The European Commission adopted this Thursday the "European Ocean Pact", an initiative to protect and restore coastal and marine habitats while boosting the maritime industry, which foresees specific measures to help the outermost regions develop "their full potential".
The Pact will bring together all policies related to the sea and coastal areas in a single frame of reference.
Outermost regions
The pact "recognizes the specific challenges faced by island communities, particularly the outermost regions, due to their remote location, vulnerability to climate change and limited economic diversification, mainly around fishing.
And it underlines the "enormous potential" they have for the growth of the blue economy, as they can combine sustainable traditional activities with innovative maritime industries.
Therefore, it seeks to help the nine European outermost regions, including the Canary Islands, to "promote their unique assets and strengthen sustainable international management of the oceans to better preserve marine biological resources".
Among other actions, it foresees a consultation to substantiate the development of a plan for the islands and update the strategy for the outermost regions.
It will also present a proposal on the creation of European blue carbon reserves.
Protected areas, research, more security and surveillance
Brussels will encourage Member States to establish and manage protected marine areas and review the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Marine Spatial Planning Directive.
The pact also aims to promote the competitiveness of the sustainable blue economy. The Commission foresees a new Industrial Maritime Strategy and an EU Port Strategy.
Likewise, the Common Fisheries Policy will be evaluated and "possibly revised" and a long-term vision for fishing and aquaculture in the EU will be presented.
Another priority is to support coastal, island and outermost communities and boost research, knowledge, skills and ocean innovation. Brussels will establish a network of young EU Ocean ambassadors to engage advocates for ocean sustainability in the Twenty-Seven and globally.
Improving maritime security and defense is also part of the pact, strengthening cooperation between the EU coast guard and navy, as well as the security of maritime borders.
In this context, a coordinated strategy will be applied to remove unexploded ordnance from European waters, starting with the Baltic and North Seas.
Investment will be made in a pioneering European drone fleet, which will leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence and advanced sensors for real-time management.
In addition, control of maritime activities will be strengthened, with more EU maritime surveillance capabilities. The Commission will step up its fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing through the mandatory application of IT CATCH, the digitization system of the IUU catch certification system, from January 2026.
Next steps
To achieve the objectives of the pact, the Commission will present an Oceans Law by 2027 and create a high-level Ocean Committee, which will bring together representatives from various sectors.
It will also launch a panel of indicators, which will provide a public, transparent and centralized platform for monitoring progress towards the objectives.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will present the European Ocean Pact at the next United Nations Conference on the Oceans, on June 9.