The European Commission will propose a sweeping new law to manage the use of Europe’s oceans, in a surprise announcement that was broad in scope but light on detail and opens the way for years of lobbying over how to treat EU marine resources.
An earlier draft of the European Ocean Pact, obtained by POLITICO, did not mention the Ocean Act, and Thursday’s announcement of concrete legislation caught many groups by surprise.
The Ocean Act, announced on Thursday by EU Oceans Commissioner Costas Kadis, will update the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, which governs the economic use of EU waters. The new law would be introduced by 2027.
But Kadis said the new act would go well beyond the scope of the MSPD, providing a framework to implement the wide-ranging goals of the new European Ocean Pact, a policy promise of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s second term.
Those goals include cutting red tape, promoting sustainable aquaculture and fishing, boosting ocean tourism, strengthening maritime defense and investing in ocean science.
“The [Ocean] Act will ensure that existing targets linked to the ocean are identifiable under one roof and will facilitate their coherent and effective implementation, while at the same time decreasing administrative burden,” Kadis said Thursday.
But the announcement was light on detail, opening the way for multiple policy fights between environmental and commercial interest groups.
What we do know
The promised Ocean Act, contained within the broader Ocean Pact released Thursday, will strengthen maritime spatial planning through “improved cross-sectoral coordination at national level” and a more organized approach to managing sea basins, the Commission said.
It will also provide a “single framework” to help implement the European Ocean Pact, while also reducing administrative burden — including by cutting reporting obligations for EU countries.
The European Ocean Pact does not promise new, concrete measures for designating new marine protected areas or improving their management, instead pledging to “work on the effective implementation and enforcement of existing EU legislation.”
The same goes for bottom trawling in MPAs, the controversial practice of dragging heavy fishing nets on the seafloor to scoop up fish living on or close to the seabed.
In an attached annex, it does reiterate an “aspirational goal” of phasing out bottom trawling in MPAs by 2030, previously announced in a 2023 EU Marine Action Plan.
The draft plan also includes a section on ocean defense and protection of critical infrastructure, as well as sections on international ocean governance and on protecting coastal communities from the effects of climate change.
The document teases the arrival of a new EU Coastal Communities Development and Resilience Strategy by 2026.
Reactions pour in
Environmental groups have described the measures as a “mixed bag” and a “missed opportunity.” Still, they see promise.
The Ocean Act is “promising & could pave the way for a healthy ocean, but only if it’s bold & binding,” said the NGO Seas At Risk on social media.
“The Commission’s commitment to an Ocean Act is a strong signal — if it comes with binding targets, it could finally deliver real ocean protection,” said WWF Ocean Policy Manager Jacob Armstrong. “But while the direction is right, the Act will need to clarify key areas — including how public funding will be secured to make ocean protection a reality.”
Fishers, too, see an opportunity.
“It’s a good idea to — the way that I understand the Act — to reshape some of the dysfunctional legislation that’s in place when it comes to marine protection and marine spatial planning,” Esben Sverdrup, president of the European Association of Fish Producers Organisations, told POLITICO.
“There’s also a lot of insecurity in my sector and fishing communities: What is going to happen in the future? Where can we fish in the future? Will there be windmill parks? Will they be built? What would be protected areas? What kind of protection would be in those areas?
“We hope that the Ocean Pact and the Act will provide more stability in terms of how we manage the oceans, and that’s fundamental for the future of fisheries.”
He said he hopes it will lead to “fewer but much better Protected Areas in the marine environment.”
Isabelle Le Callennec, an EU lawmaker with the center-right European People’s Party who sits on the fisheries committee, said the pact “promotes a balance between the necessary protection of the environment and the requirements of maintaining a healthy maritime economy.”
Other political groups were less immediately satisfied. The European Parliament’s center-left Socialists and Democrats group said it would “fight to turn [the act] into real action: to protect biodiversity, defend jobs, boost marine renewables.”
“Research, money, ambition; everything the Commission announces here is badly needed,” said Green MEP Bas Eickhout. “Yet I also expect clarity on what we will no longer do. Intensive fishing in nature reserves, for example. Hard action is unfortunately lacking.”
This story has been updated.
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