Maritiem beleid hoog op Portugeese agenda (en)

Today Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Policy Joe Borg and Portuguese State Secretary for Defence and Maritime Affairs Joao Mira Gomes will address the opening of a workshop in Lisbon on the Governance of an Integrated, Holistic Maritime Policy for Europe. The two-day workshop is being hosted by the Portuguese government, which currently holds the EU Presidency. It will bring together leading policy makers, scientists and stakeholders from across Europe to discuss the governance issues involved in developing a more coherent approach to policy making in the maritime sector.

Secretary of State Mira Gomes commented, "This is the second major maritime policy initiative which the Portuguese presidency of the EU has organised, following on from the conference in the Azores last week

(please see http://www.ue2007.pt/UE/vEN/Reunioes_Eventos/Outros .).

And we will be following this up with a ministerial conference in Lisbon in October. We have been strongly supportive of the Commission's initiative from the outset, and we want to see clear, positive conclusions adopted by the European Council in December. But for such an integrated approach to work, we have to be sure we get the governance mechanisms right from the start."

Commissioner Borg i added, "In view of the growing impact of human activities on marine ecosystems, together with that of climate change, increasing competition between maritime activities and growing interest in coastal areas, the need to take a look at the wider picture is essential. The challenge is to establish how we can better coordinate activities in the maritime sector and overcome fragmentation, while still ensuring that activities are managed as close to the grassroots level as possible."

Topics to be debated during the workshop include the obstacles to truly integrated policy making; supporting holistic science through structures of self-governance; cross-sectoral and cross-border action and the importance of transparency and clustering.

The public consultation on the Commission's Green Paper on a future European maritime policy closed in June. Almost 500 written contributions were received, and can now be reviewed on the Commission's website at http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/post_green_en.html .

The vast majority of these contributions are highly supportive of the concept of introducing greater coordination between different maritime activities wherever it can bring real added value. The Commission will be coming forward with a plan of action for initial pilot actions to improve cross-sectoral collaboration between maritime actors in October.