SPEECH/08/390
Dr Joe
Borg
Member of the European Commission Responsible for Fisheries and Maritime
Affairs
The EU Maritime Policy is
based on solidarity and cooperation
Informal Meeting of Ministers for European Affairs Brest, 13 July
2008
Minister Jouyet,
Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to start by thanking the French Presidency, and Mr Jouyet in
particular, for putting the Integrated Maritime Policy on the agenda today and
for granting me the opportunity, in such an appropriate place - Roscoff –
to address you and to discuss maritime affairs.
The presence of the ocean in Britanny's geography, economy and culture is
undeniable. Especially now, during the maritime festival, the city of Brest
epitomises a community proud of its rich maritime heritage.
Europe as a whole is no different: just like Brittany, it is a peninsula. It
is surrounded by no less than 70 000 kilometres of coastline, over two-thirds of
its borders are coastal, and the maritime spaces under the jurisdiction of its
Member States are considerably larger than their land mass. Yet, unlike people
in Brest, many Europeans appear unaware of the strategic – economic,
environmental, scientific, social and even cultural - importance of the oceans
and seas.
There is a maritime dimension to virtually every major issue facing Europe
today, including energy, climate change, environmental protection and
conservation, research and innovation, competitiveness and job creation,
international trade, transport and logistics.
This is why the Commission has put maritime affairs centre stage since last
October, when we presented our Integrated Maritime Policy.
This policy sets out our vision for the future of the oceans and proposes a
whole new approach to maritime governance: one based on integrated, joined up
policy-making and decision planning.
It will enable us to establish more coherence between different EU
initiatives developed under sectoral policies, and impacting on maritime
affairs, including the recently adopted Marine Strategy Framework Directive,
which delivers the environmental pillar of the maritime policy, or the Eurosur
initiative to develop a European Border Surveillance System. It will enable us
to articulate better several Commission's initiatives foreseen to be adopted up
to the end of this year such as the climate change adaptation strategy, the
ten-year Maritime Transport Strategy, the European Marine Research Strategy, and
the Offshore Energy Action Plan.
The new, emerging integrated maritime policy will strengthen our capacity to
achieve a principal goal: to ensure that we can develop our ability to derive
benefits from the oceans and seas, while taking the right measures to preserve
biodiversity and improve the state of the marine environment.
The European Council welcomed the Integrated Maritime Policy in December of
last year. Its conclusions then called upon future Presidencies to work on its
establishment in the years to come. Thanks to the French Presidency, today's
meeting is a further step in this direction.
I am encouraged by the support from the European Council. Taking
responsibility for the future of the oceans and seas should, without a doubt,
feature prominently on the European agenda. No single European ocean or sea
falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of one Member State. No single State can
impose its will on the ships that sail through its waters; and no single State
can alone reverse the environmental degradation faced by our oceans and seas..
Indeed the Integrated Maritime Policy can help deliver results in important
EU policies, for example to combat or adapt to climate change, to which the
oceans are intrinsically linked, thus protecting Europe's vast and vulnerable
coastal areas. It will support the creation of a European marine science
partnership to promote joint programming and to develop research to predict and
mitigate the effects of human impact on the marine environment, or to promote
bio prospecting and blue biotechnology. It can also make a contribution to the
European energy strategy: Europe needs to develop the full potential of the sea
as a source of oil, gas, and renewable energies, and as an enabler of energy
transportation, diversifying Europe's energy access routes and thus reinforcing
security of supply.
Dear Ministers,
The European project is being built on solidarity and cooperation. As much as
Member States need to work together at EU level, the EU depends on its Member
States to realise its goals, and this is also true for maritime policy.
Success for the Integrated Maritime Policy will depend, therefore, on the
degree to which the integrated thinking, which is at the heart of this policy,
permeates into policy-making within Member States.
There is a lot to do here:
In Europe, maritime affairs have traditionally been dealt with by a number of
separate sectoral policies. Such compartmentalisation of maritime governance
continues to predominate the different levels of power at European, national,
regional and local levels. Yet the full potential for optimised policy-making in
maritime affairs will not be reaped unless the integrated approach permeates
every level of government, all players involved, and stakeholders’
activities.
Let me, thus, turn to our initiative to involve Member States in the
realisation of our maritime policy goals.
On 26 June, the Commission adopted Guidelines towards best practice for
integrated maritime governance and stakeholder consultation.
These guidelines encourage Member States to join the Commission in adopting a
new, holistic and joined up approach towards maritime affairs, maritime
governance and stakeholder consultation.
Hence, the Commission has already started to reorganise itself to be better
able to coordinate matters relating to coasts, seas and oceans and to deal with
them in a genuine integrated way. We have created a Steering Group of
Commissioners for maritime affairs, which I chair, bringing together the ten
Members of College most concerned and we have launched the new MARE
Directorate-General equipped to ensure internal coordination of maritime
affairs.
Let me say right away that by no means do we intend to impose anything on
Member States nor to call on you to adopt any single system of maritime
governance. On the contrary, we want to let Member States chart their own course
whilst agreeing on certain basics principles. It is true that these guidelines
are designed to encourage you to draw up your own national integrated maritime
policies, but each government will have its own specific priorities for its
maritime policy. Your national integrated maritime policies will differ from
each other, depending on your different constitutional, geophysical, economic,
social, cultural and environmental contexts. At the end of the day, an
integrated approach to maritime policy can only be effective if it thrives on
political leadership by each government and it is organised in harmony with
domestic administrative traditions.
Indeed, we are relying on the power of persuasion. I am aware that
persuasion, without the hard guarantees of law, is only as powerful as the
willingness of those addressed to listen. But the arguments for adopting an
integrated approach to maritime policy are strong indeed, and the best evidence
for this is the broad international trend to move towards integrated maritime
policy in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, besides, of course, a growing number
of European countries.
As a follow up of these guidelines I invite you to provide us with
information on your countries' approaches by the spring of next year. On that
basis, the Commission will then make the information available as part of the
report on the implementation of the Integrated Maritime Policy that it will
deliver to the European Council in 2009, as requested by the European Council in
December last year.
The EU can also benefit further from stronger coordination of the activities
of EU agencies working in areas connected with the sea, such as the External
Borders Agencies (Frontex), the Maritime Safety Agencies (EMSA), the Fisheries
Control Agency and the European Defence Agency. The Commission is ready to do
its bit in this regard. But we also need a firm commitment from Member States.
To that end, I would welcome a signal today that we all share the goal of
ensuring coherence in the actions of these EU Agencies.
Dear Ministers,
Maritime surveillance is today an issue of the highest importance to ensure
the safe use of the sea and to secure Europe's maritime borders. We are reminded
of this every day whether in the Mediterranean Sea, in its Atlantic approaches,
close to the Canaries islands or even as far away as the coast of Somalia. The
improvement of maritime surveillance activities, and interoperability at the
European level, are thus critical for Europe to meet the challenges and threats
relating to safety of navigation, marine pollution, law enforcement, and overall
security.
Of course, surveillance activities are carried out by Member States, but most
of the threats that they address are transnational in nature. Also, within most
Member States surveillance activities concerning fisheries, the environment,
policing of the seas or immigration fall under the responsibility of many
different enforcement agencies, operating independently from each other and not
always in full coordination with each other. This often results in sub-optimal
use of scarce resources.
The Commission, therefore, advocates the need for a higher degree of
coordination on maritime surveillance through deeper cooperation within and
among Member States' coastguards and other appropriate agencies, in close
collaboration with the specialised European agencies. The establishment of a
network of national maritime surveillance representatives would be a first
appropriate step in the right direction. The Commission is also willing to
promote such cooperation by launching pilot-projects on maritime surveillance in
our maritime basins, starting in the western Mediterranean Sea.
The initiatives I have just described, and our broader Integrated Maritime
Policy, are concrete and relevant contributions to advancing sustainable growth
in our coastal regions and on the sea. A positive reaction from you today will
further encourage us in our efforts to fulfil our role in this European project.
Furthermore, your commitment to join us in promoting an integrated approach
within Europe, covering all sectors and activities relating to the seas, oceans
and coasts, will pave the way for success in our joint European vision for a
sustainable future for the oceans and seas.
Indeed, I trust that under the strong leadership of the French Presidency,
and with your guidance, Jean Pierre, we will promote Member States' genuine
integrated maritime governance; we will start a new process of cooperation on
maritime surveillance; and we will be able to develop joint marine research
programming among Member States, namely with a view to address the key European
societal challenges of climate change and energy sustainability.
Thank you for your attention.
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