak  to  the  EU  institutions,  public  dialogue  between  the  different 
interest  groups  was  the  exception.  The  Commission  will  strengthen  its  support  to  self-
organisation of stakeholders across sectors. 

3. 

CROSS-SECTOR TOOLS 

The  Blue  Paper  identified  the  need  for  cross-cutting  tools  to  underpin  the  IMP,  such  as: 
maritime  spatial  planning,  integrated  surveillance,  and  the  building  of  a  marine  knowledge 
base. The development of these three tools has progressed well and first important results can 
be reported. 

3.1 Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) 

Increased  activities  on  Europe's  seas  lead  to  growing  competition  for  limited  marine  space. 
MSP is a key instrument to balance sectoral interests and achieve sustainable use of marine 
resources with the ecosystem based approach as the underpinning principle. It is a process that 
provides  a  stable,  reliable  and  oriented  planning  framework  for  public  authorities  and 
stakeholders  to  coordinate  their  action  and  optimise  the  use  of  marine  space  to  benefit 
economic development and the marine environment.  

The Commission adopted the "Roadmap on Maritime Spatial Planning: Achieving Common 
Principles  in  the  EU"  in  2008.16  It  sets  out  10  key  principles  and  seeks  to  discuss  the 
development of a common approach among Member States encouraging the implementation 
of MSP at national and EU level. 

Stakeholders from all relevant maritime sectors endorsed the 10 key principles as appropriate, 
comprehensive  and  as  an  important  basis  for  the  development  of  MSP  at  European  level  in 
discussions organised by the Commission during 200917. The Commission also launched two 
preparatory  actions  in  the  Baltic  Sea  (as  part of  the  EU  Strategy  for the  Baltic  Sea  Region) 
and the North Sea/North East Atlantic, aiming at developing cross-border cooperation aspects 
of MSP, as well as a study on the potential of maritime spatial planning in the Mediterranean 
Sea and the economic benefits of MSP. 

Following  to  the  recommendation  in  the  Commission's  Blue  Paper  to  set  up  a  system  for 
exchange  of  best  practices  in developing  Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), the 
Commission launched in 2009 a support project to stimulate the sharing of best-practice and 
promote  effective  implementation  of  ICZM18.  The  Council  signed  at  the  end  of  2008  the 
Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management under the Barcelona Convention. 

3.2 Integration of maritime surveillance 

Integrating maritime surveillance should result in more efficient operations at sea and reduce 
operating costs. The potential savings at EU level are significant given the growing need to 

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COM(2008) 791 final of 25.11.2008 
http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/spatial_planning_en.html#6 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/iczm/ourcoast.htm 

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detect, track, intercept and control unlawful activities at sea as well as to prevent accidents at 
sea, detect illegal oil discharges, monitor fishing activities and safeguard the environment. 

To date the Commission has produced detailed overviews of the different national, regional 
and European initiatives on the integration of maritime surveillance19, completed a study on 
the legal and regulatory aspects of the integration of maritime surveillance and carried out a 
stock taking exercise together with the European Defence Agency and the EU Military Staff 
in  response  to  a  request  from  the  Defence  Council20.  It  has  also  launched  two  calls  for 
proposals, totalling €5.7 million 21, for pilot projects for the integration of surveillance which 
promote  closer  cooperation  between  national  authorities  in  the  Mediterranean  and  in  a 
Northern Sea basin.  

These actions have reinforced considerably the internal coordination within the Commission's 
services and with the Member States on this sensitive subject. The Communication: "Towards 
the integration of maritime surveillance in the European Union"22 builds on the work to date 
and  sets  out  guiding  principles  for  the  establishment  of  a  common  information  sharing 
environment for the EU maritime domain, based on existing and new surveillance capacities 
including  pre-operational  GMES  services.  Extensive  consultation  between  the  Commission 
and Member States to translate these principles into policy will need to be established. 

3.3 Building a marine knowledge base  

There  can  be  no  maritime  policy  without  proper  data  and  knowledge  on  Europe’s  seas  and 
coasts.  So  far  marine  knowledge  remains  very  scattered  and  cost-ineffective.  The  European 
Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNET), as announced in the Blue Paper, aims 
to reduce uncertainty in knowledge of the seas as well as operational costs for those who use 
marine data. Existing databases and observation programmes need to be assessed in terms of 
coverage,  resolution  and  data  collection  frequency.  Data  stemming  from  different  sources 
should be compiled in a comprehensive and compatible way,  and made accessible as  a tool 
for  better  governance.  Substantial  preparatory  actions  are  underway  to  assemble  data  layers 
for  hydrography,  geology,  biology  and  chemistry  at  a  sea-basin  level.  The  Commission, 
through  its  statistical  service,  has  collected  sea-basin  socio-economic  data  and  identified  a 
number of analytical challenges. 

The European Atlas of the Sea project aims to raise public awareness of maritime issues. 

4. 

KEY ACTIONS IN SECTORAL POLICIES 

The Action Plan provided for sectoral actions in all relevant policy areas related to the seas, 
be  they  transport,  environment,  energy,  industry,  employment,  research,  fisheries,  external 
relations  or  other.  Special  attention  has  been  given  to  adopting  an  integrated  approach, 
working  out  the  links  between  these  various  policies,  identifying  synergies  and  reducing 
inconsistencies  across  sectors.  In  the  case  of  certain  sectoral  policies  important  initiatives 
have  been  undertaken  with  a  prominently  integrated  focus.  Their  implementation  will  be 

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SEC(2008) 2337 
COSDP 949, PESC 1366 
Calls for proposals MARE/2008/13 and 2009/04 
COM(2009) 538 final of 14.10.2009 and SEC(2009) 1341 

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directly relevant in the next years to the development of cross-cutting approaches within the 
broad framework of the IMP. Two important cases should be highlighted:  

The Marine and Maritime Research Strategy23 is the first ever European strategy to promote 
marine research. This strategy is a pioneering action for the implementation of the European 
Research  Area,  which  promotes  scientific  excellence  and  development  of  cutting-edge 
innovations both through better integration of existing research efforts and by developing new 
capacities across a multidisciplinary scope of sciences. This integrated research strategy will 
help serve key sectors of the maritime economy, ranging from energy through shipping and 
the new blue biotechnologies, right through to the goals of EU environmental policy. 

The  Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive24  (MSFD),  which  constitutes  the  environmental 
pillar  of  the  IMP,  requires  Member  States  to  achieve  good  environmental  status  in  their 
marine  waters  by  2020,  thereby  protecting  the  resource  base  upon  which  marine-related 
economic and social activities depend. The implementation of this Directive will benefit from 
the  further  development  of  cross-cutting  tools  of  IMP,  such  as  marine  spatial  planning  and 
EMODNET, while in return, the various actions required for its implementation, such as the 
socio-economic  analysis  of  human  activities  related  to  the  sea,  due  in  2012  and  regularly 
thereafter will underpin the further development of the IMP. Closely related to the MSFD, the 
Common  Fisheries  Policy  has  also  integrated  the  ecosystem  approach  as  an  overarching 
principle. For the global commons, the EU has taken the lead in policy making at global level 
and has adopted a Regulation on the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the high 
seas from the adverse impacts of bottom fishing gears25. 

In  addition,  beyond  these  integrated  developments  within  some  sectoral  policies,  the 
Commission has been successful in improving coordination and developing a more strategic 
approach  across  the  board  to  sectoral  policy  making,  which  is  expected  to  have  a  lasting 
positive impact, and will continue to be developed further. 

Thus,  on  13  November  2008,  the  Commission  adopted  a  Communication  on  offshore  wind 
energy26,  which  identifies  the  challenges  to  be  tackled  to  exploit  Europe’s  potential  for 
offshore  wind  energy.  A  key  point  here  is  the  contribution  maritime  spatial  planning  will 
make to the sustainable development of off-shore energy.  

In  its  conclusions  on  the  Integrated  Maritime  Policy  of  8  December  2008,  the  Council 
welcomed  this  Communication  as  an  important  contribution  to  the  Integrated  Maritime 
Policy,  while  stating  that  further  work  is  necessary  for  non-wind  off-shore  renewable 
energies, including wave, tide, currents and thermo gradient sources27. 

The  EU's  cohesion  policy  funding  in  the  period  2007-2013  supports  important  programmes 
with  a  clear  maritime  dimension  in  e.g.  the  Greek  Islands  and  the  Baltic  Sea.  In  addition, 
cohesion policy supports programmes for all the Outermost Regions, with significant funding 
opportunities for maritime-related actions. 

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COM(2008) 534 final of 3.9.2008 
Directive 2008/56/EC of 17 June 2008 
Regulation (EC) N° 734/2008, OJ L 201/8, 30.7.2008 
COM(2008) 768 final of 13.11.2008 
Point 8 of Council Document 16503/1/08 Rev 1 of 5.12.2008  

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The 2009-2018 Maritime Transport Strategy28 presents the main objectives for the European 
maritime transport  system for the years to  come. It  identifies key areas where action by the 
EU  will  strengthen  the  competitiveness  of  the  sector  while  promoting  quality  shipping  and 
enhancing safety, social and environmental performance.  

Of particular importance in this context is the Communication and action plan with a view to 
establishing  a  European  maritime  transport  space  without  barriers29.  The  measures  put 
forward, largely in the area of customs and sanitary inspections, require a high degree of cross 
sectoral  cooperation.  They  will  simplify  and  speed  up  administrative  procedures  for  sea 
transport between ports located in the EU and extend the Internal Market to intra-EU maritime 
transport.  This  should  push  short  sea  shipping  in  Europe  and  create  new  opportunities  for 
growth and jobs. 

To improve working conditions of seafarers, elements of the Maritime Labour Convention of 
2006 were incorporated into Community law30. The Commission has also been working on a 
reassessment  of  the  exclusions  of  maritime  workers  from  parts  of  the  European  labour  and 
social legislation. 

The  IMP  has  also  clearly  increased  coordination  in  many  other  EU  relevant  policies, 
including  those  on  safety  of  navigation  and  ports;  the  promotion  of  maritime  clusters;  the 
support  of  Europe's  shipbuilding  and  marine  equipment  sector  as  developed  in  the 
LeaderSHIP  2015  process;  the  development  of  sustainable  coastal  and  maritime  tourism;  or 
the strategy on climate change adaptation. 

Other sea-related sectoral initiatives put forward by the Commission, as well as a number of 
Commission  documents,  which  are  not  directly  sea-related  but  contain  nevertheless  a  clear 
maritime  dimension,  are 
the  Commission  Staff  Working  Document 
indicated 
accompanying this Progress Report31.  

in 

In  conclusion,  this  Commission  has  thus  not  only  focused  on  developing  both  cross-cutting 
and sectoral actions supporting the sustainable growth of coastal regions and maritime sectors. 
It has also given priority attention to implementing a more strategic and integrated approach 
to  sea-related  sectoral  policy  making  that  is  expected  to  have  a  lasting  positive  impact,  and 
will continue to be developed further. 

5. 

REGIONAL STRATEGIES 

Europe’s  sea  basins  are  extraordinarily  diverse.  Their  ecosystems  and  economies  have  been 
shaped by very diverse geographic, climatic, historical, political and human influences. While 
the broad  principles that underpin the  IMP are  the  same everywhere, the implementation of 
the policy requires translating them into targeted strategies and specific measures tailored to 
the  specificities  of  each  sea  basin.  The  Commission  has,  therefore,  embraced  a  sea-basin 
approach  for  the  implementation  of  the  IMP  whose  fundamental  premise  is  that  each  sea-
region is unique and needs individual attention in balancing its uses in a sustainable manner. 
Likewise, the environmental specificities of Europe's varied seas are also a key element in the 
Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) which recognises different marine regions.  

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COM(2009) 8 final of 21.1.2009 
COM(2009) 10 final of 21.1.2009 
Directive 2009/13/EC 
SEC(2009) 1343 

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The strengthening of co-operation within these sea regions is therefore an important building 
block for a successful implementation of the IMP. 

So far, regional approaches have been put forward by the Commission for the Arctic and the 
Mediterranean Sea, and a strategy was launched for the Baltic Sea.  

Thus, the Communication on "The European Union and the Arctic Region"32 presents specific 
proposals  in  order  to  protect  and  preserve  the  Arctic  in  unison  with  its  population,  promote 
the  sustainable  exploitation  of  resources  and  improve  multilateral  governance.  The 
Commission  intends  to  enhance  its  input  to  the  Arctic  Council  and  to  strengthen  Dialogue 
with the Arctic States and related stakeholders. 

In June 2009 the Commission proposed the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region33. This is 
the  first  EU  macro-regional  strategy,  addressing  environmental  challenges,  energy  and 
transport related issues, economic growth potential as well as safety and security issues. With 
its  strong  maritime  dimension  and  its  integrated  approach,  the  Strategy  constitutes  an 
important first step towards the regional implementation of the IMP in the Baltic. It will help 
meeting  the  challenges  in  the  region  not  only  through  strengthened  internal  coordination 
within  Member  States,  but  also  through  cross-border  networks  and  good  cooperation  with 
Russia. 

The  Commission’s  Communication  on  the  Mediterranean34  suggests  ways  forward  to 
establish an integrated maritime policy in the complex political context of the region. A semi-
enclosed  sea  with  very  densely  populated  shores,  the  Mediterranean  can  only  be  managed 
through  increased  dialogue  and  co-operation  amongst  EU  Mediterranean  Member  States  as 
well  as  with  non-EU  coastal  States.  The  Communication  suggests  options  to  improve 
governance  of  maritime  affairs  and  to  ensure  a  greater  involvement  of  coastal  States  in 
managing the marine space.  

6. 

OUTLOOK AND FORWARD VISION 

The  last  two  years  have  confirmed  the  IMP  as  a  highly  promising  policy  providing  a 
significant contribution to growth, jobs and environmental sustainability for Europe’s coastal 
areas and beyond. Despite its young age, this new EU policy has already changed the way in 
which Europe deals with its maritime and coastal assets. 

After three years of intense deliberations, it is fundamental to keep this momentum in order to 
address  the  essential  mid-  and  long  term  challenges  of  environmental  protection  and 
economic  growth  and  well-being.  The  double  impact  of  climate  change  and  the  economic 
crisis  is  particularly  felt  in  the  maritime  world:  oceans  are  the  drivers  of  our  climate  and 
maritime  industries  have  been  the  drivers  of  globalisation  and  prosperity.  It  is  therefore 
important to unlock the economic potential of maritime Europe, optimise government action 
on the seas, and further explore the synergies that allow economic growth and environmental 
stability to reinforce each other. 

32 
33 
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COM(2008) 763 final of 20.11.2008 
COM(2009) 248 final and SEC(2009) 712 of 10.06.2009 
"Towards an Integrated Maritime Policy for better governance in the Mediterranean", COM(2009) 466 
final of 11.09.2009 

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The Commission considers that these objectives will be best achieved through a combination 
of progress in six strategic directions. 

Integrated  maritime  governance  must  be  further  enhanced.  The  progress  registered  over 
recent years needs to be turned into effective integrated structures at all levels of government. 
EU institutions, Member States and coastal regions have a particular responsibility in ensuring 
upstream policy integration and in adopting coherent, joined up agendas for maritime affairs, 
further  counteracting  the  prevalence  of  isolated  sectoral  policy  thinking.  Stakeholder 
involvement  in  maritime  policy-making  should  also  be  enshrined  more  permanently  in 
governance  structures.  This  should  also  lead  to  a  more  intense  dialogue  between  the  EU, 
Member State's  Governments and coastal regions, which often hold key expertise necessary 
for an integrated approach to Maritime Affairs. For the same reason the formation of a cross-
sectoral platform for stakeholder dialogue on maritime affairs should be supported. 

Cross-cutting  policy  tools  are  of  utmost  importance  to  enhance  economic  development, 
environmental monitoring, safety, security and law enforcement on Europe’s oceans and seas. 
In particular, maritime spatial planning, in combination with increased marine knowledge, can 
unblock considerable economic investment and drastically improve the way we manage our 
maritime  spaces,  preserving  their  ecosystems.  It  must  become  a  practical  instrument  on  all 
relevant  levels  of  governance,  including  with  the  relevant  mechanisms  to  ensure  joined-up 
decision-making over cross-border investments. The integration of maritime surveillance has 
the potential of making a difference to the way key policy objectives such as the fight against 
illegal  immigration,  the  safeguard  of  commercial  shipping  and  the  protection  of  natural 
resources  are  carried  out  by  national  authorities.  Member  States  and  the  Commission  will 
have to continue to work together on these items so that the processes which were initiated in 
the last two years will bear their intended fruit. 

The definition of the boundaries of sustainability of human activities that have an impact 
on  the  marine  environment  in  the  years  ahead,  in  the  framework  of  the  Marine  Strategy 
Framework  Directive,  will  provide  clarity  and  design  a  platform  for  the  successful 
development  of  all  maritime  activities,  paying  due  attention  to  their  cumulative  impacts. 
Hence,  the  implementation  of  this  Directive  will  remain  a  key  objective  of  the  IMP,  which 
should also develop the necessary cooperation between all relevant sectors and services to this 
end, including inter-alia between marine science and the marine environment policy. 

Sea-basin  strategies  are  key  to  a  successful  implementation  of  the  IMP.  This  is  where  the 
priorities and the tools of the policy can be adapted to the specific geographic, economic and 
political contexts of each large maritime region. Co-operation with and among Member States 
and regions sharing a sea basin is a crucial element of success and, whenever necessary, this 
should be accompanied with proper dialogue with third countries sharing a sea basin with the 
EU. Action at the level of sub-basins can also be useful in establishing positive examples and 
best practices.  

The international dimension of the IMP35 will also require more attention, as illustrated by 
the dedicated Communication published together with this report. Europe must take a leading 
role in improving global maritime governance, as it has done in the matter of piracy or with 
regard to destructive fishing practices. The Commission intends to strengthen dialogue with a 

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"Developing  the  international  dimension  of  the  Integrated  Maritime  Policy  of  the  European  Union", 
COM (2009) 536 final of 14.10.2009 

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limited  number  of  major  maritime  partners  and  its  participation  in  international  fora  and 
informal processes.  

The implementation of the IMP, in the present  context of economic  downturn, should put a 
renewed  focus  on  sustainable  economic  growth,  employment  and  innovation.  Hence,  in 
the  future,  the  EU  should  explore  synergies  between  the  European  Energy  Policy  and  the 
IMP,  promoting  energy  generation  from  the  sea,  including  renewable  forms  of  energy,  and 
use the sea more for energy transportation through pipelines, underwater grids and vessels. It 
will  also  be  necessary  to  further  link  the  EU's  Climate  Change  Policy  with  IMP,  by 
developing a strategy for adaptation to climate change in coastal and maritime areas, aiming 
at  protecting  coastal  infrastructure  and  preserving  marine  biodiversity.  As  part  of  the 
developing  debate  on  territorial  cohesion,  it  will  be  important  to  ensure  that  maritime  and 
coastal areas are fully taken into account. 

The EU will also have to promote better maritime transport in order to foster co-modality, to 
implement the concept of the Motorways of the Sea, and to improve the EU programme for 
short sea shipping. Still aiming at the economic development of maritime activities, it will be 
necessary  to  find  ways  and  means  of  further  stimulating  maritime  employment  and 
investment in EU–flagged shipping, while remaining determined to advance the idea of clean 
ships.  Indeed,  support  for  innovation  and  research  towards  very  low  or  even  zero  emission 
ships  will  continue  to  be  a  major  part  of  the  Community's  response  to  the  strategically 
important shipbuilding sector. In this manner the EU can give to European shipyards and the 
marine equipment industry a competitive technological edge over other regions of the world, 
and  will  make  maritime  transport,  in  particular  along  the  coasts  of  Europe,  safer  and  more 
sustainable. 

Finally, the Commission is examining the future funding needs that IMP-related actions may 
involve as part of its overall reflection on the next financial perspective.  

The  Commission  intends  to  produce  in  2010  a  policy  document  detailing  projects  and 
initiatives  aimed  at  further  developing  the  above  six  strategic  directions,  following 
consultations with stakeholders.  

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