Developing blue economy through better methodology for assessment on local and regional level.
Date: 2016-09-29
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU financing, coastal region, economic development, environmental research, exploitation of the seas, fisheries policy, job creation, marine ecosystem, marine environment, maritime area, maritime transport, regional and local authorities, tourism

Developing Blue economy through 
better methodology for assessment on 
local and regional level 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This report was written by Alexander Charalambous (main author) 
(Progress Consulting S.r.l., Italy & Living Prospects Ltd, Greece). 

It does not represent the official views of the Committee of the Regions. 

More information on the European Union and the Committee of the Regions is 
available online at http://www.europa.eu and http://www.cor.europa.eu 
respectively. 

Catalogue number: QG-06-16-013-EN-N 
ISBN: 978-92-895-0901-5 
doi:10.2863/788414 

© European Union, 2016 
Partial reproduction is permitted, provided that the source is explicitly 
mentioned. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of contents 

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 1 
Part 1: Methodology to measure the impact of the blue economy on the 
local and regional level ...................................................................................................... 3 
1.1  Background and rationale ..................................................................................... 3 
1.2  Selected recent and on-going efforts to measure blue economy impact ... 4 
1.2.1  On-going initiative by DG MARE ...................................................... 5 
1.2.2  Eurostat’s maritime policy indicators ................................................ 8 
1.2.3  Eurostat’s maritime economy statistics ........................................... 11 
1.2.4  French Marine Economic Data report (2013) ................................. 14 
1.2.5  Ecorys study on Blue Growth scenarios and drivers for sustainable 
growth from the oceans, seas and coasts (2012) ......................................... 16 
1.3  Methodological approach ................................................................................... 19 
1.3.1  Elements to be considered in the approach ..................................... 20 
1.3.2  Outlining the methodology ............................................................... 21 
1.3.3  Remarks on envisaged problems ...................................................... 24 

Part 2: Opportunities for LRAs to use available data sources for the 
development of blue economy at the local and regional level ............................ 27 
2.1   Available sources of information and type of data on blue economy ..... 27 
2.2   Potential use of data sources by LRAs for blue economy development . 29 
2.2.1  Coastal tourism ................................................................................ 29 
2.2.2  Food, health and ecosystem services ............................................... 31 
2.2.3  Energy and raw materials ................................................................ 33 
2.2.4  Maritime transport activities ............................................................ 36 
2.2.5  Environmental monitoring and protection of maritime areas ......... 38 
2.3   Addressing identified problems ........................................................................ 41 

Part 3: Funding opportunities for LRA projects on blue economy 
development ........................................................................................................................ 45 
3.1  Cross-cutting areas of interest ........................................................................... 45 
3.2  Coastal Tourism .................................................................................................... 47 
3.3  Food, health and ecosystem services ............................................................... 48 
3.4  Energy and raw materials ................................................................................... 51 
3.5  Maritime transport activities .............................................................................. 51 
3.6  Environmental monitoring and protection of maritime areas .................... 52 
3.7  Specific geographic areas of interest ............................................................... 54 

Appendix I – References .................................................................................................... i 

 
 
 
 
List of acronyms 

AS 
CA 
CBC 
CF 
CFP 
CLLD 
CR 
DG 
DG MARE 
DH 
DNI 
EAFRD 
EASIN 
EC 
ECMWF 
EEA 
EMFF 
EMODnet 
EMSA 
ERDF 
ESF 
ESIF 
ETC 
EU 
EuroGOOS 
EWEA 
FAO 
FMED 
FP7 
GDP 
GHG 
GHI 
GIS 

  Alien Species 
  Coastal Areas 
  Cross-Border Cooperation 
  Cohesion Fund 
  Common Fisheries Policy 
  Community-led Local Development 
  Coastal Regions 
  Directorate-General 
  Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries 
  Diffuse Horizontal 
  Direct Normal Irradiance 
  European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 
  European Alien Species Information Network 
  European Commission 
  European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts 
  European Environment Agency 
  European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 
  European Marine Observation Network 
  European Maritime Safety Agency 
  European Regional Development Fund 
  European Social Fund 
  European Structural and Investment Funds 
  European Territorial Cooperation 
  European Union 
  European Global Ocean Observing System 
  European Wind Energy Association 
  Food and Agriculture Organisation 
  French Marine Economic Data 
  7th Framework Programme 
  Gross Domestic Product 
  Greenhouse Gas  
  Global Horizontal Irradiance 
  Geographical Information System 

 
 
 
GMT 
GVA 
HCMR 
H2020 
IAs 
ICT 
ICZM 
INSEE 
JRC 
LAG 
LAU 
LEADER 
LFS 
LRAs 
M&R 
MS 
MSFD 
NACE 
NGOs 
NSIs 
NUTS 
OECD 
OTEC 
PPS 
R&D 
SBS 
SO 
TEN-T 
TO 
TVET 
WB 

  Greenwich Mean Time 
  Gross Value Added 
  Hellenic Centre for Marine Research 
  Horizon 2020 

Initial Assessments 
Information and Communication Technologies 
Integrated Coastal Zone Management 
(French) National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies 

Community 

  Joint Research Centre 
  Local Action Group 
  Local Administrative Unit 
  Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale 
  Labour Force Survey 
  Local and Regional Authorities 
  Monitoring & Reporting 
  Member State(s) 
  Marine Strategy Framework Directive 
  Statistical classification of economic activities in the European 
  Non-Governmental Organisations 
  National Statistics Institutes 
  Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 
  Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 
  Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion 
  Purchasing Power Standard 
  Research & Development  
  Structural Business Statistics 
  Specific Objective 
  Trans-European Networks -Transport 
  Technical Objective 
  Technical Vocational Education and Training 
  World Bank 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Executive Summary 

Blue  economy  is  an  essential  driver  of  development.  Its  importance  has  been 
broadly  measured  and  acknowledged  in  economic,  social,  and  environmental 
terms. However, its impact at the regional and local level has not been measured 
to  its  full  extent  so  far,  as  a  system  of  indicators  based  on  reliable  data 
measuring the precise effect of activities directly or indirectly relying on the sea, 
has yet to be developed. 

Several  attempts  to  estimate  the  size  of  blue  economy  have  been  made. 
Specifically,  the  following  initiatives  provide  an  overview  of  approaches 
measuring  the  size,  nature  and  dynamics  of  blue  economy  at  the  European 
Union (EU) and Member State (MS) level: the DG MARE’s initiative, still on-
going,  which  is  using  data  reported  by  Member  States  (MS)  to  Eurostat; 
Eurostat’s  work  on  maritime  policy  indicators  and  on  maritime  economy 
statistics;  the  French  marine economic data report;  the  Ecorys  (2012)  study on 
Blue Growth; and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) study on 
the development of a consistent set of data on the maritime economy in Europe 
(under evaluation). 

The  review  of  these  recent  initiatives  aimed  at  measuring  blue  economy’s 
impact  indicated  a  high  complexity  of  the  exercise,  as  well  as  the  lack  of 
adequate indicators at the sub-national level. As a consequence, the design of a 
systematic  and  comprehensive  impact  assessment  methodology  for  blue 
economy at the regional and local level is deemed a particularly demanding task, 
requiring  significantly  high  resources.  More  pragmatically,  this  study  provides 
an outline of the key elements to be considered by local and regional authorities 
(LRAs)  when  defining  the  scope  of  an  impact  assessment  methodology,  and 
identifies  a  limited  set  of  indicators  deemed  most  appropriate  for  use  in  the 
impact exercise. 

A blue economy impact exercise requires LRAs to clearly define the economic 
sectors/sub-sectors in focus, coherently with the general sectoral framework for 
maritime activities devised at the EU level, and in line with those priority sectors 
highlighted in the Smart Specialisation Strategy of the concerned region. Sectors 
in  focus  are  expected  to  be  selected  from  the  following  maritime  domains:  a) 
coastal tourism (including related urban development and infrastructure, as well 
as  recreational  activities  and  sports);  b)  food,  health  and  ecosystem  services 
(fisheries,  aquaculture,  cosmetics);  c)  energy  (oil,  gas,  renewable  energy)  and 
raw  materials  (salt  extraction,  marine  aggregates  extraction);  d)  transport 
(including  shipbuilding  and  maritime  monitoring  and  surveillance);  and  e) 
environmental monitoring and protection of maritime areas.  

1 

 
 
 
 
 
Three  tiers  of  indicators  are  proposed  for  blue  economy  territorial  impact 
assessment:  1st  tier  indicators  are  the  main  indicators  used  to  indicate  the 
magnitude of blue economy’s impact in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) and 
employment.  These  indicators  may  support  LRAs  in  selecting  those  strategic 
sectors driving local/regional development; 2nd tier indicators may complement 
1st  tier  indicators  in  cases  of  limited  data  availability  or  if  further  evidence  is 
deemed necessary for assessing the economic/social impact in terms of turnover, 
revenue,  investment,  number  of  enterprises,  and  average  wages  per  person 
employed. These indicators may facilitate LRAs decision making on investment 
policies and incentives for enterprises, as well as on employment support; 3rd tier 
indicators  may  be  used  with  data  at  NUTS1  level  to  provide  an  estimate  of 
labour  market  quality  characteristics  in  the  maritime  sectors  concerned,  or  to 
provide  a  more  complete  picture  of  the  size  and  significance  of  the  maritime 
sectors  within  the  labour  market.  They  support  decisions  by  LRAs  on 
employment  and  other  social  issues,  and  include  employment  by  sex  and  age, 
staff  mobility  and  employment  of  non-EU  citizens,  proportion  of  workforce 
from other EU countries, and indirect employment. In general, proxies may also 
be used to substitute for indicators missing sufficient data.  

There  is  a  wide  range  of  data  sources  providing  quality,  though  fragmented, 
information on blue economy. Tools facilitating access to maritime data, in both 
raw  and  processed  form,  are  currently  being  developed.  For  example,  the  EU 
funded platforms EMODnet and Copernicus, already make partly available data 
for  public  use,  thus  making  it  easier  for  non-expert  users,  including  LRAs,  to 
benefit from existing information on blue economy state and processes. 

Several issues impede LRAs from taking full advantage of existing information 
to  the  benefit  of  blue  economy  in  their  territories,  including:  numerous, 
dispersed and poorly communicated sources of information, databases and data 
sets;  lack  of  adequate  data  management  capacity  and  resources  within 
administrations;  need  for  investments  in  web/mobile  applications  facilitating  a 
wide use of derived information products; prevailing decision making processes 
lacking  experience  with  smart  technologies;  fragmented  marine  monitoring, 
observation  and  data  collection  networks,  with  their  operation  serving  a  wide 
and  often  diverse  spectrum  of  purposes;  constantly  changing  maritime  data 
availability; and gaps in broadly available data. 

Funding for LRA investments benefiting blue economy, including in addressing 
the  aforementioned  obstacles  is  made  available  under  the  European  Structural 
and  Investment  Funds  (ESIF),  the  Horizon  2020  programme,  or  other  relevant 
measures foreseen at the national level. 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
Part 1: Methodology to measure the impact 
of  the  blue  economy  on  the  local  and 
regional level 

1.1  Background and rationale 

The  global  importance  of  economic  activities  depending  on  the  sea  has  been 
largely measured and broadly acknowledged, not only in terms of Gross Value 
Added  (GVA)  and  jobs,  but  also  of  ecosystem  services,  with  the  ocean 
providing  “the  essential  services  of  regulating  Earth’s  climate  and  generating 
roughly half of primary production of organic matter” (Svensson and Pendleton 
eds.,  2014).  Likewise,  at  both  European  Union  (EU)  and  Member  State  (MS) 
level,  marine  or  blue  economy  (Box  1)  is  considered  an  essential  economic 
driver  which  extends  beyond  operations  at  sea.  In  fact,  approximately  40%  of 
the EU population lives within 50 km from the sea, almost 40% of the EU Gross 
Domestic Product (GDP) and roughly 5.4 million jobs are generated in maritime 
regions1, and the vast majority of the EU foreign trade is conducted at sea (about 
75% in volume). 

Box 1. Blue economy definition 

There is no clear consensus among stakeholders on the definition of blue economy at the 
EU level. A relevant proposal by DG MARE (September 2015) includes in blue economy 
any  market  activity  taking  place  on  the  European  territory  that  is  intrinsically 
linked  to  the  sea.  It  covers:  (1)  primary  sectors  –  transport  (shipbuilding,  shipping), 
energy (oil, gas, and renewable energy), food (fisheries, aquaculture) and coastal tourism; 
(2) secondary sectors (e.g. insurance) which provide goods and services to these primary 
sectors;  and  (3)  smaller  sectors  such  as  marine  aggregate  extraction  or  communication 
cable laying. Under this definition, non-market activities such as education and research, 
as  well  as  business  and  day  trips  in  the  category  of  coastal  tourism  are  excluded.  The 
proposal has triggered a discussion with regard to the inclusion of, among other activities, 
off-shore  activities,  coastal  tourism  day  trips,  and  activities  in  inland  waterways. 
According  to  the  above  DG  MARE  outline,  blue  economy  encompasses  several  of  the 
economic  activities  linked  to  Blue  Growth,  i.e.  the  maritime  pillar  of  the  Europe  2020 
strategy, supporting sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors as a whole. 

Source: EC, DG MARE (2015) 

1 Based on data from ECORYS (2012). 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
There  are  clear  indications  that  blue  economy  is  a  decisive  growth  factor  in  a 
number of EU regions, notably in coastal regions2, with ocean and marine areas 
being  a  major  source  of  food,  energy,  minerals,  cosmetics  and  medicines,  as 
well  as  the  backbone  of  entire  industries  such  as  transport,  tourism  and 
recreation. However, blue economy’s impact at the regional and local level has 
not been measured to its full extent so far, as a system of indicators based on 
reliable data measuring the precise effect of activities directly or indirectly 
relying on the sea, has yet to be developed. 

Estimating  the  size  of  blue  economy  is  a  complex  exercise.  Several  attempts 
have  been  made  in  this  respect  globally,  with  so  far  none  being  considered 
definitive.  Within  Europe,  the  focus  of  the  exercises  is  mostly  on  the  EU  and 
national  level  with  little,  if  any,  attention  paid  to  the  regional  and  local  level. 
Furthermore,  two  initiatives  (one  by  the  Directorate-General  for  Maritime 
Affairs and Fisheries - DG MARE - and the other one by the European Maritime 
and Fisheries Fund - EMFF) which are expected to provide relevant information 
are either still under implementation or not being publicly evaluated.  

1.2  Selected  recent  and  on-going  efforts  to  measure  blue 
economy impact 

This  section  reviews  the  methodologies  adopted  in  a  few  most  relevant  efforts 
made  to  measure  the  size  and  significance  of  blue  economy  in  the  EU  or  in 
individual  EU  countries.  The  scope  is  to  illustrate  the  methodology  options 
available and the difficulties encountered in defining and collecting information 
on  both  the  maritime3  sectors/activities  and  the  territories  concerned  by  these 
efforts. Main recent and on-going initiatives and reports reviewed include: 

  DG MARE’s initiative on assessing blue economy (still on-going). It aims 
at estimating the size and nature of the blue economy using data reported 
by MS to Eurostat. The method (including the list of indicators used) and 
results are being discussed within a group of European Commission (EC) 

2 Eurostat defines a coastal region at NUTS3 level as a statistical region having a sea border (i.e. a coastline) or 
more than half of its population within 50 km from the sea. Hamburg does not meet any of the two conditions 
but is considered a coastal region due to its strong maritime influence. Likewise, coastal areas are statistically 
defined as local administrative units (LAU2), typically municipalities, bordering the sea or having 50% of their 
surface within a distance of 10 km from the sea. 
3  Although  some  references  distinguish  the  term  ‘maritime’  from  the  term  ‘marine’  (e.g.  when  referring  to 
marine and maritime research), international literature addressing blue economy (including articles and reports 
on the measurement of blue economy’s impact) generally uses ‘marine’ and ‘maritime’ as interchangeable terms. 
In  this  report,  the  term  maritime  is  used,  apart  from  where  references  are  made  to  studies  using  the  ‘marine’ 
term, e.g. the French Marine Economic Data report. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
and national experts, and compared with similar approaches taken at  the 
MS level. 

  Eurostat’s  work  on  maritime  policy  indicators  (Eurostat  2016a).  It 
includes  comparison  between  coastal  and  non-coastal  regions  according 
to Eurostat regions’ typology at NUTS3 level. 

  Eurostat’s  work  on  maritime  economy  statistics  (Eurostat  2016b).  It 
includes  recent  data  on  both  the  geographical  and  sectoral  aspects  of 
the maritime  economy of  the EU,  combining  data  from  a  variety  of 
sources  such  as  structure  of  business,  product,  maritime  transport  and 
fishery statistics. 

  French  Marine  Economic  Data  (FMED)  report  (Girard  &  Kalaydjian, 
2014).  It  includes  a  selection  of  key  indicators  addressing  relevant 
(maritime) French sectors and activities. The report assesses the selected 
sectors’  economic  significance  in  terms  of  output,  employment,  share  in 
national  economy  and  global  market  (international  competition),  as  well 
as input to non-market public services. 

  Ecorys (2012) study on Blue Growth. It outlines scenarios and drivers for 

sustainable growth from the oceans, seas and coasts.  

An indicator matrix has been  used to facilitate the analysis of the data sources 
referred  to  in  each  of  the  above  initiatives/reports.  The  matrix  provides 
information  on  the  definition  of  the  data,  the  understanding  of  what  the 
data/indicator  is  measuring  (measurement),  the  territorial  level  of  reference  of 
the data/indicator, the relevance, and the availability of data (addressing also the 
issue of coverage)4,5. 

1.2.1 On-going initiative by DG MARE 

The  DG  MARE’s  approach  to  measuring  the  size  and  significance  of  blue 
economy focuses on the EU level6. Data are gathered per each MS from various 
sources,  such  as  the  Labour  Force  Survey  (LFS),  the  Data  Collection 
Framework  (for  collection  and  management  of  fisheries  data,  as  uploaded  in 
databases  managed  by  the  Joint  Research  Centre),  and  structural  business 

4 ‘Relevance’ herewith refers to the degree to which the indicator meets current and potential needs of the users, 
in this case the measurement of blue economy’s impact at the regional or local level. 
5  Data  ‘availability’  is  intended  as  the  potential  to  collect  the  data  feeding  the  indicator  at  the  appropriate 
geographical  level,  i.e.  regional  and/or  local  (considered  ‘available’  if  either  level  is  covered).  Available  time 
series, geographical coverage and updating frequency are also taken into consideration. 
6  This  initiative  is  on-going  and  several  adjustments  to  the  methodology  proposed  so  far  are  currently  being 
discussed within the Experts Group. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
statistics  (SBS)  (exhaustive  data,  in  this  case  largely  used  for  comparison  and 
cross-check), as provided by MS to Eurostat (Table 1).  

Table 1 

Data sources per maritime sector 

Maritime sectors 
addressed 
Crude petroleum and 
gas extraction; 
Renewables; Other 
Fishing and 
Aquaculture 

Shipbuilding; 
Shipping 

Tourism 

Data sources 

industry 
Annual  detailed  enterprise  statistics  for 
(NACE  Rev.  2,  B-E);  European  Wind  Energy 
Association (EWEA); LFS. 
industry 
Annual  detailed  enterprise  statistics  for 
(NACE  Rev.  2,  B-E);  Data  Collection  Framework; 
LFS. 
industry 
Annual  detailed  enterprise  statistics  for 
(NACE  Rev.  2,  B-E);  Annual  detailed  enterprise 
statistics  for  construction  (NACE  Rev.  2,  F);  Annual 
detailed enterprise statistics for services (NACE Rev. 2 
H-N and S95); Eurostat Tourism Survey; SBS; LFS. 
Eurostat Tourism Survey; SBS; LFS. 

Information is processed (aggregated) at the EU level. The analysis looks mainly 
into two aspects of blue economy: output (in monetary terms) and employment, 
while  environmental  effects  are  not  considered.  Various  indicators  are  used  to 
measure  the  size  and  dynamics  of  each  blue  economy  sector,  as  well  as  its 
impact on the labour market (Table 2).  

Table 2  Matrix of DG MARE indicators 

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t

1  Y 

P 

Indicator 

Measurement 

GVA  /  Revenue  /  Turnover  / 
Investment 
per  maritime 
sector 

Number  of  persons  employed 
per  maritime  sector  and  as  a 
total 
proportion 
employment 

of 

Size  and  dynamic  of  blue 
economy  by  sector.  Time 
series  are  an 
indicator  of 
growth. 

As above. 

1  Y  Y 

Indirect 
maritime sector 

employment 

per 

Jobs  created 
in  activities 
supplying  goods  and  services 
to primary maritime activities. 

1  Y  N 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Indicator 

Measurement 

of 

mobility 

and 
non-EU 

Impact  on  (social  aspects  of) 
(age, 
labour  market 
the 
gender). 
Impact  on  the  labour  market: 
the 
internationalisation 
workforce. 

Employment  age  and  sex 
per  maritime 
distribution 
sector 
Staff 
employment 
citizens per maritime sector 
Proportion  of  workforce  from 
other  EU  countries  in  blue 
activities per maritime sector 
Average  wages  per  person 
employed, by maritime sector 
Notes: 1 = NUTS1, 2 = NUTS2, 3 = NUTS3, Y = Yes, N = No, P = Partial 

Impact on the labour market. 

As above. 

of 

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1  Y  N 

1  Y  N 

1  Y  N 

1  Y  Y 

Specifically,  the  analysis  uses  a  combination  of  added  value,  revenue, 
investment  and  turnover  to  measure  the  size  and  growth  of  maritime  sectors 
across  MS  and  at  the  EU  level.  Blending  these  four  indicators  allows  the 
selection of the ones most suitable for each maritime sector. The methodological 
approach used to derive aggregates at the EU level is not sufficiently explained 
but, in any case, these indicators cannot be used to measure the local or regional 
impact of blue economy due to the limited data availability at sub-national level. 

total  employment, 

As  regards  employment,  a  large  number  of  indicators  are  used  to  assess  both 
quantitative  and  qualitative  aspects  of  blue  economy’s  labour  market.  These 
include the number of persons employed per maritime sector and as a proportion 
of 
indirect  employment,  and  average  wages.  Data 
disaggregation  is  also  done  by  age,  gender,  and  mobility  characteristics  of  the 
workforce. These indicators are fed with data per maritime sector. For some of 
these sectors the information is also available at NUTS2 level through Eurostat’s 
structural business statistics. However, the following maritime domains are not 
covered by SBS: ‘coastal tourism’7, part of ‘food health and ecosystem services’ 
(notably,  agriculture  and  fisheries),  and  part  of  ‘environmental  monitoring  and 
protection  of  maritime  areas’.  Other  information  sources  (i.e.  the  Data 
Collection  Framework  for  agriculture  and  fisheries,  Eurostat  Tourism  Survey, 
and  the  LFS)  do  not  include  publicly  available  data  on  employment  at  sub-
national  level.  Indirect  employment  (secondary  jobs  generated  by  primary 
maritime  activities,  i.e.  employment  created  in  activities  supplying  goods  and 

7  ‘Coastal  tourism’  corresponds  to  about  half  of  the  total  employment  of  blue  economy  as  considered  by  DG 
MARE. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
services  to  primary  maritime  activities)  is  estimated  with  the  use  of  a  proxy 
indicator, based on the amount that each primary activity spends on goods and 
services, and the ‘turnover to persons employed by secondary activities for the 
provision  of  these  goods  and  services’  ratio.  The  formula  used  to  estimate 
secondary  jobs  assumes  that  any  supply  of  goods  and  services  to  primary 
maritime activities (indirect activity) involves companies from the same country. 
Provided  that  most  indirect  activity  is  within  the  EU  and  that  the  turnover  to 
persons employed ratios are similar among countries examined, this assumption 
is not expected to significantly affect estimation of blue economy’s impact at the 
EU  level.  However,  the  application  of  such  a  formula  at  the  regional  level 
(assuming that regional ‘goods and services market data’ are available) is likely 
to distort results, especially in cases of high dispersion of suppliers of goods and 
services to  several  regions  and/or  of  disparities  in regional turnover to persons 
employed  ratios.  Hence,  it  would  not  be  appropriate  for  estimating  blue 
economy’s impact at the regional or local level.  

In terms of gathered information, data on age and gender labour characteristics 
sourced  from  Eurostat’s  LFS  show  male  predominance  in  specific  maritime 
sectors  and  activities  like  energy  (oil  and  gas),  transport  (ship  building)  and 
marine  fishing.  At  the  same  time,  a  relatively  high  proportion  of  female  and 
younger  workers  in  selected  service  industries,  notably  tourism  and  fish 
processing, is noted. Relevant data at NUTS2 or NUTS3 level are not available, 
but  in  some  cases  national  averages  give  a  clear  indication  of  the  maritime 
sector  characteristics,  with  adequate  potential  for  use  in  estimating  quality 
aspects of blue economy’s impact on regions, as well as in interpreting relevant 
impact assessments for policy use. In addition, the DG MARE analysis indicates 
a  strong  international  character  of  the  blue  economy  workforce,  with  a 
significant  number  of  employees  in  almost  all  sectors  coming  from  other  than 
the  industries’  own  countries.  The  proportion  of  foreign  employees  is  split  to 
half between those originating from other EU countries and those from outside 
the EU. This global nature of human resources is particularly stressed in both the 
tourism and the fish processing industries. Findings at EU and MS level give a 
clear  picture  of  employment’s  multi-national  origin  in  maritime  sectors  and 
activities, and are expected to also shape regional and local blue economies. 

1.2.2 Eurostat’s maritime policy indicators 

Eurostat’s  work  on  maritime  policy  indicators  -  recently  (May  2016)  updated 
with new data - focuses on the EU level, with information processed (aggregates 
from  NUTS3  level),  analysed  and  presented  in  two  distinctive  data  sets,  i.e. 
coastal and non-coastal regions. The analysis is meant to facilitate a comparison 
of  the  demographic  and  socio-economic  situation  in  the  two  aforementioned 
types of EU regions (Eurostat 2016a). It aims at being informative with regard to 

8 

 
 
 
 
the EU integrated maritime policy target of sustainable use of oceans and seas; 
an  enhanced  EU  knowledge  and  innovation  potential  in  maritime  affairs;  a 
sustainable  growth  in  coastal  regions;  and  a  strengthened  EU  maritime 
leadership, including through raised attention to maritime issues across Europe. 

A  geographic  rather  than  a  sector  approach  is  taken  by  Eurostat,  grouping 
together  446  EU  coastal  regions  located  in  23  MS, covering  the  EU’s  five sea 
basins  (Baltic  Sea,  North  Sea,  Mediterranean  Sea,  Black  Sea,  and  North  East 
Atlantic  Ocean)  and  its  outermost  regions.  Information  comes  from  Eurostat 
data  sources  on  demography,  tourism,  labour  market  and  economic  accounts, 
with  data  sets  specifically  addressing  coastal  regions  (demography,  labour 
market  and  economic  accounts),  or  coastal  areas  (tourism).  The  typology  is 
based  on  NUTS3  units  (LAU2  with  regard  to  tourism  statistics),  however 
Eurostat does not publicly release data at NUTS2 or NUTS3 level through these 
sets.  The  analysis  examines  changes  between  reference  years  2004  and  2014, 
depending on data availability in the different data sets. 

On  the  basis  of  this  approach,  a  set  of  core  indicators  on  demography,  labour 
market and economy (Table 3) is used to compare the demographic and socio-
economic  profiles  of  coastal  and  non-coastal  regions,  including  population 
density,  (un)employment,  and  purchasing  power  standards  (PPS).  These 
indicators  measure  aspects  like  the  attractiveness  of  (non-)coastal  regions  as 
places  to  live  in,  the  size  of  the  labour  market,  and  the  available  income  per 
inhabitant  (benchmarked  with  the  EU  average).  The  relevant  maritime  policy 
database  developed  by  Eurostat  includes  additional  indicators,  covering 
measurements  of  tourism  size,  capacity  and  dynamics;  the  significance  of  the 
regional  economy;  and  the  age  and  gender  structure  of  both  the  (non-)coastal 
population and the labour market.  

Table 3  Matrix of Eurostat’s maritime policy indicators 

Indicator 

Measurement 

Population density 

of 

rate 

total 

Crude 
population change 
Total 
unemployment 
(people  aged  15  years  or 
over) 

Preference  to  living  in  (non-)coastal 
regions. 
Trends  in  preference  to  living  in 
(non-) coastal regions. 
Labour  market  size  in  (non-)coastal 
regions. 

9 

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CR  P  Y 

CR  P  Y 

CR  P  Y 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Indicator 

Measurement 

Total  employment  (people 
aged 20-63 years) 
PPP  per 
percentage  of 
average 

in 
the  EU 

inhabitant 

As above. 

Regional output, in terms of resident 
financial  capacity  in  (non-)coastal 
regions. 

Additional indicators 

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CR  P  Y 

CR  P  Y 

tourist 

spent  at 

Nights 
accommodation 
establishments  by  coastal 
and non-coastal area  
Number  of  establishments, 
bedrooms  &  bed-places  by 
coastal & non-coastal area 
Economically 
population by sex and age 
(Un-)employment  by  sex 
and  age  (rates  and  absolute 
values) 
Population by sex and age 

active 

Tourism  size  and  dynamic  in  (non-
)coastal regions. 

CA  P  Y 

Tourism  capacity 
regions. 

in  (non-)coastal 

CA  P  Y 

in 

market 
in 

and 
size 
(non-)coastal 

Labour  market  characteristics 
(non-) coastal regions. 
Labour 
characteristics 
regions. 
Population  characteristics  in  (non-
)coastal regions. 
Size  of  economy  in  (non-)coastal 
regions. 
As above. 

CR  P  Y 

CR  P  Y 

CR  P  Y 

GDP  at  current  market 
prices 
GVA at basic prices 
CR  P  Y 
Notes:  1  =  NUTS1,  2  =  NUTS2,  3  =  NUTS3,  Y  =  Yes,  N  =  No,  P  =  Partly,  CA/CR  = 
Coastal Areas/Coastal Regions 

CR  P  Y 

Eurostat  analysis  looks  into  the  market  economy  of  each  region  as  a  whole, 
without  focusing  on  the  maritime  sectors.  Therefore,  measurements  are  not 
limited  to  the  impact  of  blue  economy  (maritime  activities)  but  include  other 
activities as well. This latter aspect limits the relevance of these indicators as 
tools  to  measure  blue  economy’s  impact  at  regional/local  level,  although 
findings of the analysis remain useful in terms of capturing the potential effect 
that  blue  economy  has  on  coastal  regions  affected  by  national  or  EU  level 
processes (e.g. how the recent financial crisis affected coastal, compared to non-
coastal  areas);  or  those  (coastal)  areas  where  the  blue  economy  may  have  a 
substantial impact (hotspots) due to the existence of infrastructure (e.g. ports) or 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
other  aspects  of  significant  magnitude  increasing  both  the  regional  output  and 
the labour market size. 

1.2.3 Eurostat’s maritime economy statistics 

Eurostat’s  work  on  maritime  economy  statistics  –  also  recently  (July  2015) 
updated  to  include  comparison  with  non-coastal  regions  –  is  based  on  data 
processed,  analysed  and  presented  mainly  at  country  and  EU  level,  with  few 
exceptions where information is available at NUTS3 level. The analysis aims at 
measuring  “economic,  social  and  environmental  issues  related  to  coastal 
regions, sea basins and the maritime economic sectors” (Eurostat 2016b).  

Statistical analysis and findings have both a geographic and a sector focus. 
They  refer  to  the  geography  of  coastal  regions  within  MS,  with  respect  to 
demography, GDP disparities, employment, and business characteristics on  the 
one hand; and on the other hand, with respect to selected activities linked with 
maritime sectors, namely tourism, transport, maritime manufacturing, fisheries, 
aquaculture,  fish  processing,  extraction  of  crude  petroleum  and  of  natural  gas, 
manufacture of refined petroleum products, and extraction of salt.  

Information  comes  from  Eurostat  data  sources  on  maritime  policy,  transport, 
tourism,  SBS,  short-term  business  statistics,  and  fisheries.  Notwithstanding  the 
predominantly  country  and  EU  level  analysis  and  presentation  of  data,  the 
typology  is  based  on  NUTS3  units  (LAU2  with  regard  to  tourism  statistics). 
However,  with  some  exceptions  regarding  tourism  and  SBS,  Eurostat  does  not 
publicly release these data at NUTS2 or NUTS3 level. 

Selected indicators measure  a wide range of aspects, including  geographic and 
population distribution, output and employment (total and per maritime sector in 
focus), concentration of tourism activity and capacity, business demography and 
movement  of  freight  and  passengers  in  EU  seaports  (Table  4).  The  analysis 
examines  changes  between  reference  years  2005  and  2014,  depending  on  data 
availability in the different data sets. 

Table 4  Matrix of Eurostat’s maritime economy statistics indicators 

Indicator 

Measurement 

Size of coastal regions 

Geographic 
of coastal regions. 

importance 

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1  N  Y 

Share of  coastal  and  non-coastal regions  As above. 

1  N  Y 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Indicator 

Measurement 

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Preference  to  living  in 
(non-) coastal regions. 
Size of economy in (non-
) coastal regions. 
As above. 

1  P  Y 

1  P  Y 

3  P  N 

business 
(including 

Impact 
on 
development 
trends). 
Labour  market  size  in 
(non-) coastal regions.  
Impact 
on 
development. 

business 

3  P  Y 

1  P  Y 

3  P  Y 

Impact 
on 
business development. 

tourism 

3  P  Y 

As above. 

3  P  Y 

in 

capacity 

Size of economy in (non-
) coastal regions. 
Tourism 
(non-) coastal regions. 
Tourism 
and 
dynamic  in  (non-)coastal 
areas. 
As above. 

size 

1  P  P 

CA  Y  Y 

CA  Y  Y 

CA  Y  Y 

As above. 

CA  Y  Y 

in relation to total area 
Population living in coastal regions 

GDP per inhabitant (coastal / non-coastal 
regions) 
GDP  per  inhabitant  at  current  market 
prices 
Variation 
in  number  of  high-growth 
enterprises  (≥10  %  employment  growth) 
(coastal/non-coastal regions) 
Employment rates of the population 
(coastal/non-coastal regions) 
People  employed  in  enterprises  born  in 
2008  having  survived 
to  2010,  all 
activities (NACE Rev.2) 
Relative  share  of  people  employed  by 
newly 
the 
accommodation  &  food  services  sector 
(NACE Rev. 2) 
People  employed  in  enterprises  born  in 
2008  having  survived  to  2010  in  the 
accommodation  &  food  services  sector 
(NACE Rev.2) 
GVA  at  basic  prices  in  the  coastal 
regions 
Number of bed-places in coastal areas 

enterprises 

born 

in 

Nights  spent  at  tourist  accommodation 
establishments in coastal areas 

at 

spent 

Share  of  nights 
tourist 
accommodation establishments in coastal 
areas 
Number  of  employed  persons  in  the 
accommodation  &  food  services  sectors 
(NACE  Rev.  2),  by  coastal  and 
landlocked countries (2008-2014) 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Indicator 

Measurement 

of 

blue 

As above. 

As above. 

Dynamics 
economy by sector. 

Transport  sector  size  in 
coastal regions. 
As above. 

Gross weight handled in EU ports (2004-
2013) 
Maritime transport of goods, by direction 
(2013) 
Maritime  transport  of  passengers,  by 
direction (2013) 
Maritime  transport  of  passengers  in  EU 
ports (2007-2013) 
Annual  growth  rates  in  main  maritime 
industry  NACE  Rev.  2  activities  (2005-
2014) 
Production  in  main  maritime  industry 
NACE Rev. 2 activities (2005-2014) 
Production  value  of 
the  maritime 
manufacturing  sector  by  main  NACE 
Rev. 2 activities (2005-2014) 
Value 
the  maritime 
of 
manufacturing  sector  by  main  NACE 
Rev. 2 activities (2012) 
Number  of  enterprises  in  the  maritime 
manufacturing  sector  by  main  NACE 
Rev. 2 activities (2012) 
Processing  and  preserving  of 
crustaceans and molluscs (2005-2014) 
of 
Value 
and 
processing 
added 
preserving  of 
fish,  crustaceans  and 
molluscs (2012) 
Catches in volume 
Aquaculture production in marine areas  Aquaculture  sector  size 

Size of blue economy by 
sector. 
Size of blue  economy by 
main maritime activities. 

Fish  processing  sector 
size.  
As above. 

Fishing sector size. 

As above. 

As above. 

added 

fish, 

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n/a  Y  N 

1  Y  N 

1  Y  N 

n/a  Y  N 

EU  Y  N 

EU  Y  N 

EU  Y  N 

1  Y  N 

1  Y  Y 

EU  Y  N 

EU  Y  N 

EU  Y  N 
1  Y  N 

Notes:  1  =  NUTS1,  2  =  NUTS2,  3  =  NUTS3,  Y  =  Yes,  N  =  No,  P  =  Partly,  CA/CR  = 
Coastal Areas/Coastal Regions 

in coastal regions. 

In particular, the analysis looks into the size of coastal regions within each MS, 
the  proportion  of  coastal  and  non-coastal  regions,  as  well  as  the  proportion  of 
population  living  in  coastal  and  non-coastal  regions  within  each  country,  to 
assess  the  geography  and  demography  of  the  European  coastal  regions.  It  also 
examines  the  market  economy  of  each  region,  providing  information  on  the 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
(non-)coastal  regions  GDP  and  GVA,  employment,  and  business  demography. 
As  with  the  case  of  marine  policy  indicators,  this  information  relates  with 
geographic units (coastal regions/areas) as opposed to sectors (maritime), hence 
it has only a partial relevance to the assessment of blue economy’s impact on the 
regional/local level. 

Going  beyond  the  scope  of  the  maritime  policy  indicators  analysis, 
Eurostat’s  work  on  maritime  economy  statistics  makes  an  assessment  of 
main  activities  (sections  in  the  NACE  Rev.  2  classification),  based  on  their 
added  value  (GVA)  to  coastal  regions.  Three  main  groups  of  activities  have 
been identified as having significant added value, namely: i) wholesale and retail 
trade, 
ii)  public 
administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities; and 
iii) industry (except construction). On the same basis (i.e. added value to coastal 
regions),  the  tourism  and  transport  sectors  were  selected  for  further  analysis, 
along with a number of specific activities  (classes – 4th digit NACE code) that 
are directly linked with the coast and the sea (maritime activities). 

transport,  accommodation  and  food  service  activities; 

For  each  of  the  above  maritime  activities,  Eurostat’s  analysis  examines  the 
trends  of  economic  figures  over  the  period  2005-2014,  facilitating  comparison 
between coastal and non-coastal regions. Focus is largely on the description of 
the  activity’s  characteristics  rather  than  on  measuring  blue  economy’s 
impact. Economic impact is partly measured in terms of value added. With 
the exception of the tourism sector, where a positive effect of blue economy on 
employment  growth  is  implied  (EU  coastal  regions  tend  to  have  steadier 
employment  growth  rates  than  EU  landlocked  regions),  the  analysis  does  not 
indicate  any  blue  economy’s  impact  on  the  social  (e.g.  job  creation,  better  job 
places,  gender  balance)  or  the  environmental  (e.g.  natural  resource  use, 
pollution)  conditions  of  the  EU  regions.  Relevant  impact  on  some  economic 
aspects (e.g. income generation) is also overlooked. 

1.2.4 French Marine Economic Data report (2013) 

The French Marine Economic Data (FMED) report is elaborated and updated by 
Ifremer  every  two  years  since  the  first  edition  released  in  1997.  The  report 
provides  a  relatively  comprehensive  approach  as  for  the  sectors  addressed, 
assessing the economic significance of maritime activities in France in terms of 
both economic production and jobs. The analysis focuses mainly on the national 
level  but  it  also  takes  into  account  the  EU  dimension  and  addresses  regional 
aspects when data allow.  

The report considers both the industrial and the non-commercial public sectors, 
yet  excludes  certain  sectors  which,  although  significant,  suffer  from  poor  data 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
availability  such  as  bank  services  and  salt  production.  More  specifically,  the 
2013 FMED report covers the following sectors: 

  Seafood  industry:  commercial  fisheries,  aquaculture,  seafood  trade, 

seaweed exploitation and processing, seafood processing. 

  Marine sand and gravel extraction. 
  Energy production: onshore power plants, marine renewables. 
  Shipbuilding  and  repair:  merchant  and  defence  shipbuilding,  marine 

equipment, ship repair, boat building. 

  Marine and river civil engineering. 
  Submarine cable manufacturing, laying and maintenance. 
  Oil and gas offshore services. 
  Coastal tourism. 
  Maritime transport and inland navigation: seaport and river port services, 

maritime and river shipping services. 

  Marine insurance. 
  French Navy. 
  Public  intervention  at  sea  and  maritime  affairs:  signalling  and  rescue, 

safety at sea and security, seafarer training, social protection. 

  Protection of coastal and marine environment. 
  Marine science. 

Information  on  the  sectors  is  mainly  provided  by  the  National  Institute  of 
Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), with additional data collected through 
satellite  accounts  (e.g.  for  tourism,  transport  and  the  environment),  industry 
associations and enterprises, Eurostat (indicators for international comparisons), 
and  contributions  from  the  French  Navy  General  Staff,  the  French  Maritime 
Affairs Directorate, the French Transport Ministry, and marine science research 
and other organisations. Data  typology is based on the French classification of 
economic activities (NAF), which is in line with the NACE. 

The analysis of maritime activities is based on a small number of economic 
indicators  by sector  (Table  5)  such  as  turnover,  value added,  employment  (in 
full time equivalents or, in case of no data, in number of jobs as at of end of the 
year), number of enterprises, and export rate. Additional indicators for the public 
sector include staff number and cost broken down by activities.  

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 5  Matrix of French Marine Economic Data report indicators 

Indicator 

Measurement 

Number of 
enterprises 
Turnover 

Value added 
Employment 

Export rate 

Size  and  dynamic  of  blue  economy,  by 
sector.  
Size  and  dynamic  of  blue  economy,  by 
sector.  Time  series  are  an  indicator  of 
growth. 
As above. 
Size  and  dynamic  of  blue  economy 
employment  by  sector.  Time  series  are  an 
indicator of growth. 
Competitiveness  of  blue  economy,  by 
sector. 

Notes: 1 = NUTS1, 2 = NUTS2, 3 = NUTS3, Y = Yes, N = No, P = Partial 

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1  Y 

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P 
1  Y  Y 

1  Y  N 

Based on value added and employment, the report identifies coastal tourism as 
the most important maritime activity in the country, accounting for about half of 
the total value added and employment. Using the same criteria, among the main 
sectors  are:  shipbuilding;  maritime  and  river  transport;  seafood  industry; 
offshore oil and gas services (though employment in the sector is relatively low 
compared  to  added  value);  and  the  public  sector.  The  report  also  makes 
reference  to  the  following  sectors  as  making  a  significant  contribution  to  blue 
economy:  submarine  cables,  maritime  and  river  civil  engineering,  and  marine 
aggregate extraction. 

1.2.5 Ecorys  study  on  Blue  Growth  scenarios  and  drivers  for 
sustainable growth from the oceans, seas and coasts (2012) 

Τhe study produced by Ecorys on behalf of DG MARE (Ecorys, 2012) aimed at 
improving  the  understanding  of  the  maritime  sector  towards  the  outlining  of 
policy  options  supporting  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth  from  the 
oceans,  seas  and  coasts.  In  doing  so,  it  developed  a  methodology  to  identify 
maritime  functions8  and  sub-functions  which  are  most  significant  in  terms  of 
size,  growth  rate  and  future  potential,  i.e.  it  elaborated  on  methodological 
steps to estimate the current size, recent growth and future potential of the 
maritime economy. The results of the study have provided guidance to a series 
of subsequent studies examining the size and nature of the maritime economy in 

8 As opposed to the approach considering maritime sectors, that, among other weaknesses, does not sufficiently 
cover new or emerging sub-functions. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
coastal  MS,  including  in  Sea  Basins  (Ecorys  2014a,  Ecorys  2014b,  COGEA 
2014, COGEA 2013).  

More  precisely,  the  study  assessed  recent  growth  and  present  size  of  maritime 
(sub-)functions in terms of value added and employment, and future potential in 
terms  of  innovativeness,  competitiveness,  job  creation,  policy  relevance,  spill-
over  effects,  and  sustainability.  The  assessment  process  had  to  address  several 
challenges,  notably  in  allocating  statistical  sectors  (for  which  sufficient  data 
exist) to maritime functions (as defined by the study). The following approaches 
were then considered:  

  Use  of  NACE  sectors.  For  a  number  of  4-digit  (or  more  detailed) 
sectors/activities  a  clear  distinction  between  maritime  and  non-maritime 
was made possible. 

  Use of NUTS geographic level for some activities, notably tourism, as the 

geographic definition helped addressing sector allocation problems.  

  Use of existing allocation of activities to maritime sectors as suggested by 
previous  studies.  The  approach  required  some  adaptations  to  match  the 
maritime functions in focus.  

  Use of input/output tables to determine the part of each sector that was to 

be attributed to maritime (sub-)functions.  

  Use  of  own  estimates,  based  on  expert  opinions  (including  through 

relevant literature), to complement the other approaches. 

With  regard  to  the  indicators  used  for  the  identification  of  the  largest  sub-
functions  in  terms  of  current  economic  importance,  as  well  as  of  the  fastest 
growing  sub-functions  over  the  last  5  years,  the  study  used  value  added  and 
employment,  or  proxies  when  data  availability  was  limited.  Commonly  used 
proxy  indicators  for  value  added  included  turnover  and  production  value.  For 
employment,  proxy  indicators  were  often  sector-specific.  For  example,  in  the 
passenger  ferries  sub-function,  data  gathered  included  the  total  number  of 
passengers transported by large operators, staff numbers and fleet sizes; hence, a 
proxy  was  calculated  as  the  number  of  passengers  served  on  average  per  staff 
member (inevitably including office and other shore staff of the operator). 

The criteria used to determine future outlook for sub-functions were defined as 
follows: 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Innovativeness:  the  relevance  of  Research  &  Development  (R&D)  and 
innovation  into  technology  improvements  or  new  applications  for  the 
sub-functions.  Table  6  reports  on  relevant  indicators  used  to  measure 
innovation potential. 

  Competitiveness:  potential  for  the  EU  industry  to  compete  with  the 

global industry in the respective segments.  

  Employment creation: new jobs, including attention to geography.  

  Policy 

degree 
objectives/relevance for EU-based policy initiatives.  

contribution 

relevance: 

of 

to  EU 

policy 

  Spill-over effects: links and synergies with other sub-functions.  

  Sustainability: environmental considerations. 

Scores  reflecting  the  three  options  of  positive  impact,  stability,  decline  or 
negative  impact,  were  attributed  to  each  sub-function  on  the  basis  of  expert 
evaluation. 

Table 6  Matrix of innovation indicators proposed by the Ecorys study  

Indicator 

Measurement 

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Number of publications 
Number of innovations 
(patents) 
R&D spending 
Notes: 1 = NUTS1, 2 = NUTS2, 3 = NUTS3, Y = Yes, N = No, P = Partial 

Innovation potential 
Innovation 

Innovation potential 

1 
1 

1 

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P 

P 

Overall, the study identified six (6) maritime functions (maritime transport and 
shipbuilding;  food,  nutrition,  health  and  ecosystem  services;  energy  and  raw 
materials;  leisure,  working  and  living;  coastal  protection;  and  maritime 
monitoring  and  surveillance)  and  27  sub-functions.  Following  the  described 
identification  process,  three  sets  of  seven  maritime  sub-functions  each  were 
highlighted, as presented in Table 7. 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 7 
size/growth/scores 

Overview 

of 

top-ranked 

sub-functions 

in 

order 

of 

Top-7 sub-functions 

Current Size 

Recent Growth 

Coastal tourism 
Deepsea shipping 
Shortsea shipping, 
including Roll on - Roll 
off  
Offshore oil and gas 

Offshore wind 
Cruise tourism 
Securing fresh water 
supply (desalination) 

Shortsea shipping & 
deepsea shipping 

Yachting and marinas 

Yachting and marinas 

Future Potential 
(based on scores) 

Blue biotechnology 
Offshore wind 
Protection against 
flooding and erosion 

Ocean renewable 
energy (wave, tidal, 
ocean thermal 
energy conversion - 
OTEC, thermal, 
biofuels, etc.) 
Traceability and 
security of goods supply 
chains 

Passenger ferry services  Marine aquatic products  Environmental 

Catching fish for human 
consumption 

Protection against 
flooding and erosion 

monitoring 
Marine minerals mining 

1.3  Methodological approach 

Given the complexity of the issue and the lack of adequate indicators at the sub-
national  level,  designing  a  methodology  for  a  systematic  and  comprehensive 
measurement of the impact of EU blue economy at the regional and local level is 
not deemed feasible within the context of this study.  

Based  on  the  experience  from  relevant  EU,  sea  basin  and  national  level 
initiatives,  the  proposed  approach  outlines  key  elements  to  be  considered  by 
LRAs when defining the scope of an impact assessment methodology for their 
territory  and  identifies  a  limited  set  of  indicators  deemed  most  appropriate  for 
use  in  the  impact  exercise.  This  approach  combines  the  practice  of  the  recent 
studies  reviewed  in  order  to  delineate  the  priority  scope  of  maritime  activities 
having  a  significant  impact  on  European  regions  and  municipalities.  Also,  it 
draws  from  the  data  analysis,  the  challenges  and  the  limitations  identified  in 
such  studies,  with  a  view  to  outline a  limited  set  of  indicators  measuring  (part 
of) the impact of blue economy at the regional and local level. 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
1.3.1 Elements to be considered in the approach 

In order to facilitate blue economy’s impact assessment at the local and regional 
level, the following essentials should be worked out at the EU level: 

►Clarity of definitions and approaches 

There should be one common and all-encompassing definition of blue economy 
at  the  EU  level,  which  should  then  be  applied  coherently  across  EU-based 
analyses  by  concerned  Directorate-Generals  and  Eurostat.  Being  multi-sector, 
the  territorial  assessment  of  the  impact  of  the  blue-economy  shall  allow  for  a 
‘modular’  approach,  with  regions/sub-regions  focussing  their  assessment 
exercises on the sectors/sub-sectors which are most relevant for them.  

The Ecorys study on Blue Growth (2012) and the subsequent studies on EU Sea 
Basins (Ecorys 2014a, Ecorys 2014b, COGEA 2014, COGEA 2013) provide a 
starting  point  for  such  an  assessment  process,  although  a  more  systematic 
stocktaking  of  the  sectors/sub-sectors  contributing  to  the  maritime  economy  in 
an  orderly  manner  may  be  necessary.  Moreover,  considering  the  different 
methodological approaches used at EU and MS level for the assessment of blue 
economy  size  and  impact,  and  in  order  to  facilitate  drawing  of  comparable 
results  across  the  EU  at  local  and  regional  level,  an  effort  should  be  made  to 
promote the use of a common methodology for maritime data management. 
DG  MARE’s  on-going  initiative  to  measure  blue  economy  is  a  positive  step 
forward in this respect. However, there is a clear need to complement the output 
of  this  initiative  with  a  set  of  guidelines  for  LRAs,  describing  a  common 
approach for the use of maritime data and indicators.  

►Standards to define the geographical scope 

The only typology allowing the collection of data at a level which is significant 
for LRAs is the Eurostat’s typology of coastal regions. Such typology is defined 
at  NUTS3  level  and  hence  it  theoretically  allows  the  aggregation  of  data  at 
NUTS2 level. A common approach to aggregate data at NUTS2 level should be 
developed.  

►Enhanced accessibility of data 

In  the  light  of  the  open  data  policy  in  general  and  of  the  re-use  of  public  data 
and  documents  in  particular  pursued  by  the  EC,  Eurostat  data  related  to  the 
regional  and  sub-regional  level  are  expected  to  be  made  more  clearly, 
comprehensively and easily accessible on the web.   

20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.3.2 Outlining the methodology 

► Step 1: focus of the impact assessment 

Within  the  general  framework  given  by  the  standard  definition  of  ‘blue 
economy’  devised  at  the  EU  level,  each  LRA  should  spell  out  clearly  the 
economic  sectors/sub-sectors  to  be  considered  in  its  impact  exercise.  Ideally, 
such  sectors/sub-sectors  should  be  in  line  with  those  highlighted  in  the  Smart 
Specialisation Strategy of the concerned region.  

Building on what has been discussed under section 1.2 in terms of existing work 
and  information,  LRAs  focus  is  likely  to  be  on  impact  from  selected  maritime 
domains and activities, as follows:  

  Coastal tourism (including related urban development and infrastructure, 

as well as recreational activities and sports). 

  Food, health and ecosystem services (fisheries, aquaculture, cosmetics). 
  Energy  (oil,  gas,  renewable  energy)  and  raw  materials  (salt  extraction, 

marine aggregates extraction).  

  Transport (incl. shipbuilding and maritime monitoring and surveillance).  
  Environmental monitoring and protection of maritime areas. 

► Step 2: Measurement of the impact 

All the reviewed initiatives rely on the use of indicators to measure the impact 
on the economy. To this regard two circumstances need to be underlined: 

  Current  exercises  have  already  highlighted  how  a  proposal  for 
additional/new data collection is not feasible within the current reporting 
requirements of MS. 

  The disaggregated level of some of the data sets produced by Eurostat is 
not clear. Apparently, some of the data publicly available at NUTS2 level 
are also available at NUTS3 level, but these are not made public. 

Within  each  sector/sub-sector  relevant  dimensions  are  to  be  highlighted 
according  to  the  policy  scope  of  the  assessment  (e.g.  social,  economic,  or 
focussed  on  individual  aspects  such  as  employment).  For  each  dimension,  a 
limited number of indicators may be selected. Satellite information, collected ad 
hoc  or  focussing  on  a  specific  research  aspect,  may  support  impact  analysis. 
Qualitative information may also be used towards the same scope. 

21 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Building  on  what  has  been  discussed  under  section  1.2,  the  indicators  which 
are likely to be most useful in territorial impact assessment include: 

1st tier indicators: these are the main indicators used to indicate the magnitude 
of  blue  economy  impact.  They  are  considered  a  starting  point  for  LRAs  to 
understand  the  economic  and  social  impact  of  maritime  sectors  on  their 
territories.  In  practical  terms,  1st  tier  indicators  support  LRAs  in  selecting 
strategic key sectors for local/regional development. They include: 

  Gross  Value  Added:  output  in  terms  of  GVA  indicates  the  size  of  a 
sector, thus it may provide a picture of the impact of any (maritime) sector 
on  the  economy  at  the  regional  and  local  level.  The  indicator  may  be 
interpreted by LRAs on its own (to compare with other maritime sectors), 
or  in  relation  with  regional/local  GDP  (to  assess  the  magnitude  of  the 
selected maritime sector within the regional/local economy). Time series 
may give LRAs an indication of growth patterns. 

  Employment: expressed as the ‘number of people employed per maritime 
sector as a proportion of total employment’ (in full time equivalents or, in 
case of no data, in number of jobs as at the end of the year), it indicates 
the  impact  of  a  sector  on  the  local/regional  labour  market.  Time  series 
may  also  indicate  growth  patterns,  but  any  indication  of  jobs  generated 
and  sustained  should  be  interpreted  by  LRAs  with  caution  and 
complemented with additional information on e.g. wages earned, type of 
employment (full-time or part-time), number of enterprises, and origin of 
workforce. 

2nd tier indicators: these are used in case of limited data availability of 1st tier 
indicators  or  if  further  evidence  is  deemed  necessary.  Other  than  addressing 
poor  data  availability,  the  use  of  2nd  tier  indicators  provides  LRAs  with 
information  on  some  quality  aspects  of  each  maritime  sector  development 
process.  In  practical  terms,  LRAs  may  use these indicators  to  support decision 
making  on  investment  policies  and  incentives  for  enterprises  (e.g.  selection  of 
focus  sectors  on  the  basis  of  revenue  and  number  of  enterprises,  selection  of 
type  of  support  on  the  basis  of  investment  size  in  previous  years),  and  on 
employment  support  (e.g.  selection  of  type  of  support  on  the  basis  of 
employment and wage levels). They include: 

  Turnover (can be used as a substitute to GVA). 
  Revenue (can be used as a substitute to GVA). 
  Investment (can be used as a substitute to GVA). 
  Number of enterprises (can be used as a substitute to GVA). 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  Average  wages  per  person  employed  (can  be  used  as  a  substitute  to 

employment). 

3rd tier indicators: these may be used with data at NUTS1 level to provide an 
estimate  of  labour  market  quality  characteristics  in  the  maritime  sectors 
concerned, or to provide a more complete picture of the size and significance of 
the maritime sectors within the labour market. In practical terms, LRAs may use 
these  indicators  to  support  decision  making  on  employment  (e.g.  selection  of 
target groups and fine-tuning of Technical Vocational Education and Training –
TVET- programmes on the basis of employment levels by age and gender and/or 
the  proportion  of  workforce  from  other  EU  or  from  non-EU  countries)  and  on 
other  social  issues  (e.g.  selection  of  scope  of  gender  equality  schemes  on  the 
basis  of  employment  distribution  by  sex,  selection  of  incentives  for  youth 
employment on the basis of employment distribution by age). They include: 

  Employment  by  sex  and  age:  combined  with  information  from  1st  tier 
employment  indicators,  it  may  give  LRAs  an  indication  of  expected 
trends  in  population  with  regard  to  male/female  and  young/elderly 
prevalence. 

  Staff  mobility  and  employment  of  non-EU  citizens:  may  indicate  to 
LRAs  potential  limitations  in  the  expected  blue  economy’s  impact  on 
specific  sectors  (e.g.  high 
limited  year-round 
employment, high proportion of foreign employees likely to spend part of 
their income in other regions, etc.). 

turnover  of  staff, 

  Proportion of workforce from other EU countries: as above. 

  Indirect  employment:  secondary  jobs  generated  by  primary  maritime 
activities  may  give  LRAs  a  more  complete  picture  of  the  impact  on  the 
labour market at the territorial level in focus. 

Proxies may also be used as a substitute for indicators missing sufficient data. 
Proxies  should  be  decided  on  the  basis  of  data  availability,  assuming  they  are 
sufficiently  correlated  to  the  1st  or  2nd  tier  indicators  they  intend  to  substitute. 
Examples  of  proxies  include:  annual  number  of  ferry/cruise  passengers 
transported  (proxy  for  employment  in  short-sea  shipping,  transport  sector); 
tonnage of waterborne transported cargo (proxy for turnover in freight transport, 
transport  sector);  and  number  of  nights  spent  at  tourist  accommodation 
establishments (proxy for turnover in accommodation activities, coastal tourism 
sector). 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.3.3 Remarks on envisaged problems 

Main  issues  of  concern  with  regard  to  the  implementation  of  the  proposed 
approach refer to the following: 

the 

  The  horizontal  nature  of  the  maritime  sector  implies  complexity  in  the 
relevant  sectors/sub-sectors  within  existing 
identification  of 
classifications.  For  example,  it  may  not  be  possible  to  distinguish 
maritime-related activities within given NACE classes. Some believe that 
the  analysis  of  the  maritime  sector  needs  a  4-digit  detail  in  the  NACE 
classification.  If  classes  hide  ‘maritime’  information,  work  on  the 
approximation  of  the  ‘weight’  of  the  maritime  components  within  these 
classes  is  necessary.  The  use  of  Eurostat  structural  business  statistics  to 
measure  the  aggregate  value  added  of  all  contributing  sectors,  i.e.  those 
that  include  a  maritime  component,  is  an  approach  that  has  been 
extensively  applied  by  past  DG  MARE  studies,  as  well  as  by  National 
Statistical Institutes (NSIs) involved in maritime monitoring initiatives (in 
the  Netherlands,  the  UK,  etc.).  However,  there  are  concerns  in  the 
application of the bottom-up approach in maritime data processing, due to 
the  rather  arbitrary  definition  of  the  proportion  of  maritime  components 
within  the  selected  sectors.  More  specifically,  maritime  sectors  are 
considered as a set of sub-activities within multiple sectors, as opposed to 
a single sector  activity, within the NACE  classification,  hence adding  to 
the  complexity  of  defining  the  maritime  components  within  each  sector. 
In addition, Eurostat considers a link between activities and the sea when 
marine  resources,  maritime  areas  or  regions  are  used,  or  in  case  the 
activities  take  place  in  vicinity  to  these  latter  spatial  units.  However,  no 
consideration  is  made  in  terms  of  how  direct  or  strong  this  link  is  (the 
intensity of relationship is not examined).  

  Lack of harmonised data at the desired geographical level. Eurostat is the 
main  provider  of  harmonised  data  across  the  EU  and  the  typology  of 
coastal regions the best acknowledged geographical reference. Clarity on 
the available data disaggregated at NUTS3 level is considered essential to 
assess  which  indicators  and  information  on  maritime  sectors  may  be 
relied  upon.  Likewise,  the  establishment  of  an  EU  methodology  for 
maritime  data  processing  would  be  a  prerequisite  for  the  provision  of 
indicators based on consistent information that can be used across the EU, 
addressing  existing  problems  of  different  timescales,  data  collection 
approaches, data availability, and data processing/analysis methods. 

  Limited international past experience and references in the estimation of 
blue  economy’s  environmental  impact.  The  scope  of  the  majority  of 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
national and EU level initiatives towards assessing the impact of maritime 
sectors  and  activities  covers  social and  economic  aspects  (mainly  output 
in  monetary  or  physical  units,  and  employment).  Marine  resources  and 
other environmental aspects have not been broadly included in the scope 
of such exercises, yet. 

  Existing efforts to measure the size and significance of blue economy at 
EU and national level have often resulted in largely different results. For 
example,  figures  resulting  from  the  approach  taken  by  the  Netherlands 
NSI (not including coastal tourism) come up with an estimated GVA that 
is  about  two  times  higher  than  the figures  presented  in  the Blue Growth 
study.  

  Filtering out the effect of capital cities. Filtering or correcting statistics for 
capital cities, and/or even for cities which are major economic hotspots is 
a  major  challenge,  with  relevant  international  experience  not  pointing  to 
any concrete approach to address the issue. 

  Assessing benefits of the sea which are unquantifiable in purely monetary 
terms.  Despite  progress  in  internalising  ecosystem  services  into  the 
economic  system,  several  environmental  benefits  of  the  sea  remain  an 
externality.  Accounting  for  these  benefits  would  require  significant 
research efforts at EU and global level. 

  Emerging maritime industries expand the scope of the maritime economy. 
New maritime activities require that an EU-wide consensus is reached as 
regards  the  classification  and  collection  of  economic  data  for  these 
industries.  Relevant  difficulties  refer  to  lack  of  data  or  problems  in 
extracting data from national economic accounts 
.

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Part  2:  Opportunities  for  LRAs  to  use 
available  data  sources  for  the  development 
of  blue  economy  at  the  local  and  regional 
level 

2.1  Available sources  of  information  and  type  of  data  on 
blue economy 

Primary sources of EU marine and maritime data are numerous and scattered in 
a wide range of entities across Europe. These include the NSIs, delivering data 
on population, economic activities, employment, etc.; universities and research 
centres as sources of environmental data, financial and business information like 
the Amadeus database, etc.; sector- or country-level business associations, such 
as the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers and the Cruise Lines 
International  Association  offering  data  on,  for  example,  added  value  of  sector 
(NGOs), 
activities  and  employment;  Non-Governmental  Organisations 
collecting  data  on,  for  example,  the  quality  of  beaches;  and  thematic 
observatories,  such  as  the  Mediterranean  Energy  Observatory.  In  addition, 
several  international  agencies  such  as  the  Food  and  Agriculture  Organisation 
(FAO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 
and  the  World  Bank  (WB),  are  involved  in  the  compilation,  analysis  and/or 
dissemination of relevant data. 

Eurostat is the major provider of both primary and secondary (processed) socio-
economic and environmental data at the EU level. However, none of its domains 
in the database is specifically dedicated to blue economy. Eurostat statistics have 
a  relevant  geographical  focus  of  interest  for  the  scope  of  this  study,  as 
information may be referred to EU coastal regions or coastal areas. 

Dedicated  blue  economy  data  are  collected  by  MS  in  line  with  current 
obligations  for  the  preparation  of  Initial  Assessments  (IAs)  of  marine  waters, 
under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Specifically, MS 
provide to Eurostat national socio-economic and environmental data related with 
the  following  three  main  aspects  of  marine  waters:  i)  environmental  state;  ii) 
pressures, impacts and links with human activities; and iii) economic and social 
implications  of  the  use  of  marine  waters,  including  an  analysis  of  the  cost  of 
their degradation. 

In  addition,  with  regard  to  maritime  environmental  information  and,  starting 
from  2013,  also  with  regard  to  relevant  information  on  human  activities,  the 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
European  Marine  Observation  Network  (EMODnet)  brings  together  more  than 
one  hundred  organisations  with  a  view  to  collecting,  processing  and  making 
publicly available maritime data, including data products and metadata (Marine 
Knowledge  2020  initiative).  Structured  into  seven  thematic  groups  (i.e. 
geology, bathymetry, physical habitats, physics, chemistry, biology, and human 
activity),  EMODnet  data  are  quality  assured,  standardised,  harmonised  across 
the EU, interoperable and free of restrictions on use. However, the database will 
not be fully deployed before 2020. 

Several other standardized systems for managing the large and diverse available 
maritime  data  sets  exist,  including  the  SeaDataNet9  research  infrastructure 
network,  which  gathers  data  collected  by  oceanographic  fleets  and  automatic 
observation  systems  of  35  countries,  the  International  Council  for  the 
Exploration  of  the  Sea  (ICES)10  data  portal,  the  ESPON  data  navigator11,  the 
ADRIPLAN12 data portal focusing on the Adriatic Sea, etc.  

Maritime environmental information is also made available through Copernicus, 
an  EU  supported  initiative  providing,  on  a  regular  and  systematic  basis, 
reference  information  collected  from  satellite  data,  such  as  sea-surface 
topography, sea-surface temperature, ocean colour, and ocean currents. Data are 
frequently updated and their coverage is global.  

Ad  hoc  sources  of  blue  economy-related  information  are  also  numerous,  but, 
with the exception of one-off studies, they are largely focused on specific topics, 
mainly environmental. These sources include a number of research, innovation 
or demonstration projects (e.g. funded under the EU 7th Framework Programme 
(FP7),  Horizon  2020,  LIFE,  Interreg  Programmes,  etc.)  such  as  PEGASO 
(www.pegasoproject.eu), 
indicators;  DEVOTES 
on 
(http://www.devotes-project.eu/),  focusing  on  marine  biodiversity  and  good 
environmental  status  assessment;  BIAS  (https://biasproject.wordpress.com/), 
focusing  on  underwater  sound 
the  Baltic  Sea;  and  SUBLIMO 
in 
(http://www.life-sublimo.fr/en/le-projet/), focusing on marine biodiversity.  

focusing 

ICZM 

9  See: http://www.seadatanet.org/  
10 See: http://ices.dk/marine-data/data-portals/Pages/default.aspx  
11 See: http://datanavigator.espon.eu/index.php  
12 See: http://data.adriplan.eu/  

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2.2  Potential  use  of  data  sources  by  LRAs  for  blue 
economy development 

Available  maritime  data  sources  provide  quality, 
fragmented, 
information  on  blue  economy.  The  deployment  of  tools  facilitating  access  to 
maritime data, in both raw and processed form, such as the EU-funded platforms 
EMODnet  and  Copernicus  (with  some  already  partly  available  for  public  use), 
makes  it  easier  for  non-expert  users,  including  LRAs,  to  benefit  from  existing 
information on the blue economy state and processes.  

though 

In  the  following  sections,  relevant  opportunities  for  LRAs  are  identified  and 
analysed for a set of five blue economy focus areas for development: i) coastal 
tourism  (including  related  urban  development  and  infrastructure,  as  well  as 
recreational  activities  and  sports);  ii)  food,  health  and  ecosystem  services 
(fisheries,  aquaculture,  cosmetics);  iii)  energy  (oil,  gas,  renewable  energy)  and 
raw  materials  (salt  extraction,  marine  aggregates  extraction);  iv)  maritime 
transport  activities  (including  shipbuilding  and  maritime  monitoring  and 
surveillance);  and  v)  environmental  monitoring  and  protection  of  maritime 
areas. Selected examples in each focus area are also highlighted. 

2.2.1 Coastal tourism 

Tourism development in coastal areas is linked to urban growth and changes in 
land  cover  and  land  use.  In  general,  agricultural  or  natural  land  is  being 
transformed into built-up area used for recreational or other purposes, including 
tourism-related  infrastructure  such  as  ports  and  roads  to/from  resorts  or  hotel 
complexes.  Monitoring  these  changes  may  assist  LRAs  in  steering  tourism 
growth towards more sustainable forms.  

Capturing changes  in  urban land  use can be  facilitated  by  existing information 
provided  by  Copernicus13.  Specifically,  LRAs  may  monitor  the  evolution  of 
urban  green  areas  based  on  satellite  imagery  information,  thus  take  informed 
decisions  on,  for  example,  adapting  spatial  planning  policies  and/or  regulating 
tourism  development  projects  within  the  urban  fabric.  Moreover,  they  can  use 
available data sets to support the development of derived information products. 
Examples  of  such  products  comprise  sets  of  urban  green  indicators,  including 
measures  of  ‘green  necessity’,  in  terms  of  required  action  to  increase  public 
green supply, and maps of green roofs (by distinguishing between ‘ground’ and 
‘elevated’  green  areas)  to  be  used  as  a  tool  for  monitoring  and  control  of 
relevant incentive plans or subsidies in the tourism sector (e.g. greening rooftops 
in coastal city resorts). 

13 Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service is available at www.marine.copernicus.eu   

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Satellite imagery data sets made available by Copernicus may be of use to LRAs 
for  other  urban  planning  applications  such  as  the  monitoring  of  soil  sealing 
evolution, 
landscaping 
facilitating  decision  making  on  public  space 
interventions as well as on the introduction of incentives for the use of natural 
materials in landscaping works in large private developments (mainly hotels and 
other tourism related projects); and the identification of illegal waste dumping (a 
major  problem  for  coastal  areas  during  the  tourism  season),  allowing  for 
appropriate  measures  to  be  taken.  LRAs  may  also  use  data  provided  by 
Copernicus to assess bathing conditions in their beach areas, by complementing 
relevant in situ and laboratory measurements, including data made available by 
the  European  Environment  Agency  (EEA)  in  their  annual  ‘State  of  bathing 
waters’  report (EEA  2016), covering  all EU28  MS  (see  also  the description of 
baseline  data  provided  by  EMODnet,  below).  Relevant  satellite  information 
allows for frequent and relatively low-cost assessments of the quality of bathing 
waters,  as  it  detects  eutrophication  levels  and  harmful  algal  blooms  based  on 
measurements of sea surface temperature, transparency or turbidity (cloudiness 
in the water), and ocean colour. 

Other  baseline  information  relevant  to  coastal  tourism  development  may  be 
accessed by LRAs through the EMODnet Human Activities portal14, providing 
data on, among other aspects:  

  Lighthouses,  distinguishing  between  those  still  standing  and  those  that 

have been removed, relocated or destroyed15. 

  Protected  areas,  distinguishing  between  those  designated  under  Natura 

2000 and nationally designated areas. 

  The  state  of  bathing  waters16,  according  to  five  classes  (excellent/good/ 

sufficient/poor/other). 

The database made available through the portal  is regularly updated to include 
latest information from a large number of EU, national and local sources, with 
contributions also received by several LRAs. Indicatively, available information 
may be used by LRAs for benchmarking with other EU MS areas (e.g. state of 
bathing  waters),  or  for  establishing  EU-wide  networks  for  the  promotion  of 
tourism resources (e.g. lighthouses, protected natural areas). As mentioned, the 
database is still under construction and is expected to be finalised by September 
2016. 

14 Available at: http://www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu/view-data.php 
15  When  fully  operational,  the  database  is  expected  to  include  information  allowing  the  assessment  of  the 
heritage value of each lighthouse (age, description of the edifice, pictures, etc.).  
16  Based  on  the  data  set  ‘Bathing  Water  Directive  -  Status  of  bathing  water’  provided  by  the  European  Topic 
Centre on Water and made available by the EEA at http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/bathing-water-
directive-status-of-bathing-water-8.  The  currently  available  data  set  includes  information  on  the  2015  bathing 
season, as well as some historical data since 1990. 

30 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
2.2.2 Food, health and ecosystem services 

Informed  decision  making  on  fisheries  and  ecosystem  services,  including  on 
resources  used  in  cosmetics  and  health  products,  depends  on  a  wide  range  of 
data, addressing diverse factors like habitat conditions, population dynamics and 
their  relationship  with  prey,  climate  variability,  and  fishing  practices.  Direct 
measurements  of  such  data  are  not  always  possible  or  are  too  costly,  hence 
marine ecosystem models are used to study the current status and make forecasts 
on  habitat  or  fish  stock  conditions.  LRAs  can  access  relevant  (frequently 
updated)  information  through  the  Copernicus  service,  which  uses  satellite  data 
to  measure  geophysical  parameters,  including  sea-surface  temperature,  ocean 
colour  and  ocean  currents,  and  make  estimates  on  plankton  and  micronekton 
concentrations,  which  in  turn  are  used  as  proxy  indicators  for  the  health 
assessment of various fish stocks (Box 2).  

Box 2. Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission 

The quality of publicly available data on habitat and fish stock conditions is expected to 
improve  in  the  near  future,  following  the  recent  launching  and  operation  of  Copernicus 
Sentinel-3  mission  (March  2016),  which  (once  fully  operational  through  the  Copernicus 
services,  i.e.  before  the  end  of  2016)  will  further  support  efforts  by  LRAs  towards 
sustainable  fishing  by  providing:  improved  accuracy  of  global  sea-surface  temperature 
measurements;  improved  accuracy  of  ocean  colour  maps  showing  concentrations  of 
chlorophyll  and  suspended  sediments;  and  improved  accuracy  of  sea-surface  height 
measurements. 

Source: Copernicus Brief, Issue 34, September 2013 and ESA website (accessed on August 2016). 

Moreover, LRAs can use Copernicus radar imagery information to detect illegal, 
unlicensed  and  unreported  activities,  and  subsequently  plan  and  take  action 
towards  stopping  overexploitation  of  fish  stocks  and  increasing  sustainable 
catches,  in  favour  of  local  food  security  and  livelihoods.  Combined  radar  and 
satellite  information  provided  by  Copernicus  may  assist  LRAs  in  applying 
science-based  management  of  fisheries,  for  example  through  facilitating 
decision making on harmful subsidies’ elimination or on investments to restore 
overexploited or collapsed fish stocks.  

Information  on  the  location  of  fish  farms,  made  available  by  the  EMODnet 
Human  Activities  portal,  combined  with  production  estimates  (requiring 
validation,  for  example  through  ground  data  measurements  and/or  interviews 
with  local  experts  and  stakeholders),  may  further  support  decision  making  by 
LRAs  on  the  planning  and  management  of  fisheries  and  aquaculture  activities. 
More  precisely,  the  following  indicators  may  be  derived  from  the  data  made 
available through the portal:  

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  The  ‘fish  farm  influence’  pressure,  showing  the  influence  area  of  fish 
farms.  The  indicator  is  calculated  for  each  fish  farm  by  applying  a 
theoretical  maximum  distance  at  which  the  farm  may  produce  pressure. 
For  example,  the  application  of  the  ‘fish  farm  influence’  pressure 
indicator  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  implemented  by  the  Interreg  Med 
project  MedIamer17,  considered  a  distance  of  20  km  around  each  farm 
location  as  highly  impacted,  in  line  with  estimates  by  HELCOM  while 
assessing  impacts  of  aquaculture  in  the  North  Sea  (Andersen  and  Stock 
(eds.) et al., 2013). 

  The fish farm production by km of coast. 

  The fish farm production per capita (main species). 

  The  alien  species  (AS)  related  to  aquaculture  activity,  showing  the  total 
number  of  AS  from  aquaculture  activities  in  a  specific  sea  basin.  The 
indicator  may  be  fed  by  data  from  the  European  Alien  Species 
Information  Network  (EASIN)  species  count,  which  is  coordinated  by 
JRC and aggregates data from a wide range of providers across MS. 

The  aforementioned  indicators  may  be  indicatively  used  by  LRAs  for  the 
designation of fisheries and aquaculture setback zones,  and for the planning of 
new and/or the expansion of existing aquaculture production areas. 

Further to supporting efficient and sustainable fishing operations, LRAs can use 
satellite data provided by Copernicus to detect water pollution, thus protect other 
living marine resources (sea-weeds, bacteria, algae, etc.) often used in cosmetics 
and  health  products  (also  in  food  supplies  and  in  environmental  remediation). 
Copernicus  Earth  observation  data  sets  on  pollutants,  phytoplankton,  algae, 
water  temperature,  etc.,  may  also  assist  LRAs  in  their  efforts  to  attract 
aquaculture  investments,  by  facilitating  planning  and  management  of  relevant 
activities.  Specifically,  satellite-based  products  and  services  may  facilitate  the 
identification  of  areas  suitable  for  installing  fish  farms,  the  optimisation  of 
aquaculture cage relocation, and the delineation and tracking of potential risks to 
fish  farming  sites,  including  the  issuance  of  warnings  on  water  quality  threats. 
Such  threats  may  include  unevenness  of  sea-surface  temperatures  and  ocean 
colour; hazardous algal blooms; jellyfish invasions; and water body movements 
with varying temperatures or oxygen concentrations. 

LRAs may also use the aforementioned data sets to monitor the environmental 
impact  of  fisheries  and  aquaculture  activities.  Specifically,  satellite  data  can 

17 See: http://www.medmaritimeprojects.eu/download/ProjectMediamer/Final_factsheets/AIo_Aquaculture_factsheet.pdf 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
indicate  environmental  changes  in  the  areas  surrounding  aquaculture  sites,  by 
assessing the state of habitats, including measuring changes in, for example, sea 
grass beds and erosion or deposition on inter-tidal mud flats. Moreover, they can 
be  fed  into  local  models  to  estimate  the  spread  of  diseases  and  other 
contaminates  from  aquaculture  facilities.  Lastly,  they  can  assist  LRAs  in 
detecting areas where the seabed habitat has been disturbed by bottom trawling, 
determining damage to sea-floor to both living and non-living components, and 
monitor changes in the level of disturbance over specific time periods. 

2.2.3 Energy and raw materials 

Maritime  energy  development  potential  is  linked  with  the  exploitation  of  both 
deep  water  hydrocarbons  and  renewable  energy  sources,  including  (offshore) 
wind,  wave,  tidal,  biomass,  thermal  conversion,  and  salinity  gradients.  LRAs 
aiming at attracting maritime energy investments may use information provided 
by  the  Copernicus  and  EMODnet  services  to  assess  the  potential  of  exploiting 
renewables within their administrative boundaries.  

Specifically,  the  aforementioned  services  make  publicly  available  information 
that facilitates the identification and the optimised selection of appropriate sites 
for  offshore  wind  farms,  with  relevant  datasets  measuring  wind  speed,  wind 
fields  and  wave  size  and  frequency.  Assessing  these  wind-  and  wave-related 
factors  enables  those  LRAs  involved  in  the  identification  and  optimised 
selection  of  appropriate  sites  for  offshore  wind  farms  in  defining  areas  where 
wind energy may be generated in a way that is cost-effective and with a low risk 
of damage.  

The EMODnet, through the ‘Checkpoint’ concept, assesses the availability and 
appropriateness  of  the  observation  and  modelling  data  sets  related  to  wind 
energy, including those feeding into downstream applications such as wind farm 
siting.  For  example,  the  EMODnet  Black  Sea  Checkpoint  works  towards 
addressing the ‘Wind farm siting’ challenge18 by: determining the suitability of 
sites  for  wind  farm  development  in  the  Black  Sea  area,  notably  border  areas 
between Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish and Georgian waters, including making 
an  assessment  of  the  appropriateness  of  floating  or  fixed  wind  farms;  and 
evaluating  the fitness for use of  upstream  data,  considering aspects  such  as  air 
characteristics (e.g. wind strength), bathymetry and sea bed characteristics (e.g. 
seafloor  geology),  marine  water  characteristics,  biota/biology  characteristics, 
environmental  impact,  maritime  traffic  and  other  human  activity  spatial 
distribution (e.g.  distance from  electric  grid and shipping lanes).  Relevant data 
examined at the ‘Wind farm siting’ challenge include: 

18 See: http://emodnet-blacksea.eu/portfolio/wind-farm-siting/  

33 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
  Meteorological  analysis  at  high  resolution,  mainly  from  past  EU  FP7 

projects. 

  Wave  analysis  based  on  observations  and  modelling  work  done  in  past 

EU FP7 projects. 

  Shipping  lines  available  from  the  European  Maritime  Safety  Agency 

(EMSA). 

  Bathymetry  (numerical  values  and  maps)  available  at  the  EMODnet 

Bathymetry portal19. 

  Seafloor geology available at the EMODnet Geology portal20. 

  Benthic  ecosystem  structure  available  at  the  EMODnet  Seabed  Habitat 

portal21. 

  Electric grid infrastructure from network operators and energy authorities 

(or other related public bodies). 

  Bird migratory patterns, as described in available literature. 

EMODnet  also  gathers  data  from  EWEA,  DG  MARE  (European  Atlas  of  the 
Sea)  and  other  sources  to  provide  information  on  wind  farms22  located  across 
MS maritime areas (both on and offshore), making a distinction on the basis of 
their  operational  status(i.e.  authorised,  operational,  planned,  producing,  and 
under construction). LRAs can use this information to draw the baseline in wind 
energy  production  in  neighbouring  regions  and  countries,  with  a  view  to 
promoting  relevant  investments  in  their  area,  e.g.  by  facilitating  discussion  in 
public consultations. 

Satellite data made available by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service 
can  provide  information  useful  for  solar  energy  management.  The  service 
monitors conditions in the atmosphere, including those having an impact on the 
amount  of  solar  radiation  reaching  the  earth’s  surface.  LRAs  can  use  this 
information  to  facilitate  planning  and  management  of  relevant  investments, 
notably  estimating  the  potential  for  solar  energy  generation  and  identifying 
suitable sites for solar energy production. 

19 See: http://www.emodnet-bathymetry.eu/  
20 See: http://www.emodnet.eu/geology  
21 See: http://www.emodnet.eu/seabed-habitats  
22 See: http://www.thewindpower.net/windfarms_list_en.php  

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Moreover, LRAs can benefit from relevant derived information products already 
available  in  the  market,  such  as  the  Renewable  Energy  Atlas23,  providing  a 
digital representation of wind, solar and biomass resources. The atlas is a private 
sector  initiative  based  on  weather  simulation  models  combining  satellite  data 
with local on-site measurements and information from public weather stations. It 
is  made  available  through  a  web-based  Geographic  Information  System  (GIS). 
The Renewable Energy Atlas facilitates the identification of sites suitable for the 
exploitation of renewable energy sources, presenting information on:  

  Solar  energy,  measuring  aspects  such  as  Global  Horizontal  Irradiance 
(GHI),  Direct  Normal  Irradiance  (DNI)  and  Diffuse  Horizontal  (DH) 
irradiations,  with  annual  and  monthly  maps,  monthly  variation  graphs, 
and solar reporting at each point of interest. 

  Wind  energy,  measuring  aspects  like  wind  speed;  power  density  and 
direction, with maps for several heights; wind roses; Weibull distribution 
graphs; and providing terrain maps with data on roughness, elevation and 
land use. 

  Wave/Tide energy, measuring tidal currents, tide power and wave power. 

With regard to maritime raw materials, data on dredging activities in European 
Seas  are  made  available  through  the  EMODnet  Human  Activities  portal. 
Information on dredging sites has been harmonised across the EU and is based 
on  data  sets  provided  by  several  sources  for  the  following  countries:  Belgium, 
Bulgaria,  Cyprus,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Greece, 
Iceland,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Malta,  Norway,  Poland,  Portugal, 
Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Available data refer 
to: the position (point or polygon) of the dredging site; the extraction area and 
year;  the  amount  permitted  to  be  extracted  in  volume  (m3)  and  weight  (t);  the 
extracted  amount  in  volume  (m3)  and  weight  (t);  the  extraction  type  (e.g. 
harbour  dredging,  estuary  dredging,  sea  lane);  the  dredging  purpose  (e.g. 
maintenance  dredging,  capital  dredging);  and  the  end-use  of  the  extracted 
material 
(e.g.  beach  nourishment,  commercialisation,  confined  deposit, 
construction  material,  embankment,  filling  material,  land  deposit,  reuse,  sea 
disposal, and wetland restoration).  

LRAs may use relevant information derived from the EMODnet portal to assess 
the  state  of  the  seabed  environment  and  facilitate  decision  making  on  issuing 
new or extending existing planning permissions for dredging activities. 

23 See: http://www.noveltis.com/en/products-services/renewable-energy-atlas/about-renewable-energy-atlas/ 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Similarly, the HELCOM HOLAS project24 has developed a dredging data set for 
the  Baltic  Sea,  addressing  relevant  activities  such  as  harbour  maintenance, 
harbour  capital,  sea  lanes,  and  sand,  gravel,  boulder  and  maerl  (coralline  red 
algae) extraction. Information refers to the period 2003-2007 and focuses on the 
quantity, quality and purpose of dredging. Collection of data by project partners 
was  complemented  by  information  gathered  from  large  construction  and 
dredging  companies.  The  data  set  is  used  to  describe  the  extent  and  spatial 
distribution  of  the  sea  bed  disturbance  caused  by  human  activities  and  also 
contributes to an overall assessment of the Baltic Sea marine environment. 

2.2.4 Maritime transport activities 

The  development  of  ship  transport  activities,  including  ports,  faces  numerous 
challenges  in  terms  of  efficiency  and  environmental  problems,  such  as  air 
pollution  (mainly  greenhouse  gas  emissions),  waste,  invasive  alien  species  in 
ballast  waters,  and  hull  fouling.  LRAs  may  use  satellite  data  on  ocean 
parameters,  like  sea  currents  and  sea  ice,  available  through  Copernicus,  to 
develop web and mobile applications providing information that optimises ship 
routing and significantly improves navigation safety (notably, in Arctic regions 
and  other  regions  with  extreme  meteorological  conditions).  Likewise,  they  can 
monitor  large  maritime  areas  to  detect  oil  spills  or  illegal  waste  disposal  and 
take  action  towards  mitigating  impacts  and  allocating  responsibilities  to  those 
concerned. 

Relevant  applications  combining  satellite  data  with  in  situ  measurements  (e.g. 
using deep-sea buoys, gauges or met-stations at ports) have been developed and 
are  provided  online  by  members  of  the  European  Global  Ocean  Observing 
System (EuroGOOS). The databases and data services provided (see Box 4 for a 
list  of  member  organisations  and  their  web  links  providing  access  to  relevant 
data services) focus on specific maritime regions, which in most cases coincide 
with  the  geographical  mandate  of  the  national  governmental  agencies  and 
research organisations involved in their development and operation. 

24 See: http://maps.helcom.fi/website/mapservice/index.html  

36 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Box 4. Access to EuroGOOS member organisations data services 

EuroGOOS  comprises  the  following  40  national  governmental  agencies  and  research 
organisations  from  19  countries  in  Europe,  providing  maritime  data  services  that  can  be 
accessed through the given web links:  
Belgium:  the  Agency  for  Maritime  and  Coastal  Services  (MDK),  Coastal  Division;  and 
the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), OD NATURE  
Croatia:  the  Croatian  Meteorological  and  Hydrological  Service  (DHMZ);  and  the 
Croatian Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (IZOR) 
Cyprus: the Oceanography Center, University of Cyprus (OC-UCY) 
Denmark:  the  Danish  Meteorological  Institute  (DMI);  and  the  Defence  Centre  for 
Operational Oceanography (FCOO) 
Estonia: Tallinn University of Technology, Marine Systems Institute (MSI) 
Finland: the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) 
France: Ifremer; and Mercator Ocean  
Germany:  the  Federal  Maritime  and  Hydrographic  Agency  (BSH);  and  the  Centre  for 
Materials and Coastal Research (HZG) 
Greece: the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) 
Ireland: the Marine Institute (MI) 
Italy: the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC); the National Research 
Council of Italy (CNR); the Liguria Cluster of Marine Technology (DLTM); the National 
Institute  of  Geophysics  and  Volcanology  (INGV);  the  Italian  National  Institute  for 
Environmental  Protection  and  Research  (ISPRA);  and  the  National  Institute  of 
Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) 
The Netherlands: Deltares; the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI); and 
Rijkswaterstaat 
Norway: the Institute of Marine Research (IMR); the Norwegian Meteorological Institute 
(MET Norway); and the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC) 
Poland: the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW-PIB); the Institute 
of  Oceanology,  Polish  Academy  of  Sciences  (IO  PAN);  and  the  Maritime  Institute  in 
Gdansk (MIG) 
Portugal: the Hydrographic Institute (IH); and the Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and 
Atmosphere (IPMA) 
Slovenia: the Slovenian Environment Agency; and the National Institute of Biology (NIB) 
Spain: the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO); and Puertos del Estado 
Sweden: the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) 
United  Kingdom:  the  Centre  for  Environment,  Fisheries  and  Aquaculture  Science 
(Cefas);  the  Natural  Environment  Research  Council  (NERC)  /  National  Oceanography 
Centre (NOC); and the UK Met Office 

Source: EuroGoos website (accessed on August 2016) 

The Portus Marine Information system25 is one such example that stands out for 
its  user-friendly  interface.  Developed  for  and  operated  by  the  state-owned 
Spanish  port  system  (Puertos  del  Estado),  the  web  application  focuses  on  the 
Eastern  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  Western  Mediterranean  Sea  coastal  areas.  It  is 

25 See: http://www.puertos.es/en-us/oceanografia/Pages/portus.aspx 

37 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
integrated  in  a  GIS,  measuring  physical  ocean  parameters  in  distinct  time 
periods, as follows: 

  3-day forecast for three variables: waves, wind, and sea level. 

  5-day forecast for three variables: ocean currents, water temperature, and 

salinity. 

  Real time data (Greenwich Mean Time - GMT) for nine variables: waves; 
seiche (oscillations registered in the harbour caused by tsunamis or other 
relevant  phenomena,  measured  by  1-minute 
tide-gauges);  water 
temperature;  currents;  sea 
level;  port  agitation;  air  pressure;  air 
temperature; and salinity. 

  Historical  data  for  nine  variables:  waves;  water  temperature;  currents; 
wind; sea level; port agitation; air pressure; air temperature; and salinity. 

this  application 

Together with Port Authorities, Spanish and neighbouring countries’ LRAs may 
to  access  data  facilitating  efficient  planning  and 
use 
management of maritime infrastructure, and an increased safety and security in 
maritime transport, especially at or near ports. 

2.2.5 Environmental monitoring and protection of maritime areas 

LRAs  may  benefit  from  the  Copernicus  Marine  Monitoring  Service26  to 
regularly  and  systematically  assess  and  monitor  their  maritime  environment. 
Copernicus provides reference data about the state of European seas and oceans, 
with measurements of water temperature and salinity, ocean currents and several 
other  ocean  parameters,  biological  and  chemical  characteristics,  including 
pollutants,  algae,  and  phytoplankton.  Relevant  information  can  support  LRAs’ 
efforts  towards  enhanced  protection  and  improved  quality  of  bathing  waters, 
including through an assessment of the eutrophication evolution in their coastal 
waters.  At  the  same  time,  it  can  facilitate  real-time  monitoring  of  the 
environmental impact of selected maritime activities, e.g. ports, fish farms, and 
coastal tourism resorts. This information is complementary to relevant EEA data 
and  the  EEA  mapping  of  the  state  of  bathing  waters  (see  also  section  2.2.1) 
which  provides  an  annual  classification  of  bathing  water  quality  in  selected 
beaches. 

Remote sensing data available from the Copernicus Marine Monitoring Service 
information  from  EMODnet 
combined  with  bathymetry  and  sea-level 

26 See: http://marine.copernicus.eu/  

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Bathymetry and Physics portals, as well  as data from field surveys, may assist 
LRAs in monitoring changes in their coastal zones. LRAs may also benefit from 
relevant derived data products that use modelling to examine coastal protection 
parameters,  such  as  annual  sea  level  rise  at  the  coast;  average  annual  sea-
temperature at surface, midwater and sea-bottom; and sediment mass balance at 
the coast. 

The  EMODnet  sea  basin  checkpoints  have  carried  out  relevant  challenges 
aiming at assessing “the possibility of producing very specific spatial data layers 
and time history plots for selected climate and coastal variables”. 

with 

Satellite data  collected through ocean colour sensors (provided by Copernicus) 
can  feed  into  local  models  to  provide  information  on  the  location,  extent  and 
movement of phytoplakton or 
jelly  fish,  hence  may  assist 
LRAs in detecting and issuing 
warnings  about  algal  blooms 
and  increases  in  jelly  fish 
both 
populations, 
phenomena  likely  having  a 
negative  impact  on  human 
activities,  notably  on  tourism 
(Box  5). 
and  aquaculture 
Such  warnings  -  if  issued 
facilitate 
early  enough 
those 
timely 
concerned, 
allow 
appropriate mitigation actions 
to be put in place.  

Box 5. Impact of algal blooms on maritime 
activities 
the  rapid  multiplication  of 
Algal  blooms  (i.e. 
phytoplankton  species  which  highly  increase  their 
concentration  in  the  water)  may  have  a  devastating 
effect  on  maritime  activities.  They  may  deplete 
oxygen in the water or release toxins, thus resulting 
in  the  death  of  large  numbers  of  fish,  shellfish, 
marine mammals and seabirds. They may also cause 
serious illness in humans. The estimated annual costs 
from  algal  blooms  in  Greece,  Italy  and  Spain 
exceeds  EUR  300  million,  considering  losses  in 
commercial  and  recreational  fishing,  decreases  in 
tourism,  and  damages  to  ecosystems.  Such  high 
losses  pose  a  threat  to  local  economies  and  to  the 
livelihoods of several coastal communities. 

Source: Copernicus brief (Issue 08 / Sep2013) 

response  by 

and 

- 

Similar  services  are  made  available  to  interested  LRAs  by  the  POSEIDON 
system27 which is part of EuroGOOS and is developed and operated by HCMR. 
The system complements satellite data with in situ measurements (mainly using 
a network of observation buoys) to provide real-time and historical data, as well 
as 1 to 5-day forecasts (through both web and mobile technologies) on a number 
of  weather  and  ocean  parameters.  POSEIDON  may  also  support  LRAs  in  the 
protection  of  maritime  areas,  with  specific  applications  addressing  emergency 
search  operations  at sea (e.g.  providing  estimates  on  object drifts) and oil-spill 
monitoring and forecasting (combining satellite-based oil spill detection with oil 
spill drift forecasts to provide the end-users with near real-time information). 

27 See: http://poseidon.hcmr.gr/  

39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Likewise,  the  EMODnet  Oil  Platform  Leak  Bulletins28,  focusing  on  the  entire 
surface of each of the EU Sea basins, provides users (including LRAs, at a cost) 
with  information  on  the  likely  route  of  oil-slicks  and  the  statistical  probability 
for  sensitive  coastal  habitats,  species  or  tourism  beaches  to  be  affected  by 
specific  oil  spills29.  Models  are  used  to  predict  the  oil  spill  trajectory,  using 
datasets on a wide range of natural and human activity aspects, indicatively: 

  Meteo-oceanographic  forecast  and  analysis  (e.g.  winds,  sea  currents, 
waves and  sea surface temperature)  collected  from  relevant  international 
(e.g. CMEMS) and regional providers, the European Centre for Medium-
Range  Weather  Forecasts  (ECMWF),  and  the  national  meteorological 
services. 

  Seafloor geology available at the EMODnet Geology portal. 

  Sea bed habitats available at the EMODnet Seabed Habitat portal. 

  Human  activities,  including  marine  protected  areas  and  coastal  habitats, 

available at the EMODnet Human Activity portal. 

  Oil platform position, date/time of leakage, type of oil, rate of leakage or 
total  amount  of  oil  leaked,  with  data  provided  by  the  EC  or  EMSA  (oil 
spill satellite observations). 

LRAs  may  use  the  simulation  results  from  these  models  to  plan  preventive 
action for the avoidance of irreversible damages to protected natural areas and to 
tourism  resources,  mainly  beaches.  In  case  of  oil-spill  accidents,  the  bulletins 
may also assist in improved coordination and targeting of mitigation measures, 
with  LRAs  playing  an  important  role  in  mobilising  resources  to  protect  their 
coasts from pollution. 

http://www.emodnet-arctic.eu/oil-leak-platform,  Atlantic  Sea: 

28  Arctic  Sea: 
http://www.emodnet-
atlantic.eu/Challenges/Oil-Platform-leaks,  Baltic  Sea:  http://emodnet-blacksea.eu/portfolio/oil-platform-leaks/, 
Black  Sea:  http://emodnet-blacksea.eu/portfolio/oil-platform-leaks/,  Mediterranean  Sea:  http://www.emodnet-
mediterranean.eu/portfolio/oil-platforms-leak/,  North  Sea:  http://www.emodnet.eu/northsea/challenge/oil-
platform-leaks. 
29 Indicatively, according to the published terms of the service for the Baltic Sea, a first bulletin is issued within 
24 hours from contractual request (based on working week days), and a second bulletin within 72 hours. 

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2.3  Addressing identified problems 

There are several issues (mainly of practical nature) impeding LRAs from taking 
full advantage of existing information on the maritime state and processes, to the 
benefit of blue economy in their areas. These are outlined below, together with 
suggestions for possible solutions. 

  Numerous and dispersed sources of information, databases and data 
sets. There is a very large number of international, regional and national 
scientific,  research  and  other  entities  collecting,  analysing  and  making 
publicly available maritime data30. Most of these entities are well known 
to  the  academic  world,  however  not  to  the  majority  of  LRAs.  What  is 
more, the information they provide is fragmented, hence searching on the 
websites  of  these  entities  to  access  maritime  data  is  a  tedious  task 
requiring sufficient resources and – in most cases – relevant expertise. To 
make  this  task  even  more  complicated  for  LRAs,  these  entities  (as  a 
common  practice)  collaborate  with  each  other  in  research  and  other 
projects, to come up with new maritime data sets which in some cases are 
only made available at the joint project’s website, i.e. a new web address 
other than those of the entities involved.  

Gathering maritime information in a single (or from a limited number of) 
web portal(s) would facilitate access of relevant data by LRAs. EMODnet 
is a step forward towards this direction, bringing together more than 100 
organisations assembling marine data, products and metadata, offering to 
public  and  private  users  (including  LRAs)  access  to  “quality-assured, 
standardised  and  harmonised  marine  data  which  are  interoperable  and 
free of restrictions on use” (EMODnet Central Portal). However, the full 
deployment  of  the  EMODnet  services  is  not  expected  before  the  end  of 
2020. 

  Poor  information  on  available  sources  of  data,  databases  and  data 
sets. Notwithstanding the large number of maritime data sources, there is 
a  general  lack  of  awareness  about  the  maritime  information  that  non-
expert  users  may  have  access  to.  The  majority  of  LRAs  are  poorly 
informed about the type and use of maritime data available, even by large 
data  service  providers  like  Copernicus  and  EMODnet.  The  latter  should 
consider  a  more  active  promotion  of  their  data  services,  with  targeted 
approaches  adjusted  to  the  specific  characteristics  of  major  user  groups, 
including LRAs. Some relevant actions have already been taken (e.g. the 

30 The SeaDataNet Pan-European Infrastructure for ocean and marine data management identifies more than 600 
scientific data collecting laboratories from governmental organizations and private industry, in the countries 
bordering the European seas. 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
thematic  briefs  issued  and  disseminated  by  Copernicus),  however, 
elaborating  and  implementing  a  communication  strategy  (potentially 
jointly  by  the  main  data  service  providers),  is  considered  key  towards 
addressing this problem. 

  Lack  of  adequate  capacity  and  resources  within  administrations  to 
manage available databases. Several LRAs lack both expertise and tools 
required to identify appropriate blue economy related data and to process 
relevant  information.  They  also  lack  adequate  previous  experience  (if  at 
all)  in  using  satellite  data  and  smart  technologies  to  access  and  manage 
maritime data. This is becoming a major disadvantage as a large number 
of available data sets are based on the  use of satellite imagery and other 
advanced technologies. In this context, local and regional administrations 
often fail to fully address the technical aspects required to handle the data 
they  receive,  hence  depend  on  external  support  to  appropriately  manage 
increased  offer  of  derived 
relevant 
information  products  (as  opposed  to  raw  data  sets)  by  data  service 
providers, notably EMODnet, would  raise the number of LRAs capable 
of  exploiting  maritime  information  towards  maximising  blue  economy’s 
impact  on  their  areas.  Online  training  courses  for  non-expert  users, 
notably  public  servants  in  local  and  regional  administrations,  would  be 
also beneficial in that respect (some courses are already available, such as 
the Copernicus online tutorials). 

resources.  An 

information 

  Need for investments in web and mobile applications facilitating wide 
use  of  derived  information  products.  LRAs  need  to  make  investments 
in smart technologies to promote uptake of maritime information in their 
areas  (e.g.  develop  dedicated  web  pages  or  mobile  applications  with 
frequently updated information on aquaculture farms, on offshore energy 
potential, on tourism resources), with a view to supporting blue economy 
investments  and  development.  Awareness  on  the  size  and  technical 
requirements  (including  content  development)  of  such  investments  is 
fairly  limited,  thus  often  resulting  in  reluctance  by  LRAs  to  invest  in 
smart maritime data applications. A clearer framework of downstream 
maritime  data  applications  would  facilitate  broader  uptake  of  such 
technologies by LRAs. 

  Lack of adequate previous experience (if at all) in feeding the decision 
making  process  with  information  made  available  with  the  use  of 
smart  technologies.  Further  to  the  aforementioned  need  for  capacity 
in  maritime  data 
building  of 
management, decision makers in local and regional councils also need 
support  in  understanding  the  added  value  of  reliable,  standardised 

local  and  regional  administrations 

42 

 
  
 
 
and  interoperable  maritime  information,  in  order  to  promote  blue 
economy development. 

  Marine  monitoring,  observation  and  data  collection  networks  are 
fragmented  and  their  operation  serves  a  wide  and  often  diverse 
spectrum of purposes. In their majority, such networks have been put in 
place for specific national purposes (e.g.  to facilitate the implementation 
of  national  legislation  in  terms  of  monitoring  the  impact  of  activities  in 
coastal  or  ocean  areas)  or  for  research  purposes  (e.g.  to  demonstrate  a 
technological  capability).  As  a  result,  on  a  sea-basin  scale  there  is  no 
comprehensive  overview  of  data  collection  or  monitoring  gaps  and 
duplications,  while  it  remains  unclear  what  the  priorities  should  be  for 
further  data  collection  or  assembly.  LRAs  should  have  a  more  active 
involvement  in  that  process,  providing  user  feedback  to  the  data 
service  providers  and  expressing  their  needs  in  terms  of  appropriate 
input data for the promotion of blue economy development in their areas. 

  Maritime data availability is constantly changing with advances made 
in  data  collection,  harmonisation  across  the  EU,  and  accessibility 
through  smart  applications.  LRAs  lack  the  capacity  to  follow  closely 
progress in this area, therefore need to commit resources for that purpose. 
Tools  like  the  EMODnet  portal  need  to  become  more  friendly  to  non-
expert  users,  notably  as  regards  communication  of  available  information 
products and their added value to the various users.  

  Gaps  in  broadly  available  data.  Considering  the  aforementioned 
weaknesses of data collection networks and given that the deployment of 
EMODnet  services  is  still  under  way,  reliable  and  harmonised  data  on 
several  blue  economy  aspects  are  still  missing,  for  example,  fisheries 
activity on a time scale shorter than a whole year, biological distribution 
data (e.g. of birds and sea mammals), main sources of pollution across the 
coast, and the location of tourism beaches (other than those assessed for 
the quality of their waters). The role of LRAs in providing user feedback 
to  the  data  service  providers  is  considered  vital  to  address  existing  gaps 
and accelerate the deployment of relevant services. 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Part  3:  Funding  opportunities  for  LRA 
projects on blue economy development 

LRAs  planning  the  implementation  of  projects  fostering  blue  economy 
development,  through  the  collection  of  new  or  the  processing  of  already 
available data, may leverage resources by making use of funding opportunities 
under the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), the Horizon 2020 
(H2020)  programme,  or  other  relevant  measures  foreseen  at  the  national  level. 
An indicative, but non-exhaustive, list of such funding opportunities is provided 
below, structured in selected thematic and geographic areas of interest. 

3.1  Cross-cutting areas of interest 

Blue  economy  initiatives  by  LRAs  may  be  funded  through  the  Cohesion  Fund 
(CF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), under the thematic 
objectives ‘preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource 
efficiency’,  and  ‘promoting  climate  change  adaptation,  risk  prevention  and 
management’, with priority given to investments in: coastal urban environment 
improvements;  low-carbon  and  intermodal  transport  systems;  regeneration  of 
port-city areas (revitalising port-cities), including the upgrade (decontamination 
and  land  use  change)  of  brownfield  sites;  air  pollution  and  noise  reduction 
within ports and other coastal areas; marine biodiversity and soil protection and 
restoration; and the promotion of ecosystem services and green infrastructure.  

The  ERDF  also  provides  funding  opportunities  for  projects  supporting  blue 
economy  development  under  the  thematic  objective  ‘enhancing  access  to  and 
use  and  quality  of  ICT’,  with  priority  given  to  investments  in  the  digital 
economy,  including  the  development  of  ICT  products  and  services,  broadband 
deployment  and  the  roll-out  of  high-speed  networks  (e.g.  data-mining  and 
analysis,  creation  of  web  or  mobile  applications  analysing,  disseminating  and 
improving access to data on, for example, bathing water quality, tourism flows, 
movements of people and goods, and other maritime-related activities). 

LRAs  may seek support for a wide range of  maritime investments through the 
European  Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural  Development  (EAFRD)  under  the 
‘LEADER cooperation activities’ measure, focusing on the implementation of a 
community-led local development (CLLD) strategy. Fisheries, tourism and other 
local  development  strategies 
maritime-related 
developed  by  Local  Action  Groups  (LAGs)  may  be  funded  under  such  a 
measure. Local communities not having implemented LEADER in the previous 

investments 

included 

in 

45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
programming  period  (2007-2013)  may  seek  support  for  capacity  building  and 
small pilot projects not linked with a LAG development strategy. 

Cross-cutting aspects of blue economy development investments may be funded 
through  the  European  Social  Fund  (ESF)  and  the  ERDF,  under  the  following 
thematic  objectives:  ‘Promoting  social  inclusion,  combating  poverty  and  any 
discrimination’, where relevant investments are foreseen in the context of CLLD 
strategies; and  ‘Promoting sustainable and quality employment and supporting 
labour  mobility’  where  eligible  actions  may  focus  on  the  implementation  of  a 
territorial strategy for employment-generating growth in specific areas such as: 
the conversion of declining industrial regions into important transport nodes or 
into  areas  accessible  by  visitors;  the  development  of  natural  and  cultural 
resources  into  tourism  assets,  e.g.  by  providing  for  visitor  accessibility  and 
promoting  the  area’s  attractions;  or  the  implementation  of  local  employment 
initiatives targeting youth or seniors, the promotion of self-employment, female 
entrepreneurship, and business creation.  

The ESF may also fund blue economy development investments by LRAs under 
the thematic objective ‘Invest in education, training and vocational training for 
skills and lifelong learning’, with potential maritime-related activities including 
education and vocational training to better match market requirements, and the 
development  of  apprenticeship  schemes  and  recognised  work-based  education 
programmes.  

‘Enhancing 

Moreover,  LRAs  may  seek  institutional  capacity  support  under  the  thematic 
institutional  capacity  of  public  authorities  and 
objective 
stakeholders and efficient public administration’, with funding coming from the 
ERDF, the ESF or the CF, and projects aiming at reforms, better regulation and 
good governance.  

Cross-cutting  actions  such  as  studies,  pilot  and  cooperation  projects,  public 
information-related  activities,  events,  the  exchange  of  best  practices,  and  IT 
development may also be supported by measures under the European Maritime 
and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), in particular those promoting integrated governance 
linking  LRAs  with 
(through, 
representatives  of  relevant  sectors),  cross-sector  initiatives,  and  initiatives 
related to the protection of the marine environment, including Natura 2000 sites.  

for  example,  networks  and  platforms 

In  addition,  LRAs  can  make  use  of  the  following  calls  under  the  H2020 
programme: 

  Multi-use of the oceans marine space, offshore and near-shore: Enabling 
technologies, BG-03-2016 (04/10/2016-14/02/2017): the call provides an 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
opportunity  for  LRAs  to  contribute  to  the  development  of  key  enabling 
technologies (e.g. automation and remote monitoring) that support the use 
of  multi-purpose  facilities  (platforms)  combining  several  maritime 
activities  in  one  place,  such  as  renewable  energy,  aquaculture  and 
maritime transport. 

  Cultural  heritage  of  European  coastal  and  maritime  regions,  CULT-
COOP-07-2017 (04/10/2016-02/02/2017): LRAs may participate in multi-
disciplinary research on coastal and maritime regions’ cultural landscape, 
focusing on preservation, risk assessment and sustainable management. 

  Coastal-rural  interactions:  Enhancing  synergies  between  land  and  sea-
based  activities,  RUR-02-2017  (04/10/2016-14/02/2017):  LRAs  can 
identify  and  analyse  interactions  between  land  and  sea,  with  a  view  to 
promoting  innovative  business  models  integrating  land  with  sea-based 
production, to the benefit of the local economy, jobs and the environment.  

3.2  Coastal Tourism 

LRAs  may  seek  funding  for  coastal  tourism  development  (including  pesca-
tourism and maritime recreation and leisure) under the EMFF, with investments 
focusing  on:  adding  value  to  local  fishery  products  through  food  festivals, 
fishery  fairs  and  the  promotion  of  local  catches  within  the  local  tourism 
network;  the  promotion  and  creative  use  of  maritime  history,  culture  and 
heritage; and the development of angling tourism activities in aquaculture farms. 

LRAs’ initiatives promoting tourism in coastal areas may also be supported by 
the  ERDF  under  the  thematic  objective  ‘Promoting  sustainable  transport  and 
removing  bottlenecks  in  key  network  infrastructures’.  Specifically,  the  ERDF 
prioritises  the enhancement  of  destinations’  connectivity  and  the facilitation  of 
tourism flows. 

Moreover,  LRAs’  investments  in  coastal  tourism  development  may  be  funded 
under Specific Objective (SO) 4.1 of the Interreg Europe programme, ‘Improve 
the  implementation  of  regional  development  policies  and  programmes,  in 
particular  Investment  for  Growth  and  Jobs  and,  where  relevant,  ETC 
programmes,  in  the  field  of  the  protection  and  development  of  natural  and 
cultural  heritage’.  Projects  and  actions  related  to  sustainable  management 
(preservation  and  exploitation)  of  the  natural  environment  and  of  cultural 
heritage  are  eligible,  especially  when  they  add  to  regional  attractiveness  and 
support  tourism  development  whilst  valorising  local  ecosystems  and  cultural 
artefacts.  Indicatively,  examples  of  projects  eligible  for  funding  under  SO  4.1 

47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
include  the  exchange  of  experiences  among  LRAs  and  nature  managers  on 
integrated  coastal  zone  management  (ICZM)  practices  following  the  new  EU 
framework regulation on maritime spatial planning and ICZM. 

National  measures  under  LEADER  may  also  provide  funding  to  LRAs  for 
coastal  tourism  related  investments,  including  projects  supporting  angling 
tourism. In Ireland, for example, LEADER Axis 3 includes measures aiming at 
the promotion of ‘sustainable, regionally balanced, tourism potential of all rural 
areas through the provision of necessary infrastructure and the development of 
the  countryside  as  a  recreational  resource  for  all’,  and  the  ‘protection  of  the 
local  heritage’,  with  eligible  actions  including:  the  promotion  of  angling  club 
activities  towards  promoting  angling  as  an  ecotourism  activity,  with  packages 
engaging  local  service  providers,  e.g.  guesthouses,  restaurants,  and  angling 
instructors;  and  small  infrastructure  projects,  like  fish  passage  enhancements, 
through  e.g.  the  removal  of  barriers,  the  modification  of  weirs,  and  the 
construction of fish passes. 

3.3  Food, health and ecosystem services 

LRAs’  investments  in  fisheries,  aquaculture  and  related  activities  may  be 
supported through the EMFF under the following Union priorities, contributing 
to  the  Europe  2020  strategy  and  the  implementation  of  the  Common  Fisheries 
Policy (CFP): 

a)  ‘Promoting  environmentally  sustainable,  resource–efficient,  innovative, 
competitive  and  knowledge–based  fisheries’,  with  eligible  investments 
aiming  at  reducing  the  impact  of  fisheries  on  the  marine  environment; 
balancing  fishing  capacity  with  available  opportunities;  enhancing  the 
competitiveness  and  viability  of  fisheries  enterprises  and  improving 
safety  and  working  conditions;  improving  technological  development, 
innovation  and  knowledge  transfer;  and  developing  professional  skills, 
e.g. through training and lifelong learning. 

b)  ‘Fostering  environmentally  sustainable,  resource-efficient,  innovative, 
competitive and knowledge-based aquaculture’, with eligible investments 
focusing on technology development, innovation and knowledge transfer; 
ensuring  viable  aquaculture  enterprises  and  safe  working  conditions; 
supporting 
the 
environment,  promotes  animal  health  and  welfare  and  ensures  public 
health and safety; and developing new professional skills. 

the  development  of  aquaculture 

that  preserves 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
c)  ‘Fostering  the  implementation  of  the  CFP’,  with  eligible  investments 
aiming at fostering scientific knowledge, including through the collection 
and  management  of  data;  and  supporting  monitoring,  control  and 
institutional  capacity  and 
enforcement,  notably 
efficiency of public administration. 

increased 

through 

d)  ‘Increasing  employment  and 

territorial  cohesion’,  with  eligible 
investments that may target coastal or inland communities which depend 
on fishing or aquaculture and aim at supporting employability and labour 
mobility  towards economic growth, social inclusion and job creation. 

e)  e.  ‘Fostering  marketing  and  processing’,  with  eligible  investments 
focusing on market organisation of fishery and aquaculture products, and 
the development of the processing and marketing sectors. 

In  addition,  LRAs  may  seek  funding  under  the  EARDF  for  the  promotion  of 
quality  schemes  for  agricultural  products  and  foodstuffs  produced  in  coastal 
areas,  with  relevant  measures  focusing  on  increasing  farmers’  participation  in 
such schemes. 

LRAs may also look into opportunities for funding in the following calls under 
the H2020 programme: 

  Interaction between people, oceans and seas: a strategic approach towards 
healthcare and well-being, BG-06-2017 (04/10/2016-14/02/2017): the call 
encourages an active involvement of LRAs in data collection, knowledge 
creation  and  actual  implementation  processes  linking  maritime  sectors 
with  human  health,  including  the  promotion  of  policymaking  addressing 
both benefits and risks of exposure to marine and coastal ecosystems (e.g. 
improved ecosystem services provided by the marine environment, threats 
to  public  health,  diseases  caused  by  human  activity  interaction  with 
marine-degraded environments).  

  Innovative  sustainable  solutions  for  improving  the  safety  and  dietary 
properties  of  seafood,  BG-08-2017  (04/10/2016-14/02/2017):  LRAs  can 
contribute  to  the  sustainability  of  the  seafood  production  and  processing 
industry, through e.g. actions supporting demonstration, piloting and large 
scale product validation towards consumer uptake and market replication. 

  Promoting  and  supporting 

the  eco-intensification  of  aquaculture 
production  systems:  inland  (including  fresh  water),  coastal  zone,  and 
offshore,  SFS-32-2017  (04/10/2016-14/02/2017):  the  call  facilitates 
LRAs’  involvement  in  the  development  of  new  and  cost-effective 

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
commercial applications and innovative solutions supporting aquaculture 
production  and  ensuring  sustainable  offshore,  coastal  and 
inland 
development 
implementing 
through 
new/emerging  technologies  in  aquaculture  monitoring  and  management 
systems and actions focusing on sound economic reduction of operational 
costs. 

and  growth, 

actions 

e.g. 

  Smart 

fisheries 

technologies 

for  an  efficient,  compliant  and 
environmentally  friendly  fishing  sector,  SFS-22-2017  (04/10/2016-
14/02/2017):  LRAs  may  explore  opportunities  to  increase  the  use  of 
innovative technologies (e.g. unmanned vehicles or drone-like devices) in 
fisheries-related  activities,  through  e.g.  actions  focusing  on  the  drone-
based  collection  of  relevant  data  or  the  monitoring  of  compliance  with 
legislation, with a view to improving the sector’s knowledge, monitoring, 
surveillance and resource efficiency. 

  Advancing basic biological knowledge and improving management tools 
for commercially important fish and other seafood species, SFS-21-2016-
2017  (04/10/2016-14/02/2017):  LRAs  can  contribute  to  improving 
fisheries  management  under  the  CFP,  through  e.g.  actions  strengthening 
the  knowledge  base  and  developing  new  tools  for  efficient  fishing  of 
stocks that are of interest to the EU, both inside and outside EU waters. 

the 

(04/10/2016-14/02/2017): 

  Towards a science-based regionalisation of the Common Fisheries Policy, 
the 
SFS-20-2017 
involvement of LRAs in multi-actor initiatives aiming at identifying and 
developing  solutions  for  technical,  administrative,  social  and  economic 
impacts/problems  related  to  CFP  implementation,  including  highlighting 
strengths  and  weaknesses  of  the  envisaged  regionalisation  process  and 
structures,  e.g.  through  actions  examining  ways  for  regional  seas 
conventions  and regional  fisheries  management  structures  to work  better 
together. 

facilitates 

call 

National measures under LEADER (CLLD) may also provide funding to LRAs 
for  bottom-up,  integrated  investments  in  fisheries  and  aquaculture,  including 
projects supporting local partnerships and LAGs. In Greece, for example, LRAs 
participating  in  LAGs  may  seek  funding  from  LEADER  measure  19  ‘Support 
for local development through LEADER CLLD’ and the OP for fisheries and the 
sea  (priority  4  ‘Increase  in  employment  and  territorial  cohesion’),  to  support 
investments  in  fisheries,  aquaculture  or  other  related  activities,  as  foreseen  in 
local development strategies. 

50 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.4  Energy and raw materials 

LRAs  may  seek  financial  support  for  their  renewable  energy  investments 
through the CF and the ERDF, under the thematic objective ‘supporting a shift 
towards  a  low-carbon  economy  in  all  sectors’,  with  priority  on  projects 
addressing energy production and distribution from renewable sources.  

Moreover,  LRAs  can  make  use  of  the  following  calls  under  the  H2020 
programme: 

  2nd  Generation  of  design  tools  for  ocean  energy  devices  and  arrays 
development  and  deployment,  LCE  -16-  2017  (11/05/2017-7/09/2017): 
the call provides an opportunity for LRAs to participate in the design and 
deployment  of  2nd  generation  advanced  tools  improving  technology 
performance, energy yield, survivability, environmental impact, reliability 
and  cost-effectiveness  of  ocean  energy  arrays  and  devices,  through  e.g. 
the provision of input for the evaluation of relevant legal, institutional and 
political frameworks, and the development of an enabling environment for 
ocean energy.  

  Scaling  up 

in 

the  ocean  energy  sector 

to  arrays,  LCE-15-2016 
(11/05/2016-08/09/2016):  LRAs  may  contribute  to  the  deployment  of 
pilot  technology  projects  on  cost-effective  ocean  energy  arrays,  by 
participating  in  activities  improving  social  acceptance  of  the  developed 
technologies. 

3.5  Maritime transport activities 

The CF and the ERDF may provide funding to LRAs’ investments on maritime 
transport  activities,  under  the  thematic  objective  ‘promoting  sustainable 
transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures’, with priority 
given to projects on the development and improvement of low-carbon maritime 
transport systems, port infrastructure (local and regional ports) and multimodal 
links,  including  inland  and  maritime  waterways  and  intermodal  connectors. 
Under  the  same  thematic  objective,  the  ERDF  also  prioritises  investments 
promoting  regional  mobility,  by  connecting  secondary  and  tertiary  nodes  to 
Trans-European  Networks -Transport  (TEN-T)  infrastructure,  while,  under  the 
thematic  objective  ‘supporting  the  shift  towards  a  low-carbon  economy  in  all 
sectors’ it supports investments on the development of low-carbon strategies for 
(among other contexts) maritime urban areas. 

51 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Moreover,  the  European  Territorial  Cooperation  (ETC)  programmes,  under 
Interreg  Europe  SO  3.1  ‘Improve  the  implementation  of  regional  development 
policies and programmes, in particular programmes for Investment for Growth 
and Jobs and, where relevant, ETC programmes, addressing the transition to a 
low-carbon  economy  notably  in  the  framework  of  Smart  Specialisation 
Strategies’  may  fund  LRAs’  investments  in  maritime  transport,  focusing  on 
projects and actions in support of sustainable low-carbon transport and mobility 
(through,  for  example,  cleaner  transport  modes  and  systems).  Indicative 
examples of projects eligible for funding under SO 3.1 include the exchange of 
experience among LRAs on sustainable mobility measures to increase the use of 
low-carbon maritime transport options, or the exchange of practices on effective 
monitoring of emissions from maritime vessels. 

LRAs may also consider the following calls under the H2020 programme: 

  The  Port  of  the  future,  MG-7.3-2017  (20/09/2016-26/01/2017):  the  call 
provides  an  opportunity  for  LRAs  to  participate  in  research  and 
innovation  actions  promoting: 
re-engineering  of  port  operational 
processes,  including  improved  integration  of  multi-modal  operations 
among all actors (port authorities, shipping companies, security agencies, 
city  authorities,  etc.)  and  a  shift  to  a  circular  economy  with  low 
environmental impact; integrated decision making on port operations; and 
smart  urban  development  of  Port  Cities,  with  links  to  the  surrounding 
industrial  and  urban  environment,  and  efficient  connections  with  the 
hinterland.  LRAs  may  also  engage  in  coordination  and  support  actions 
addressing the port-city relation, with the outline of recommendations for 
city authorities towards the development of Smart Port Cities. 

  Innovations  for  energy  efficiency  and  emission  control  in  waterborne 
transport, MG-2.1-2017 (20/09/2016-26/01/2017): LRAs can contribute to 
a more energy efficient and less polluting waterborne transport, through a 
real-world  demonstration  of  innovative  pollution  reduction  and  control 
technologies,  including  actions  focusing  on  solutions  for  emission 
monitoring, and decision support systems. 

3.6  Environmental  monitoring 
maritime areas 

and  protection 

of 

Environmental  monitoring  and  protection  initiatives  by  LRAs  may  be  funded 
through  the  ERDF,  under  the  thematic  priority  ‘Preserving  and  protecting  the 
environment  and  promoting  resource  efficiency’,  with  relevant  investments 

52 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
focusing on the conservation, protection, promotion and development of natural 
heritage, and the protection and restoration of biodiversity. Likewise, LRAs may 
seek  funding  through  the  EMFF,  with  measures  addressing  Union  priorities 
innovative, 
sustainable, 
‘Promoting 
competitive  and  knowledge–based  fisheries’  and  ‘Promoting  environmentally 
sustainable,  resource–efficient,  innovative,  competitive  and  knowledge–based 
aquaculture’,  and  aiming  at  protecting  and  restoring  aquatic  biodiversity  and 
ecosystems. 

resource–efficient, 

environmentally 

LRAs’  investments  in  environmental  monitoring  and  protection  of  maritime 
areas  can  also  be  funded  under  the  Interreg  Europe  programme’s  SO  4.2 
“Improve the implementation of regional development policies and programmes, 
in  particular  programmes  for  Investment  for  Growth  and  Jobs  and,  where 
relevant,  ETC  programmes,  aimed  at  increasing  resource-efficiency,  green 
growth  and  eco-innovation  and  environmental  performance  management.”  In 
particular,  projects  in  support  of  the  transition  to  a  resource-efficient  economy 
and  the  improvement  of  environmental  performance  management  are  eligible 
for  funding  under  SO  4.2,  with  indicative  examples  including  the  exchange  of 
practices  among  LRAs  on  methods  for  the  monitoring,  management  and 
improvement of water quality in coastal areas. 

Moreover,  LRAs  can  make  use  of  the  following  calls  under  the  H2020 
programme: 

  Blue  green 

innovation 

for  clean  coasts  and  seas,  BG-07-2017 
(04/10/2016-14/02/2017):  LRAs  may  engage  in  actions  developing  and 
scaling  up  innovative  participatory  processes  and  measures  for  the 
cleaning  up  of  coasts  and  oceans  (including  in  regional  seas  or  semi-
closed sea basins such as the Mediterranean Sea), while transforming the 
collected  waste  into  a  resource  stream  in  line  with  the  concept  of  the 
circular economy. 

  The effect of climate change on Arctic permafrost and its socio-economic 
impact,  with  a  focus  on  coastal  areas,  BG-11-2017  (04/10/2016-
14/02/2017): the call facilitates LRAs’ participation in the assessment of 
the  impact  of  permafrost  thawing  on  Arctic  coastal  systems,  notably  on 
resource  availability/accessibility,  infrastructure  stability,  potential  new 
economic  activities,  pollution  and  health,  while  also  developing 
appropriate adaptation and mitigation responses. 

  Towards  an  integrated  Mediterranean  Sea  Observing  System,  BG-12-
2016  (27/10/2015-13/09/2016):  LRAs  can  contribute  to  research  and 
innovation  activities  with  the  aim  of  developing  an  integrated  observing 

53 

 
 
 
 
 
 
system  for  the  whole  Mediterranean  Sea  building  on  existing  facilities 
(remote sensing and in situ) and initiatives, and addressing both the open 
sea and the coastal zone (by optimizing existing systems, using new ocean 
observation  technologies,  identifying  observational  gaps,  etc.),  thus 
complementing established global observing systems such as Copernicus 
and GEOSS.  

3.7  Specific geographic areas of interest 

Maritime investments by LRAs focusing on specific geographic areas of interest 
may be financially supported under the European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) 
funding 
Programmes.  An 
opportunities is provided below: 

indicative,  non-exhaustive, 

relevant 

list  of 

  Transnational Cooperation Programmes 

1. Balkan Mediterranean (AL, BG, CY, EL, MK) 

taking  on 

‘Biodiversity: 

(BalkanMed), 

LRAs’  investments  in  environmental  monitoring  and  protection  of  maritime 
areas  and  in  coastal  tourism  can  be  funded  under  SO  2.1  of  the  Balkan 
the 
Mediterranean  programme 
transnational challenge by promoting ecological connectivity and transnational 
ecosystems’ 
integration’,  with  eligible  actions  addressing  ecosystems 
restoration,  blue  and  green  development  (including  ICZM),  and  the  promotion 
of  natural  and  cultural  heritage.  Investments  by  LRAs  in  environmental 
monitoring  and  protection  of  maritime  areas  may  also  be  supported  under  SO 
transnational 
2.2  of 
cooperation for resource efficiency and climate change resilience’, with eligible 
actions aiming at enhancing management efficiency of resources (water, waste, 
soil,  air  and  energy)  and  climate  change  resilience,  through  e.g.  the  joint 
elaboration  by  LRAs  and  other  stakeholders  of  environment-friendly 
management plans for coastal/marine areas, the joint preparation of blue growth 
action plans and roadmaps, and the planning, design and implementation of pilot 
projects promoting innovative technologies. 

the  BalkanMed  ‘Sustainable 

territories: 

fostering 

2. Interreg Mediterranean (AL, BA, CY, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, ME, MT, PT, 

SI, UK) 

LRAs  may  seek  funding  for  their  investments  in  maritime  transport  activities, 
energy,  and  environmental  monitoring  and  protection  of  maritime  areas  under 
the Interreg Mediterranean Programme (MED) SO 2.3 ‘To increase capacity to 

54 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
use  existing  low  carbon  transport  systems  and  multimodal  connections  among 
them’,  with  eligible  actions  aiming  at  enhancing  the  use  of  and  access  to  low-
carbon  systems  (e.g.  studies/analysis  fostering  connectivity  plans  using  low 
carbon transport within and between islands and between mainland and islands) 
or  at  supporting  public 
transport  services  for  multimodal  passengers 
(rail/maritime/cruise  passengers).  Coastal  areas  are  also  targeted,  for  the 
development of renewable energy solutions and for the protection of land, sea, 
and  natural  and  cultural  resources.  Additionally,  LRAs  may  seek  funding  for 
investments  in  coastal  tourism  under  MED’s  SO  3.1  ‘To  enhance  the 
development  of  a  sustainable  and  responsible  coastal  and  maritime  tourism  in 
the MED area’, with eligible actions aiming at the development of a sustainable 
and  responsible  coastal  and  maritime  tourism  through  cooperation  and  joint 
planning,  e.g.  the  development  of  common  management  plans  in  coastal  and 
maritime  tourist  destinations  in  order  to  prevent  negative  impacts  on  natural 
resources  and  cultural  heritage,  and  the  implementation  of  pilot  activities  for 
testing, evaluation and demonstration of models and plans for the management 
of coastal tourist destinations integrating the principles of (Integrated) Maritime 
Spatial Planning. 

3. Interreg Adrion (AL, BA, EL, HR, IT, ME, RS, SI) 

LRAs’  investments  in  coastal  tourism,  in  food,  health  and  ecosystem  services, 
and  in  environmental  monitoring  and  protection  of  maritime  areas,  can  be 
funded under  the Interreg Adrion (ADRION) SO 2.2 ‘Enhance the capacity in 
transnationally  tackling  environmental  vulnerability,  fragmentation  and  the 
safeguarding  of  ecosystem  services  in  the  Adriatic-Ionian  area’.  Indicative 
eligible actions  comprise  the enhancement  of  networks  for  the  development  of 
transnational  maritime  protected  areas  and  habitats  and  their  integration  in  the 
tourism  product  of  the  ADRION  area,  and  the  development  of  transnational 
networks for increasing marine knowledge to ensure the implementation of the 
Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive,  including  management  and  mapping  of 
threats  to  coastal  and  marine  biodiversity,  and  deep  sea  resources  monitoring 
and  surveillance.  LRAs’  investments  in  maritime  transport  activities  can  be 
funded under ADRION SO 3.1 ‘Enhance capacity for integrated transport and 
mobility  services  and  multimodality  in  the  Adriatic-Ionian  area’,  with  eligible 
actions  indicatively  focusing  on  the  promotion  of  clean  sea  shipping  in  the 
Adriatic  Sea  basin,  in  line  with  EUSAIR  (aiming  at  the  reduction  of  air 
pollutants from shipping vessels), and the development of joint approaches and 
instruments in the field of maritime transport, such as a modern  ship reporting 
system in the Adriatic Sea (Common Adriatic-Ionian Vessel Traffic Monitoring 
and  Information  System  ADRIREP),  the  development  of  port  infrastructures, 
and the deployment of an Intelligent Transport System. 

55 

 
 
 
 
4. Northern Periphery and Arctic (FI, FO, GL, IE, IS, NO, SE, SJ, UK) 

LRAs’  investments  in  coastal  tourism  and  environmental  monitoring  and 
protection  of  maritime  areas  can  be  funded  under  the  Interreg  Northern 
Periphery and Arctic programme (NPA) SO 4 ‘Increased capacity of remote and 
sparsely  populated  communities  for  sustainable  environmental  management’, 
with eligible actions focusing on (among other topics) coastal management and 
ocean  acidification.  Indicative  actions  include  the  development  and  transfer  of 
concept  models  for  the  protection,  promotion  and  development  of  natural  and 
cultural heritage, and the development and transfer of decision making tools and 
solutions  (e.g.  new types  of  environmental  assessments), to  help  LRAs  to  deal 
with sustainable environmental management of coastal areas. 

5. Baltic Sea Region (BY, DE, DK, EE, FI, LT, LV, NO, PL, SE, RU) 

LRAs’  investments  in  blue  economy  development  may  be  funded  under  the 
Interreg  Baltic  Sea  Region  programme  (BalticSea)  SO  2.4  ‘Resource-efficient 
blue growth: To advance sustainable and resource-efficient blue growth based 
on  increased  capacity  of  public  authorities  and  practitioners  within  the  blue 
economy sectors’. Eligible actions may address sectors that rely on sea resources 
(fisheries,  aquaculture,  coastal  tourism,  blue  bio-technology,  wind  and  wave 
energy,  etc.)  to  develop  sustainable  business  opportunities,  e.g.  clustering 
innovative, sustainable applications of marine resource uses; improving linkages 
between  water  management  monitoring  and  reporting  (M&R)  systems  and 
maritime spatial planning; developing transnational strategies to use the cultural 
and  natural  heritage  of  the  sea  and  coastal  areas  for  sustainable  business 
development,  with  pilot  actions  improving  the  resource  efficiency  of  maritime 
tourism.  Moreover,  investments  in  maritime  transport  activities  can  be  funded 
under  BalticSea  SO  3.3  ‘Maritime  safety:  To  increase  maritime  safety  and 
security  based  on  advanced  capacity  of  maritime  actors’  and  SO  3.4 
‘Environmentally  friendly  shipping:  To  enhance  clean  shipping  based  on 
increased  capacity  of  maritime  actors’.  Actions  supported  under  SO  3.3  may 
focus  on  increasing  the  capacity  of  maritime  actors  to  develop  new,  promote 
and/or  introduce  in  practice  solutions  for  safer  sea  navigation,  e.g.  enhancing 
integrated  maritime  surveillance;  deploying  dynamic  risk  assessment  systems 
for vessels entering the Baltic Sea; and implementing advanced technologies for 
maritime safety and security. Actions eligible under SO 3.4 indicatively aim at 
building  the  capacity  of  maritime  actors  in  order  to  increase  environmentally 
friendly  shipping,  e.g.  piloting  and  promoting  improvements  to  port  reception 
facilities  for  ship-generated  waste,  and  implementing  pilot  projects  on 
retrofitting  existing  ships  with  new  technologies  for  improved  environmental 
performance. 

56 

 
 
 
 
 
6. North Sea Region (BE, DE, DK, NL, NO, SE, UK) 

LRAs’  investments  in  energy  can  be  funded  under  the  Interreg  North  Sea 
Region  programme  (NSR)  SO  2.2  ‘Stimulate  the  adoption  of  new  products, 
services and processes to reduce the environmental footprint of regions around 
the North Sea’, with eligible actions addressing the need to increase renewable 
energy generation and reduce overall energy use, e.g. through the identification 
of  viable  opportunities  for  installing  additional  renewables  infrastructure,  and 
the pilot installation of newer renewable technologies such as wave power and 
blue  energy.  Likewise,  LRAs’  investments  in  environmental  monitoring  and 
protection  of  maritime  areas  can  be  funded  under  NSR  SO  3.2  ‘Develop  new 
methods  for  the  long-term  sustainable  management  of  North  Sea  ecosystems’, 
with eligible actions addressing an improved use of natural and maritime areas, 
e.g.  through  the  development  and  implementation  of  long-term  strategies  for 
sustainable  management  of  the  North  Sea  landscapes  and  the  North  Sea  itself; 
the  development  and  deployment  of  new  methods  and  technologies  for 
environmental monitoring and management, focusing on removing or mitigating 
major threats and pressures including the risk of accident, eutrophication, highly 
toxic  pollutants;  and  the  preservation  of  the  breeding,  spawning  and  feeding 
grounds of North Sea fish and animals. LRAs’ investments in maritime transport 
activities  can  be  funded  under  NSR  SO  4.1  ‘Develop  demonstrations  of 
innovative  and/or  improved  transport  and  logistics  solutions  with  potential  to 
move large volumes of freight away from long-distance road transportation’ and 
SO  4.2  ‘Stimulate  the  take-up  and  application  of  green  transport  solutions  for 
regional  freight  and  personal  transport’,  with  relevant  eligible  actions 
indicatively  focusing  on  the  development  of  practical  methods  to  promote  the 
use of inland ports and similar infrastructure, of methods for reducing the time 
and  administrative  burdens  of  cross-border  customs  procedures  for  ships,  of 
improved  logistics  services,  of  integrated  ticketing  and  traffic  information 
systems across various transport modes (including ships), etc. 

7. Atlantic Area (ES, FR, IE, PT, UK) 

LRAs’ investments in energy can be funded under the Atlantic Area Programme 
SO  2.1  ‘Fostering  renewable  energies  and  energy  efficiency’,  with  eligible 
actions indicatively focusing on improving the institutional, technical and social 
framework  to  promote  local  renewable  energy  and  the  adoption  of  energy 
efficiency  strategies,  e.g.  creating  an  Energy  Vision  for  the  target  areas, 
including  targets  for  the  development  of  networks  of  clusters  on  (maritime) 
renewable  energies  in  the  Atlantic  Area;  or  improving  spatial  management  to 
enhance the use of offshore renewable energies. Likewise, Atlantic Area SO 2.2 
‘Fostering  green  growth,  eco-innovation  and  environmental  efficiency’, 
addresses  cross-cutting  issues  in  blue  economy,  hence  may  support  a  broader 

57 

 
 
 
 
range  of  relevant  LRAs’  investments.  Eligible  actions  may  indicatively  aim  at 
enhancing  linkages,  working  structures  and  interaction  between  relevant  actors 
to  promote  eco-innovation  and  blue  growth,  e.g.  promoting  eco-innovation 
solutions  related  with  maritime  activities,  including  transport  and  renewable 
energy  (clean  port  infrastructure,  low  emission  renewable  energy,  etc.). 
Moreover,  LRAs’  investments  in  ecosystem  services  and  in  environmental 
monitoring and protection of maritime areas can be funded under Atlantic Area 
SO  4.1  ‘Improving  the  protection  of  biodiversity  and  enhancing  ecosystem 
services’,  with  eligible  actions  indicatively  aiming  at  developing  or  improving 
joint environmental management systems and solutions to  protect and preserve 
the  Atlantic  biodiversity  and  natural  ecosystems,  e.g.  through  the  development 
of  methods  for  quality  monitoring  and  enhancement  of  the  coastal  and  inland 
waters;  and  the  harmonisation  and  coordination  of  environmental  management 
strategies  in  the  Atlantic  to  protect  natural  and  deep-sea  ecosystems.  LRAs’ 
investments  in  coastal  tourism  may  be  funded  under  the  Atlantic  Area  SO  4.2 
‘Enhancing  natural  and  cultural  assets  to  stimulate  economic  development’, 
with  eligible  actions  aiming  at  preserving  and  valorising  the  rich  cultural  and 
natural heritage of the Atlantic Area, to enhance the attractiveness of the region 
to  visitors  and  develop  new  local  jobs  and  economic  activity,  e.g.  through  the 
development  of  nautical  activities  and  marine  leisure  (e.g.  the  integrated 
development of a nautical sector promoting the growth of economic activities in 
coastal areas, job creation, social integration and coastal zone preservation), and 
the  improvement  of  skills  in  the  tourism  sector  to  help  coastal  community 
representatives become ambassadors and champions for their areas. 

8. Alpine Space Programme (AT, CH, DE, FR, IT, LI, SI) 

LRAs’  investments  in  maritime  transport  activities  can  be  funded  under  the 
Interreg Alpine Space Programme (Alpine Space) SO 4e.2 ‘Increase options for 
low carbon mobility and transport’, with eligible actions indicatively aiming at 
promoting 
the  adoption  of 
technological, financial and organisational solutions, e.g. the design and testing 
of  operational,  technological  and  funding  models  for  low-carbon  mobility  and 
maritime  transport;  and  the  development  of  tools  to  better  integrate/coordinate 
regional mobility and transport strategies and plans.  

low-carbon  mobility  and 

transport 

through 

9. Central Europe (AT, CZ, DE, HR, HU, IT, PL, SI, SK) 

LRAs’  investments  in  maritime  transport  activities  may  be  funded  under  the 
Interreg  Central  Europe  programme  SO  4.2  ‘To  improve  coordination  among 
freight  transport  stakeholders  for  increasing  multimodal  environmentally-
friendly freight solutions’, with eligible actions indicatively aiming at increasing 
coordination  among  existing  services  and  promoting  multi-modal  platforms  to 

58 

 
 
 
 
 
optimize  freight  flows,  e.g.  through  the  development  and  implementation  of 
coordinated  strategies  (including  innovative  financing  and  investment  models) 
for  strengthening  the  multimodality  of  environmentally-friendly  maritime 
freight  transport  systems;  and  the  development  and  testing  of  coordinated 
strategies and concepts for “greening” the last mile of freight transport (logistics 
planning).  

10.  North West Europe (BE, CH, DE, FR, IE, LU, NL, UK) 

LRAs’  investments  in  maritime  transport  activities  may  be  funded  under  the 
Interreg  North  West  Europe  programme  (NWE)  SO  4  ‘To  facilitate  the 
implementation  of  transnational  low-carbon  solutions  in  transport  systems  to 
reduce GHG emissions in NWE’, with eligible actions indicatively focusing on 
multimodal  systems  and  more  environmentally  friendly  transport  for  freights 
and  passengers,  e.g.  through  the  development  and  improvement  of  multimodal 
transport (freight and passengers), focused on reducing GHG emissions; and the 
optimisation of transnational logistic chains and systems in transport corridors or 
transport systems to reduce GHG emissions. 

11.  Amazonia (BR, FR, SR) 

LRAs’  investments  in  maritime  transport  activities  can  be  funded  under  the 
Interreg  Amazonia  programme  SO  2  ‘Increasing  the  mobility  of  goods  and 
people  within  the  transnational  cooperation  area’,  with  eligible  actions 
indicatively  addressing  the  development  of  green  transnational  transport,  e.g. 
through  the  elaboration  of  studies  on  regional  coastal  navigation  (freight  and 
passenger);  the  exchange  of  experience  related  to  port  business  (green  port 
techniques, regulations, etc.); and the creation of a port business school for the 
training of port personnel. 

12.  Danube  Transnational  Programme  (AT,  BA,  BG,  CZ,  DE,  HR,  HU, 
MD, ME, RO, RS, SK, SI, UA) 

(DTP)  SO  3.1 

LRAs’  investments  in  maritime  transport  activities  can  be  funded  under  the 
‘Support 
Interreg  Danube  Transnational  Programme 
environmentally-friendly and  safe transport  systems  and balanced  accessibility 
of  urban  and  rural  areas’,  with  eligible  actions  indicatively  focusing  on  the 
the 
development  of  common  orientations, 
development  and  practical  implementation  of  transnational  tools  and  services, 
and  the  preparation  of  transnational  investments  (including  small-scale  pilot 
activities), e.g. through the development of multimodal terminals at the Danube 
river  ports  and  dry  ports,  connecting  inland  waterways  with  rail  and  road 
transport;  and  the  development  of  more  effective  information  sharing  systems, 

frameworks  and  strategies, 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
feeding into integrated approaches to limit impacts of transport systems on the 
Danube ecosystem.  

13.  SUDOE/South West Europe (AD, ES, FR, PT, UK) 

LRAs’  investments  in  environmental  monitoring  and  protection  of  maritime 
areas  can  be  funded  under  the  Interreg  South  West  Europe  programme 
(SUDOE) SO 6d.1 ‘Reinforcing the cooperation of the SUDOE stakeholders of 
the  natural  sites  through  the  development  and  the  use  of  joint  methods’,  with 
eligible  actions  indicatively  aiming  at  strengthening  the  effectiveness  of 
ecosystem  management  and  conservation  strategies  and  methodologies,  e.g. 
through  the  conditioning  of  pilot  projects  or  the  carrying  out  of  ecological 
engineering  tasks  designed  to  establish  a  network  of  ecological  continuity, 
including urban and peri-urban areas. 

14.  Caribbean (AD, ES, FR, PT, UK) 

LRAs’  investments  in  blue  economy  may  be  funded  through  the  Interreg 
Caribbean  programme,  under  the  following  three  thematic  objectives  (TOs): 
TO4  ‘Low-carbon  economy’;  TO5  ‘Climate  change  and  risk  prevention’;  and 
‘TO6  ‘Environment  and  resource  efficiency’,  with  eligible  actions  indicatively 
focusing  on  improving  knowledge  of  natural  hazards,  setting  up  of  crisis 
management  tools  (e.g.  shared  risk  management  systems,  shared  observation 
tools), improving the management of vulnerable or protected areas, undertaking 
joint  efforts  to  develop  sustainable  tourism  in  the  Caribbean,  and  developing 
renewable energies. 

15. 

Indian Ocean Area [FR (RE, YT) – All Indian Ocean Countries]: 

LRAs’ investments in blue economy may be funded through the Interreg Indian 
Ocean  Area  programme,  under  the  following  three  thematic  objectives  (TOs): 
TO1 ‘Research and Innovation’; TO5 ‘Climate change and risk prevention’; and 
‘TO6  ‘Environment  and  resource  efficiency’,  with  eligible  actions  indicatively 
focusing on the promotion of research and innovation on biotechnology, energy 
and  climate  change  sectors,  on  sustainable  fisheries  management,  on 
cooperation in the tourism sector, and on the development of capacities for the 
prevention  of  risks  associated  with  maritime  activities  (e.g.  pollution,  shark 
risk). 

  Cross-border cooperation (CBC) Interreg programmes 

CBC aims at addressing a series of common challenges which are to be jointly 
identified by bordering regions. Among the 11 TOs outlined in the EU Cohesion 

60 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Policy  in  accordance  with  the  EU  2020  strategy,  several  are  related  to  Blue 
Growth themes, including: TO 4 “Low Carbon Economy”, TO 6 “Environment 
and resource efficiency”, and TO 7 “Sustainable transport”. Many cross-border 
cooperation  programmes  for  2014-2020  have  already  outlined  their  funding 
priorities  accordingly,  e.g.  Interreg  V-A  Italy-France  focuses  on  improving 
territory accessibility and sustainability of ports' activity, Interreg V-A Greece-
transport, 
Cyprus  focuses  on  efficient  use  of  energy  and  sustainable 
environmental  protection/conservation 
(including 
improvements in Maritime Spatial Planning and ICZM), etc. 

risk  prevention 

and 

61 

 
 
 
 
Appendix I – References  

Andersen  J.H.  and  Stock  A.  (eds.),  Mannerla  M.,  Heinänen  S.,  Vinther  M. 
(2013),  Human  uses,  pressures  and  impacts  in  the  eastern  North  Sea,  Aarhus 
University,  DCE  –  Danish  Centre  for  Environment  and  Energy.  136pp. 
Technical  Report  from  DCE  –  Danish  Centre  for  Environment  and  Energy 
No.18 

COGEA (2014), Studies to support the development of sea basin cooperation in 
the  Mediterranean,  Adriatic  and  Ionian,  and  Black  Sea,  contract  number 
MARE/2012/07 - REF. NO 2 (in collaboration with AND international, Eurofish 
international organisation, POSEIDON Ltd, AZTI Tecnalia and CETMAR) 

COGEA  (2013),  Study  on  Blue  Growth,  Maritime  Policy  and  the  EU  Strategy 
for  the  Baltic  Sea  Region,  contract  number  MARE/2012/07  -  Ref.  No  1  (in 
collaboration with AND international and Eurofish international organisation) 

Ecorys (2014a), Study on Deepening Understanding of Potential Blue Growth in 
the  EU  Member  States  on  Europe’s  Atlantic  Arc  Sea  Basin  Report,  FWC 
MARE/2012/06 – SC C1/2013/02 (in consortium with MRAG and s.Pro) 

Ecorys  (2014b),  Study  on  Blue  Growth  and  Maritime  Policy  within  the  EU 
North Sea Region and the English Channel, Final Report, FWC MARE/2012/06 
– SC E1/2012/01 (in consortium with MRAG and s.Pro) 

Ecorys  (2012),  Blue  Growth  Study  -  Scenarios  and  drivers  for  Sustainable 
Growth from the Oceans, Seas and Coasts, European Commission 

European  Commission,  Directorate-General  for  Maritime  Affairs  and  Fisheries 
(2015),  Non  paper  on  the  size,  nature  and  dynamics  of  the  blue  economy,  15 
September 2015 

European Environment Agency (2016), European bathing water quality in 2015, 
EEA Report No 9/2016, ISSN 1977-8449 

Eurostat  (2016a),  Indicators  by  coastal  and  non-coastal  regions,  Statistics 
illustrated, web page last modified on 19 May 2016 

Eurostat  (2016b),  Maritime  economy  statistics  -  coastal  regions  and  sectoral 
perspective, ISSN 2443-8219, web page last modified on 25 February 2016  

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Girard  S.  and  R.  Kalaydjian  (2014),  French  Marine  Economic  Data  2013, 
Ifremer, Marine Economic Data Unit 

Svensson  L.E.  and  Pendleton  L.  (eds.)  (2014),  Transitioning  to  a  New  Blue 
Economy:  Proceedings  of  the  Economics  of  the  Ocean  Summit,  NI  CP  14-01, 
Durham, NC: Duke University 

Further reading 

Committee of the Regions (2015), Opinion on the European Union Framework 
for  Data  Collection  in  Fisheries,  Proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  concerning  the  establishment  of  a  Community 
Union framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries 
sector and support for scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy, 
CdR 5241/2015, NAT-VI/007 

Committee  of  the  Regions  (2014),  Opinion  on  the  Communication  from  the 
Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic 
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Innovation in the Blue 
Economy:  realising  the  potential  of  our  seas  and  oceans  for  jobs  and  growth, 
CdR 4835/2014, NAT-V/044 

European  Commission,  Directorate  General  Maritime  Affairs  and  Fisheries 
(2016), Blue Growth: sustainable growth from the oceans, seas and coasts  

European  Commission  (2012),  Directorate  General  Maritime  Affairs  and 
Fisheries, Green Paper Marine Knowledge 2020 from seabed mapping to ocean 
forecasting, COM(2012) 473 final, ISBN 978-92-79-25350-8 

Eurostat (2012), Eurostat regional yearbook 2012: Focus on coastal regions 

Eurostat  (2015),  Regions  in  the  European  Union:  Nomenclature  of  territorial 
units for statistics, NUTS 2013/EU-28, European Union, 2015 

Kalaydjian, R. (2016), ‘Maritime Accounts in the European Union: Coping with 
Limited Information’, Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics: Vol. 2, Article 
2. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15351/2373-8456.1050 

MAVA  Fondation  pour  la  Nature  (2016),  Scoping  study:  Blue  economy  for  a 
healthy  Mediterranean-  Measuring,  Monitoring  and  Promoting  an 
environmentally  sustainable  economy  in  the  Mediterranean  region,  UNEP, 
MAP, Plan Bleu, RAC for SCP, PAP/RAC 

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The Economist Intelligence Unit (2015), The blue economy Growth, opportunity 
and  a  sustainable  ocean  economy,  An  Economist  Intelligence  Unit  briefing 
paper for the World Ocean Summit 2015 

Related EU Regulations 

REGULATION  (EU)  No  1291/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  11 December  2013  establishing  Horizon  2020  -  the  Framework 
Programme  for  Research  and  Innovation  (2014-2020)  and  repealing  Decision 
No 1982/2006/EC 

REGULATION  (EU)  No  1299/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  17  December  2013  on  specific  provisions  for  the  support  from  the 
European  Regional  Development  Fund  to  the  European  territorial  cooperation 
goal 

REGULATION  (EU)  No  1300/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  17  December  2013  on  the  Cohesion  Fund  and  repealing  Council 
Regulation (EC) No 1084/2006 

REGULATION  (EU)  No  1301/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  17  December  2013  on  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund 
and on specific provisions concerning the Investment for growth and jobs goal 
and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 

REGULATION  (EU)  No  1303/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  17  December  2013    laying  down  common  provisions  on  the 
European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion 
Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the  European 
Maritime  and  Fisheries  Fund  and  laying  down  general  provisions  on  the 
European    Regional  Development  Fund,  the  European  Social  Fund,  the 
Cohesion  Fund  and  the  European  Maritime  and  Fisheries  Fund  and  repealing 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 

REGULATION  (EU)  No  1304/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  17  December  2013  on  the  European  Social  Fund  and  repealing 
Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 

REGULATION  (EU)  No  1305/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European 
Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural  Development  (EAFRD)  and  repealing  Council 
Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 

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REGULATION  (EU)  No  508/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  on  the  European  Maritime  and  Fisheries  Fund  and  repealing  Council 
Regulations  (EC)  No  2328/2003,  (EC)  No  861/2006,  (EC)  No  1198/2006  and 
(EC)  No  791/2007  and  Regulation  (EU)  No  1255/2011  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council 

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