Belangrijke bijeenkomst over geïntegreerd maritiem beleid EU (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Pools voorzitterschap Europese Unie 2e helft 2011 i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 5 oktober 2011.

On 4thOctober Warsaw hosted a high-level meeting regarding an EU Integrated Maritime Policy.

The 7th Meeting of EU Member States’ High Level Focal Points regarding an Integrated Maritime Policy (HLFP) addressed a number of crucial topics such as: growth stimulation, innovation and employment in the maritime sector, integration of maritime surveillance systems , which - along with marine knowledge and spatial planning - constitute a key instrument of the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy and enhancement of the HLFP group’s role in the development of the Policy.

The gathering, held in Warsaw on 4thOctober, was chaired - on behalf of the Polish Presidency - by Anna Wypych- Namiotko, Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure, responsible for maritime economic issues. She briefed the gathering on measures taken by Poland to implement the maritime policy.

During the meeting the participants were given the, ‘road-map towards an integrated maritime policy during the Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council’ whose remit covers the second half of 2012.

A Portuguese representative gave a presentation evaluating Member States’ contributions to the advancement and implementation of macro-regional strategies with Portugal's engagement in the EU Strategy for the Adriatic as an example.

During a meeting of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX i), the participants were briefed on the Agency's maritime-related operations.

Ministers from the EU Member States attended the meeting as did: European Commission representative Lowri Evans, Director General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE i), Jean-Louis Colson (DG MOVE i), Nicolas Breczewski (DG EMPL i), senior officials from both Norway, Iceland and the EU including Bulgarian Deputy Transport Minister Kamen Kichev, French Secretary-General for the Sea Jean-Francois Tallec and the Secretary-General of the Icelandic Environment Ministry Magnus Johannesson.

HLFP was founded in 2007, in response to a suggestion by the Portuguese Presidency and constitutes an informal mechanism of consultations on the EU's integrated maritime policy. The group is devoted to the furtherance of that policy.

HLFP meetings are chaired by the current rotating President of the EU Council. The European Commission has a standing invitation to participate in the group's meetings and is closely involved in preparing its work. Invitations may also be extended to relevant EU agencies, representatives of third countries and other interested parties engaged in the implementation of the EU's integrated maritime policy.

Justyna Moson

Presidency Spokesperson for the Ministry of Infrastructure