Taming tensions on Europe’s seas

The EU’s first maritime strategy will seek to balance environmental and economic concerns. Jennifer Rankin reports.

Europe’s seas are an environmental jewel and economic prize, and tension between these two aspects will never disappear. Next week (10 October) the European Commission will publish its long-awaited maritime strategy, which will attempt to chart a new course between competing demands on Europe’s seas.

This ‘blue paper’ is the EU’s first ever maritime strategy and attempts to bring together all policy areas concerned with the sea. Joe Borg, the commissioner for fisheries and maritime affairs, has told European Voice that Europe badly needs a more co-ordinated approach and that the strategy will bring "a holistic view of maritime affairs".

At the heart of the strategy is ‘maritime spatial planning’, a new way of taking decisions about using the sea. This is analogous to environmental impact studies that are undertaken to ensure sustainable development on land.

To explain why this is needed, Borg uses the example of offshore wind farms. He says that the decision on where to locate a wind farm should be made according to its energy purposes, but also taking into account the impact on the marine environment, maritime transport rules and fishing. The commissioner hopes this will make controversial decisions easier to manage. "Hopefully [it will be] more acceptable because it has resulted from co-ordination with the different stakeholders," says Borg.

Conservationists think that a maritime strategy could make decisions about using the sea more transparent. Aaron McLoughlin, head of European maritime policy at WWF, says that "there are tough choices to make and competing interests have to work out a better way of taking those [opposing] interests into account".

WWF is optimistic that the blue paper will reflect campaigners’ concerns about sustainable use of the oceans and marine spatial planning. The blue paper will call for action to reduce pollution by vessels in ports, suggesting abolishing electricity taxes in ports to give vessels incentives to stop using their diesel engines. The strategy will also lead to pilot projects to mitigate the effects of climate change in coastal areas.

The maritime strategy was first dreamed up when Borg came into office in 2004 and was designed to connect maritime policy with the Lisbon Agenda, the EU’s blueprint to promote growth and jobs. But now some are worried this emphasis could be drowned out. Enrico Mayrhofer, a spokesman for the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), is concerned that the maritime strategy could be "too green". "Of course, we are environmentally friendly," says Mayrhofer. "For us the maritime area is a sink of jobs, of possibilities." The CPMR would like to see "motorways of the sea", shipping lanes and bigger harbours to compete with road and rail.

According to a Commission source, the blue paper will emphasise switching freight to shipping transport and supports an expansion of European ports. Already, 40% of internal EU trade is done by shipping, but the Commission is worried that European ports are struggling with demand. A Commission official says that without action, "the ports of Europe in the next ten years will look like miniatures".

"We don’t want to curb more users, but to have more users, they must be harmonised," says the official.

The Commission would argue that the maritime strategy is a win-win for business and the environment, and shows that green growth is possible. But it will fall to member states to agree on maritime spatial planning and make tough choices that inevitably mean some must lose out. Another snag is that marine spatial planning is not mandatory and member states could choose to ignore it. But the Commission is betting on that member states will jump at the chance to participate in a common system and to catch up with the rest of the world. Australia, Canada, America and Japan have already adopted maritime spatial planning.

The blue paper will be accompanied by a raft of communications and action plans. One of the most significant is the communication on maritime policy and "the social dimension", which will kick-start a policy debate about extending the rights of sea-based workers.

"The basic rights of protection which are afforded to land-based workers are more often than not, not given to sea-based workers whether they are fishers or working on board maritime transport vessels. We need to look into this and to see whether we can start moving in the direction of reducing the differences between land-based workers and sea-based workers," says Borg.

The commissioner thinks that working on the sea is becoming unpopular. And without a new generation of workers, the EU’s maritime strategy could be all washed up.

The EU’s first maritime strategy will seek to balance environmental and economic concerns. Jennifer Rankin reports.