Made in Portugal: the EU’s maritime policy

The European Commission last June asked Europeans to look out to sea. The EU has 68,000 kilometres of coastline, which border five seas and two oceans. Half of all Europeans live less than 50km from the coast but, according to the Commission, maritime affairs have been neglected.

A patchwork of national and EU policies, divided between dozens of sectors, has led to overlapping and sometimes contradictory maritime rules, says the Commission, which wants to develop an EU-wide policy. Such a policy would help countries improve coastal security, for example, and make sure plans for an offshore wind-farm did not override a prime site for marine research. At the same time, it would pool EU environmental resources to prevent oil spills, protect marine species and monitor the effects of climate change.

In November 2004 the EU was given its first ever commissioner for maritime affairs: Maltese lawyer Joe Borg. Four months later Borg announced the creation of a maritime strategy task force, to examine existing maritime polices and "how these could help improve competitiveness, encourage growth and boost employment in an economic, socially and environmentally sustainable manner".

This led to a green paper ‘Towards a future maritime policy for the Union’, supposed to inspire policy ideas from everyone involved with or interested in maritime affairs.

Borg says the reaction so far has been good. More than 100 interest groups have posted their priorities for a maritime policy, in addition to the 300 contributions received before the public consultation began formally. Many more are expected in the weeks before the consultation closes on 30 June.

There has also been an average of two maritime-themed conferences a week in the EU since the green paper was published. Some of these have been specifically on preparing a response to the green paper, while others have concentrated on just one aspect of maritime policy, from maritime safety to tourism.

Next month will see the most high-profile conference yet. Commission President José Manuel Barroso and German Chancellor Angela Merkel - on behalf of the German EU presidency - will lead three days of talks in Bremen, on all the major themes of the green paper.

By July, Europeans will have had almost 13 months to put forward their maritime ideas. The Commission says this unusually long consultation period was needed because of the unusually large number of sectors that would be affected by a maritime policy.

The intention is that a follow-up report and communication based on the consultation will be adopted this autumn, under the Portuguese presidency of the EU.

The timing would be ideal for Barroso who, before becoming Commission president in 2004, started talks on a maritime policy for his native Portugal.

Developing an EU version of the Portuguese strategy would allow Barroso to showcase his and his country’s leadership. It would also draw attention to his favourite EU priority: increasing competitiveness.

Maritime regions already account for 40% of EU gross domestic product (GDP). Maritime-based industries and services produce between 3% and 5% of GDP. Coastal tourism alone is worth several billion euros per year, while the North Sea remains the world’s fourth largest source of oil and gas, and the fishing industry still employs more than half a million Europeans. An improved maritime strategy could mean more jobs for Europeans and more money for Europe.

The sea, says the green paper, has always given Europeans "new horizons to dream of ". According to Borg and Barroso, an EU maritime policy is now on that horizon.

The European Commission last June asked Europeans to look out to sea. The EU has 68,000 kilometres of coastline, which border five seas and two oceans. Half of all Europeans live less than 50km from the coast but, according to the Commission, maritime affairs have been neglected.