SP(2007)0054

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted by 573 votes in favour to 8 against with 13 abstentions, a resolution based on the own-initiative report drafted by Aldis Kušķis (EPP-ED, LV) and welcomed the Commission's Thematic Strategy. It felt, however, that the proposal for a Marine Strategy Directive in its present form would not succeed in mobilising the regional and local authorities to take the appropriate measures. It called for the inclusion of a common EU-wide definition of good environmental status (GES) in the Marine Strategy Directive. This should be understood as the environmental status when all the marine ecosystems within a given Marine Region are managed in ways which allow them to function in a balanced, self-sustaining way in the face of environmental change, supporting both biodiversity and human activities. The Marine Strategy Directive must include a legal obligation for Member States to achieve GES, and must also result in binding supranational obligations which might involve common commitments in third countries. In addition, it was important that the objectives, measures, language and concepts used in the Marine Strategy Directive and other directives concerning the marine environment, such as the Water Framework Directive and the Habitats Directive, be harmonised to facilitate coordination between those directives. Parliament emphasised the need to bring the timetable into line with the timetable for the Water Framework Directive. Parliament went on to welcome the Green Paper "Towards a future Maritime Policy for the Union" (COM (2006)0275) but warned against too great an emphasis on an economic approach, instead urging a balance between the economic and ecological angles.

Turning to budgetary matters, Parliament expressed concern over the lack of financial commitment for the implementation of the Marine Strategies, and asked the Commission and Member States to identify the measures that could be co-financed through Life+ due to their particular importance for the achievement of GES in the European marine waters. It also advocated coordinating the timetable for the marine strategy with the next programming period for the EU's agricultural fund (from 2014). This would be of particular importance for those regions in which agriculture accounted for a substantial proportion of the discharges into the marine area.

On data sharing, a new approach to marine assessment was recommended, based upon existing programmes including the Data Collection Regulation under the CFP, and tailored to ensure full consistency with new Commission initiatives on spatial data infrastructure and GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), in particular the marine services.

Parliament welcomed the excellent contributions to marine protection of a number of regional marine conventions and expected them to become a key partner in delivering the Marine Strategy Directive. In order to avoid a double bureaucratic burden on the effective delivery of the Marine Strategy Directive, the Commission and Member States were asked to ensure that the regional marine conventions had the relevant administrative capacities or that mechanisms for joint implementation of the Strategy were developed. In either case, this must include the widest possible cross-sectoral and stakeholder involvement. Parliament asked the Commission to study the possibility of making the Baltic Sea into a pilot area, in view of the fact that it was an especially sensitive sea area. The Member States surrounding it were likely to agree on faster implementation of the plans through the work within the Helsinki Commission.

Parliament moved on to point out the fragility of other marine waters:

- the protection of the Mediterranean sea lacked either the necessary environmental legislation or, where such legislation does exist, the political willingness to enforce it;

- the Commission must propose relevant measures for the protection of the Arctic waters, and support programmes on the rights and needs of indigenous peoples in tackling sustainable use of the Arctic's natural resources;

- the Black Sea was recommended for inclusion as one of the Marine Regions to be covered by the Marine Strategy Directive;

- there was no environmental guarantee in connection with the construction of the North European gas pipeline to prevent a potential environmental disaster in the Baltic Sea region.

In all cases, there should be prior consultation of adjoining countries and other countries concerned where projects may have an impact on the common environment, even when the project is carried out in international waters. Experience showed that environmental impact assessments often had shortcomings and that they were not carried out in consultation with other States. Parliament urged the Council to act at international level to develop mandatory environmental impact assessments in relations between the EU and third countries.

It should be noted that this report is relevant to the amendments adopted in the Marine Strategy Directive (please refer to COD/2005/0211.)

T6-0486/2006

Debate in Parliament

The Council held a policy debate on the thematic strategy and proposal for a Framework Directive for the protection and conservation of the marine environment.

The debate focused essentially on the following issues:

- in general, the Council considered that the marine strategy, together with the proposal for a Directive, provides adequate tools to meet the marine environment related objectives set out in the 6th Environmental Action Programme while setting up the environmental pillar of a future EU Maritime Policy;

- in their majority, delegations agreed that the Directive should include an explicit definition of the concept of "good environmental status" (GES) and indicated some of the main elements they considered should be included in such a definition to make it operational. Delegations were of the view that some flexibility with regard to the timetable might be required, depending on how GES would be defined as well as on specific regional and sub-regional circumstances;

- the need to ensure coherence between the different levels of regulation was stressed. The work done and obligations under international agreements, such as the Regional Seas Conventions, must be taken into account to avoid overlaps and duplication of work. The strategy and proposed Directive must be coherent with other EC legislation and policies, such as the Water Framework Directive, the Habitats and Birds Directives and the Common Fisheries Policy;

- lastly, it was recognised that the specific situation of landlocked countries will have to be addressed when implementing the Directive, although these countries do have a contribution to make to its objectives.

2757

A6-0364/2006

A6-0364/2006

The committee adopted the own-initiative report drawn up by Aldis KUSKIS (EPP-ED, LV) in response to the Commission communication on a thematic strategy on the protection and conservation of the marine environment. The report welcomed the "overarching objective of promoting sustainable use of the seas and conservation of marine ecosystems", but expressed disappointment at the proposed Marine Strategy Directive (see COD/2005/0211) which, it felt, "will not succeed in mobilising the regional and local authorities to take the appropriate measures".

The committee called for the inclusion in the Directive of a common EU-wide definition of 'good environmental status' (GES), understood as "the environmental status when all the marine ecosystems within a given Marine Region are managed in ways which allow them to function in a balanced, self-sustaining way in the face of environmental change, supporting both biodiversity and human activities".

Referring to the Green Paper "Towards a future Maritime Policy for the Union", the report warned against too great an emphasis on an economic approach and urged that "a balance be struck between the economic and ecological angles". The Marine Strategy Directive should provide the legal framework for the preservation and integrity of the marine environment and hence for the appropriate management units - the Marine Regions and Strategies - for marine planning and decisions.

On budgetary matters, the committee expressed concern at the lack of financial commitment for the implementation of the Marine Strategies and asked the Commission and the Member States to identify the measures that could be co-financed through LIFE+.

To ensure that the Directive did not create extra layers of bureaucracy, the Commission and Member States were urged to ensure "either that the regional marine conventions have the relevant legal and administrative capacities or that mechanisms for joint implementation of the Strategy are developed between the different regional bodies operating within the same marine region". The Commission was also asked to study the possibility of making the Baltic Sea into a pilot area, with the forthcoming Baltic Sea Action Plan from the Helsinki Convention (HELCOM) acting as a pilot programme to implement the Strategy objectives in the Baltic Sea Marine Region. In addition, the report highlighted the importance of protecting the "extremely fragile ecosystem" of the Arctic waters and called on the Commission to report to Parliament and the Council by 2008 on the possibility of establishing the Arctic as a protected area, similar to the Antarctic, and designated as a "natural reserve devoted to peace and science".

Lastly, the committee recommended that the Black Sea be included in the Marine Regions to be covered by the Marine Strategy Directive, in view of the forthcoming accession of Romania and Bulgaria and the accession negotiations under way with Turkey.

PE378.596

PE374.344

PURPOSE : presentation of a thematic strategy on the protection and conservation of the marine environment.

CONTEXT : Oceans and seas provide 99% of the available living space on the planet, cover 71% of the Earth’s surface and contain 90% of the biosphere and consequently contain more biological diversity than terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Marine ecosystems play a key role in climate and weather patterns. Indispensable to life itself, the marine environment is also a great contributor to economic prosperity, social well-being and quality of life.

However, the marine environment is under significant pressure. The pace of degradation of its biodiversity, the level of contamination by dangerous substances and the emerging consequences of climate change are some of the most visible warning signals. The current deterioration of the marine environment and the associated erosion of its ecological capital jeopardises the generation of wealth and employment opportunities derived from Europe’s oceans and seas. If not addressed, this will undermine the capacity of the EU maritime cluster to make a strong contribution to the Lisbon agenda.

Economic activities that directly depend on the quality of the marine environment would be particularly affected. The key sector of tourism would be severely hit. As regards fisheries, the loss of income from over-fishing of cod alone in the North Sea and Baltic Sea was estimated to reach EUR 400 million in 2002.

The development of a Thematic Strategy for the protection and conservation of the marine environment is a result of the commitment EU’s 6th Environment Action Programme. While the Strategy is primarily focused on the protection of the regional seas bordered by EU countries, it also takes into account the international dimension in recognition of the importance of reducing the EU’s footprint in marine areas in other parts of the world, including the High Seas.

CONTENT : the objective of the Strategy is to protect and restore Europe’s oceans and seas and ensure

that human activities are carried out in a sustainable manner so that current and futuregenerations enjoy and benefit from biologically diverse and dynamic oceans and seas that are safe, clean, healthy and productive.

If the EU is to achieve this ambitious objective, a new approach and principles to inform the design and implementation of a future EU strategy will be required, encompassing:

- a dual EU/regional approach setting at EU level common co-operation and approaches among Member States and third countries bordering EU oceans and seas, but leaving the planning and execution of measures to the regional level to take into account the diversity of conditions, problems and needs of marine regions requiring tailor-made solutions.

- a knowledge-based approach, in order to achieve informed policy-making.

- an ecosystem-based approach , whereby human activities affecting the marine environment will be managed in an integrated manner promoting conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way of oceans and seas.

- a co-operative approach, providing for broad engagement with all relevant stakeholders and enhancing co-operation with existing regional seas conventions.

The Commission considers that in order to achieve the objective of the Strategy a binding legal commitment is required. It proposes a Marine Strategy Directive, ambitious in its scope but not overly prescriptive in its tools.

In developing improved co-ordination in relation to environmental issues, the Strategy will deliver the environmental pillar of the future Maritime Policy. It will be reviewed in 2010 and feed into the final evaluation of the 6th Environmental Action Programme.

COM(2005)0504
EUR-Lex

This is a Commission Communication to the Council and European Parliament on the Thematic Strategy for the Protection and Conservation of the Marine Environment and accompanies the proposal for a Directive covering this subject. It gives a detailed outline of the strategy; examining in detail its raison d’être , objectives, purpose and preferred route of implementation.

The thematic strategy states that its overall aim is to promote a sustainable use of the seas and to conserve marine ecosystems. The primary scope of the Strategy applies to the regional seas bordering EU countries although account is also taken of international waters and of the High Seas in particular. Evidence of a deteriorating marine environment has accumulated over the past three years. Marine habitats are being destroyed, degraded and disturbed. The principle threats identified are both alarming and varied. They include climate change, pollution from land sources, litter, microbiological pollution, oil spills as a result of accidents, ship-source pollution, leaks from offshore oil and gas explorations, pollution from ship dismantling, commercial over fishing, the introduction of non-native species, nutrient enrichment and associated algal blooms, noise pollution and the illegal discharges of radionuclides.

The marine environment does not accord with existing geo-political boundaries. By its very nature it is trans-boundary and as such any environmental pollution will have trans-boundary consequences. Due to their diverse nature, national measures hinder, rather than promote improved environmental conditions. This is largely because marine pollution is dealt with on a sector by sector basis rather than being treated as an individual policy challenge. The various international conventions on marine protection add to the lack of impetus in that they have few enforcement powers thus compromising their effectiveness in achieving the agreed goals. A single over-arching Strategy would undoubtedly contribute significantly to a co-ordinated and effective approach in dealing with the problems associated with marine pollution. In other words, a strong EU policy on marine protection will complement and bolster the current patchwork of institutional arrangement by providing a legally enforceable framework within which Member States can operate.

An additional feature of the Marine Strategy will be to offer a new approach to the monitoring and assessment of scientific information in order to plug the gap for high quality information. This new approach to marine assessment and monitoring will be based upon existing programmes including the Data Collection Regulation under the CFP and will be tailored to ensure full consistency with relevant Commission initiatives such as INSPIRE and GMES.

A number of key elements in building the Strategy have been identified and include:

- Adopting a dual approach. This approach will set targets common to all EU Member States, whilst leaving the planning and execution of the set targets to regional actors. This approach takes account of diverse conditions and the need for tailor-made solutions.

- A knowledge-based approach in order to achieve informed policy making.

- An eco-system approach, whereby human activities affecting the marine environemtn will be managed in an integrated manner through the promotion of conservation and sustainable marine use.

- A co-operative approach, providing for broad agreement with all relevant stakeholders and enhancing co-operation with existing regional sea convention.

To accompany the Thematic Strategy the European Commission is proposing a Marine Strategy Directive. Its objective will be to achieve a good environmental status of Europe’s marine environment by 2021, to coincide with the first review of River Basin Management Plans under the EU Water Framework Directive. The Marine Strategy Directive will define common objectives and principles at an EU level, whilst simultaneously establishing European Marine Regions to act as management units responsible for applying the Directive’s provisions. No specific management measures will be set down at the EU level. The Directive requires Member States to work together closely and to co-ordinate their policy measures.

Finally, the Strategy will seek synergies with other related EU policy initiatives, such as the Urban Waste Water Treatment and Nitrates Directive. At the same time it does not over-ride or obviate obligations under the Habitats and Birds Directives. Considerable synergy will be achieved between the Strategy and the implementation of other thematic strategies developed under the 6 th Environmental Action Programme, namely air, soil, pesticides, recycling, resources and the urban environment.

To conclude, the Report restates that Europe’s marine environment is under threat. This requires effective EU action. The strategy is to be reviewed in 2010 and will feed into the final evaluation of the 6 th Framework Programme.

COM(2005)0504
EUR-Lex