BETA


2012/2297(INI) Blue growth - Enhancing sustainable growth in the EU's marine, maritime transport and tourism sectors

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead TRAN DANELLIS Spyros (icon: S&D S&D) VLASTO Dominique (icon: PPE PPE), MEISSNER Gesine (icon: ALDE ALDE), TAYLOR Keith (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), VAN DALEN Peter (icon: ECR ECR)
Committee Opinion ITRE
Committee Opinion EMPL
Committee Opinion PECH SALAVRAKOS Nikolaos (icon: EFD EFD) Werner KUHN (icon: PPE PPE), Gesine MEISSNER (icon: ALDE ALDE)
Committee Opinion ENVI
Committee Opinion REGI KELLY Seán (icon: PPE PPE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2013/11/28
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2013/07/02
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2013/07/02
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Blue Growth: Enhancing sustainable growth in the EU’s marine, maritime transport and tourism sectors.

The resolution recalls that over 70% of the earth's surface is covered by oceans and seas which can play a crucial role in addressing the long-term challenges facing the EU, such as climate change and global competitiveness. Approximately half of Europe's population lives along the 89 000 kilometres of Europe's coastline, and it is therefore important that regional and local authorities take this demographic pressure into account when implementing public policies.

The adopted resolution is Parliament’s roadmap for the further advancement of blue growth . It seeks to revitalise the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP).

General framework : Parliament welcomes the Commission’s communication on Blue Growth which gives a clear indication of the potential of the maritime economy to create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and generates employment opportunities . In addition, the coastal and maritime policy should be included in the general framework of the 2014-2020 programming period, also with a view to achieving the objectives set out in the Europe 2020 strategy.

Members reiterate its support for the IMP and stresses that the promotion of this policy remains the primary means for enhancing blue growth. They consider that the Blue Growth Strategy, as part of the Integrated Maritime Policy, will encourage the development of synergies and coordinated policies, thus generating European added value .

Parliament considers that, in order to boost the competitiveness of the Union's maritime economic sectors in the global market, local, regional, national and European authorities must create the necessary conditions for sustainable growth, namely by establishing:

maritime spatial planning systems, upgrading infrastructure, creating access to professional skills, securing funding (such as new rules for venture capital).

It stresses the importance of sharing information and best practices between the different levels of public authorities through the creation of a specific EU platform .

On funding , the resolution calls on the Member States to channel available financial instruments and European funding towards blue economy projects. It stresses the importance of taking into account the specific needs of the bailed-out Member States that are facing increased difficulty in undertaking high-cost projects, as well as those of the outermost and island regions, which present structural constraints due to their remoteness and natural characteristics.

Clusters : Members call on the EU and the Member States to give strong support to the creation of regional and crossborder maritime clusters . They stress the strategic importance of such clusters as centres of excellence for economic activity related to blue growth and their ability to promote the sharing of knowledge and good practice, generate synergies between the various sectors of the blue economy, and help to attract investment.

Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management : Parliament welcomes the Commission’s legislative proposal for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as measures necessary for managing the increasing number of maritime and coastal activities and protecting the marine environment. It also notes that MSP is expected to bring business costs down and improve the investment climate , while ICM will facilitate the coordination of activities in the coastal zone and will bring about an overall improvement in the governance of this zone. A tailored approach is needed, so as to leave the Member States scope, when implementing EU maritime and coastal planning guidelines, for taking account of local specificities and needs in liaison with local authorities.

The resolution states that the land-sea interface needs to be strengthened in the context of spatial planning in order to safeguard continuity of human activities and of the supply chain and ensure that coastal areas are properly connected with their hinterland. This could help avoid the phenomenon of coasts being treated as borders.

The Commission is urged to help Member States launch plans to map and survey wrecked ships and submerged archaeological sites, which form an important part of the Union's historical and cultural heritage.

Maritime skills and employment : Members consider that overall employment in the blue economy may exceed the estimated number of 7 million jobs by 2020, if it is supported by training policies aimed at ensuring the presence of a mobile workforce with sufficient skills and experience. They reiterate their call for a significant improvement in working, health and safety conditions in the maritime professions and encourage the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts in this field in order to improve career security and make jobs in the blue economy and related sectors more attractive.

In this area, the Commission is called upon to:

ensure that initiatives such as the ‘EU Skills Panorama’ reflect the needs of the blue economy; draw up an action plan to promote professions that are directly or indirectly linked to the blue economy; cooperate with the representatives of the maritime economic sector and training providers with a view to establishing and funding European Sector Councils on Employment and Skills , in order to register jobs, changes in skills required and related training needs; develop an initiative to encourage the mobility of research staff, especially in coastal areas , with specific reference to the areas of tourism, energy and biotechnology, along the lines of Erasmus, to be implemented as a priority during low tourist seasons in order to balance, in a sustainable manner, the flows of people in increasingly sensitive ecosystems.

Research and innovation : Members recall the EU’s world-class research capacity in maritime fields. It calls on the Commission to update its European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research by 2014 and provide adequate long-term environmental monitoring and conduct research on early warning systems.

Members recognise that blue biotechnology has the potential to create high-skilled employment and has much to offer in critical areas such as health, nutrition and innovation. They welcome the Commission’s intention to support the research and innovation needed to promote this activity in the field of entrepreneurship.

Shipping and shipbuilding : Parliament notes with concern that shipping within the EU continues to be hampered by administrative and customs red tape which prevents growth in the industry, especially in maritime cabotage and motorways of the sea. A uniform set of rules for intra-Union shipping needs to be developed as it is crucial to ensuring the free movement of goods and persons in EU waters.

Members call on the Commission to make the necessary legislative proposals for the creation of the Blue Belt , including the necessary revision of the EU Customs Code, before the end of 2013.

The Commission and the Member States are called upon to significantly step up their efforts to reach an international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport , taking into account the growing impact of greenhouse gas emissions from ships. The resolution points out that eco-friendly fuels such as LNG can play an important role in achieving the target of reducing the EU's CO2 emissions from maritime bunker fuels by at least 40% by 2050.

The Council is urged to reach an agreement with Parliament to adopt a regulation providing for vessels to be dismantled in a way that respects the environment and the workers' working conditions.

Maritime and coastal tourism : the resolution calls on the Member States to support initiatives to develop and upgrade sustainable tourism infrastructure, in particular to promote new forms of tourism, such as eco-agro-fishing and sustainable water sports. The importance of yachting and sailing for maritime tourism is also.

Blue energy : the resolution notes that climate change is one of the main threats to marine biodiversity worldwide, and that the energy aspects of a blue growth strategy must be based on renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Commission is called upon to adopt an integrated approach to the development of marine energy resources, by exploiting synergies between offshore wind energy and other forms of renewable marine energy.

Fisheries and aquaculture : Members acknowledge that protecting Europe’s maritime borders is a challenge for Member States and consider that a successful blue economy requires secure EU maritime borders , with a view to ensuring the protection of the marine environment, fisheries controls, the fight against illegal fishing and law enforcement. A European coastguard should be set up to coordinate operations and surveillance at sea.

Documents
2013/07/02
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2013/07/01
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2013/06/10
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the own-initiative report by Spyros DANELLIS (S&D, EL) on Blue Growth: Enhancing sustainable growth in the EU’s marine, maritime transport and tourism sectors in response to the Commission’s communication on the same subject.

The report recalls that over 70% of the earth's surface is covered by oceans and seas which can play a crucial role in addressing the long-term challenges facing the EU, such as climate change and global competitiveness.

This report is Parliament’s roadmap for the further advancement of blue growth . It seeks to revitalise the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP).

General framework : the committee welcomes the Commission’s communication on Blue Growth which gives a clear indication of the potential of the maritime economy to create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and generate employment opportunities . In addition, the coastal and maritime policy should be included in the general framework of the 2014-2020 programming period, also with a view to achieving the objectives set out in the Europe 2020 strategy.

The committee reiterates its support for the IMP and stresses that the promotion of this policy remains the primary means for enhancing blue growth. It considers that the Blue Growth Strategy, as part of the Integrated Maritime Policy, will encourage the development of synergies and coordinated policies, thus generating European added value .

Members consider that, in order to boost the competitiveness of the Union's maritime economic sectors in the global market, local, regional, national and European authorities must create the necessary conditions for sustainable growth, namely by establishing :

maritime spatial planning systems, upgrading infrastructure, creating access to professional skills and securing funding (such as new rules for venture capital).

On funding , the report calls on the Member States to channel available financial instruments and European funding towards blue economy projects. It stresses the importance of taking into account the specific needs of the bailed-out Member States that are facing increased difficulty in undertaking high-cost projects, as well as those of the outermost and island regions, which present structural constraints due to their remoteness and natural characteristics.

Clusters : the committee calls on the EU and the Member States to give strong support to the creation of regional and crossborder maritime clusters . It stresses the strategic importance of such clusters as centres of excellence for economic activity related to blue growth and their ability to promote the sharing of knowledge and good practice, generate synergies between the various sectors of the blue economy, and help to attract investment.

Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management : the committee welcomes the Commission’s legislative proposal for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as measures necessary for managing the increasing number of maritime and coastal activities and protecting the marine environment. It notes that MSP is expected to bring business costs down and improve the investment climate , while ICM will facilitate the coordination of activities in the coastal zone and will bring about an overall improvement in the governance of this zone. A tailored approach is needed, so as to leave the Member States scope, when implementing EU maritime and coastal planning guidelines, for taking account of local specificities and needs in liaison with local authorities.

The report states that the land-sea interface needs to be strengthened in the context of spatial planning in order to safeguard continuity of human activities and of the supply chain and ensure that coastal areas are properly connected with their hinterland. This could help avoid the phenomenon of coasts being treated as borders.

The Commission is urged to help Member States launch plans to map and survey wrecked ships and submerged archaeological sites, which form an important part of the Union's historical and cultural heritage.

Maritime skills and employment : the committee considers that overall employment in the blue economy may exceed the estimated number of 7 million jobs by 2020, if it is supported by training policies aimed at ensuring the presence of a mobile workforce with sufficient skills and experience. It reiterates its call for a significant improvement in working, health and safety conditions in the maritime professions and encourages the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts in this field in order to improve career security and make jobs in the blue economy and related sectors more attractive.

In this area, the Commission is called upon to:

ensure that initiatives such as the ‘EU Skills Panorama’ reflect the needs of the blue economy; draw up an action plan to promote professions that are directly or indirectly linked to the blue economy; cooperate with the representatives of the maritime economic sector and training providers with a view to establishing and funding European Sector Councils on Employment and Skills , in order to register jobs, changes in skills required and related training needs; develop an initiative to encourage the mobility of research staff, especially in coastal areas , with specific reference to the areas of tourism, energy and biotechnology, along the lines of Erasmus, to be implemented as a priority during low tourist seasons in order to balance, in a sustainable manner, the flows of people in increasingly sensitive ecosystems.

Research and innovation : Members recall the EU’s world-class research capacity in maritime fields.

The Commission is called upon to inter alia :

update its European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research by 2014, proposing concrete measures to improve synergies and knowledge dissemination among researchers in the EU; provide adequate long-term environmental monitoring and conduct research on early warning systems ; make the necessary legislative proposals for the creation of the Blue Belt , including the necessary revision of the EU Customs Code, before the end of 2013; issue a communication on the progress, development and future of the motorways of the sea; significantly step up their efforts to reach an international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport .

Maritime and coastal tourism : the report calls on the Member States to support initiatives to develop and upgrade sustainable tourism infrastructure, in particular to promote new forms of tourism, such as eco-agro-fishing and sustainable water sports. The importance of yachting and sailing for maritime tourism is also.

Blue energy : the report notes that climate change is one of the main threats to marine biodiversity worldwide, and that the energy aspects of a blue growth strategy must be based on renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Commission is called upon to adopt an integrated approach to the development of marine energy resources, by exploiting synergies between offshore wind energy and other forms of renewable marine energy.

Fisheries and aquaculture : the report points out that aquaculture in the EU has the potential significantly to improve the economies of coastal communities. It calls on the Commission, in its forthcoming strategic guidelines for aquaculture in the EU, to promote offshore aquaculture, which can be combined with blue energy facilities so as to reduce pressure from over-intensive aquaculture on coastal ecosystems and on other activities. Members acknowledge that protecting Europe’s maritime borders is a challenge for Member States and consider that a successful blue economy requires secure EU maritime borders , with a view to ensuring the protection of the marine environment, fisheries controls, the fight against illegal fishing and law enforcement. A European coastguard should be set up to coordinate operations and surveillance at sea.

Marine mineral extraction : Members call on the Commission to pay particular attention to the environmental consequences of mining the seabed , especially in highly sensitive marine environments, to support relevant research projects, to apply the precautionary principle, and to cooperate with the authorities of third countries involved in the sector in the attempt to fill existing gaps in scientific knowledge more rapidly.

Blue biotechnology : Members recognise that blue biotechnology has the potential to create high-skilled employment and has much to offer in critical areas such as health, nutrition and innovation. They welcome the Commission’s intention to support the research and innovation needed to promote this activity in the field of entrepreneurship.

Documents
2013/05/30
   EP - Vote in committee
2013/05/02
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2013/04/24
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2013/04/24
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2013/04/04
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2012/12/18
   EP - KELLY Seán (PPE) appointed as rapporteur in REGI
2012/11/29
   EP - SALAVRAKOS Nikolaos (EFD) appointed as rapporteur in PECH
2012/11/22
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2012/11/05
   EP - DANELLIS Spyros (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in TRAN
2012/09/13
   EC - Document attached to the procedure
Details

The Commission presents a Communication on Blue Growth : opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. This is the contribution of the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The EU's blue economy represents 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of just under EUR 500 billion per year . In all, 75% of Europe’s external trade and 37% of trade within the EU is seaborne.

This Communication drives forward the Commission's Integrated Maritime Policy and launches a process which will place the blue economy firmly on the agenda of Member States, regions, enterprise and civil society. It describes how Member States and EU policies are already supporting the blue economy. It then identifies specific areas where targeted action could provide an additional stimulus. A set of initiatives will subsequently be launched to explore and develop the growth potential in these areas.

Blue Growth Focus Areas : an analysis of the job-creation potential, as well as the potential for research and development to deliver technology improvements and innovation and the need for action at EU level, has suggested that five value chains could deliver sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. They could therefore benefit from clear-sighted policymaking, allowing the private sector to play a leading role in helping the blue economy reach its sustainable growth potential. This list should not be considered exhaustive. Ongoing EU initiatives are already encouraging innovation in sectors such as maritime transport. Other value chains may emerge over time as suitable areas for further policy focus.

The Communication identifies five focus areas in which additional efforts at EU level could yield long-term growth and sustainable jobs:

1. Blue energy: marine energies have the potential to enhance the efficiency of harvesting the European energy resource, minimize land-use requirements of the power sector and reduce the European greenhouse gas emissions (by about 65 Mt CO2 in 2020).

· Offshore wind could meet 4% of the EU electricity demand by 2020 and 14% by 2030. This would mean 170 000 jobs by 2020, increasing to 300 000 by 2030.

· Other offshore renewable energy technologies are still at an early stage of development, with Member States planning to install only a moderate capacity of 2 to 4 GW by 2020. The challenge is to accelerate the commercialisation of ocean energy through reductions in technology costs as world-wide demand is expected to double annually in the near future. Further efforts to reinforce research and development in the field of ocean energy are needed.

· EU measures, including funding (EIB, Structural Funds), can have a crucial role in providing a framework that gives investors the confidence to invest.

· EU industry is a world leader in blue energy and can contribute to reductions in carbon emissions outside Europe through exports. In addition, synergies can also be explored with the offshore conventional energy sector, for example by tackling safety and infrastructure challenges together. The Commission proposal for levelling up safety standards in the offshore oil and gas sector EU-wide is a key initiative. Working together with the conventional energy sector will help secure affordable energy supplies in the EU.

2. Aquaculture: globally, aquaculture has a growth rate of 6.6% per annum, making it the fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector and faster than the 1.8% annual global population increases. Fish accounts for about 15.7% of the animal protein consumed globally. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that aquaculture provides half of this and that by 2030 it will reach 65%. It is currently 25% in the EU.

As part of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, the Commission proposes to promote aquaculture through an 'open method of coordination' based on nonbinding strategic guidelines, multiannual national strategic plans and the exchange of best practice. There is a wide scope for improving administrative practices, especially in licensing.

3. Maritime, coastal and cruise tourism : the maritime and coastal tourism sub-sector has now become the largest single maritime economic activity, employing 2.35 million people, equivalent to 1.1% of total EU employment. More than 90% of enterprises employ less than 10 people. The cruise industry is also growing. Within Europe it employs nearly 150000 people and generates direct turnover of EUR 14.5 billion. EU shipyards have been successful in serving this specialised market – both with large cruise ships and small leisure vessels.

4. Marine mineral resources : between 2000 and 2010 there has been an annual increase of about 15% in the price of many non-energy raw materials, mainly as a result of consumer demand in emerging economies. There is a risk of supply shortage for several of these, including those identified as critical to Europe's economy. By 2020, 5% of the world's minerals, including cobalt, copper and zinc could come from the ocean floors. This could rise to 10% by 2030. Global annual turnover of marine mineral mining can be expected to grow from virtually nothing to EUR 5 billion in the next 10 years and up to EUR 10 billion by 2030.

5. Blue biotechnology: the unexplored and understudied nature of much of the underwater world means that the capacity of marine organisms other than fish and shellfish to provide inputs to the blue economy is only just beginning to be appreciated, partly through new gene sequencing technologies for living organisms. While estimated current employment in the sector in Europe is still relatively low, and a gross value added of EUR 0.8 billion, the growth of the sector will offer high-skilled employment, especially if ground-breaking drugs can be developed from marine organisms, and significant downstream opportunities.

Commission plans: for each of the five activities highlighted the Commission will analyse policy options and consider further initiatives. This will involve:

· assessing the options for giving industry the confidence to invest in ocean renewable energy, taking into account the framework provided by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, the aim being to address ocean renewable energy issues in a Communication in 2013;

· working collaboratively with Member States to develop best practice and agree on Strategic Guidelines on Aquaculture in the EU to be adopted in early 2013;

· assessing how maritime and coastal tourism can further contribute to economic growth and provide less precarious jobs whilst improving its environmental sustainability. An impact assessment will be followed by a Communication in 2013;

· assessing how European industry can become competitive in extracting minerals from the seafloor and how best to ensure that this activity does not prevent future generations from benefiting from hitherto untouched ecosystems. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will be delivered in 2014;

· assessing the options for blue biotechnology to harness the diversity of marine life. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will also be delivered in 2014.

In each of these areas, the assessment of options will begin with consultations with Member States and industry and other relevant stakeholders in order to develop joint approaches that will provide the extra push that the blue economy needs in order to provide a positive contribution to Europe's economic future, while safeguarding our unique marine environment for future generations.

2012/09/11
   EC - Follow-up document
Details

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements : the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport ; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors : Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth : in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth , opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

· The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

· Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

· Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

· The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

· Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years . During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

2012/09/11
   EC - Non-legislative basic document published
Details

The Commission presents its second report describing the progress of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights the contribution of these policies to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The report notes that the IMP was created to reaffirm the maritime dimension of the EU. The IMP has grown from this vision into a tool delivering concrete benefits for maritime growth and sustainability in Europe. The report presents a picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. It examines actions taken under the following policy areas: transport, research, environment, tourism, shipbuilding, climate change adaption, and regional policies. Among the initiatives launched are the following:

· the White Paper for Transport , which further specifies the orientations of the Maritime Transport Strategy until 2018: the ability to provide cost-efficient maritime transport services; the long-term competitiveness of the EU shipping sector; and the creation of seamless transport chains for passengers and cargo across transport modes;

· the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance;

· a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness;

· three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users;

· a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011;

· a Decision to implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, laying down criteria and methodological standards for the assessment of Good Environmental Status.

The contribution of the maritime economy to growth and employment

Blue Growth: the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth , opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy. A study launched by the Commission in 2010 has identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes. Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage — for example through encouraging clusters of industry and education. Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential —maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology — have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Energy: offshore wind energy contributes to reach a 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. In 2011, the Commission proposed guidelines to lay down rules for the development and interoperability of trans-European energy networks. Priority corridors were identified, including the North Sea Offshore Grid and the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.

Shipbuilding: a new Framework on State Aid to Shipbuilding was adopted in December 2011 containing specific provisions in relation to innovation aid and regional aid for shipbuilding, as well as provisions on exports credits. Its extended scope now applies to inland waterway vessels and floating and moving offshore structures.

Fisheries and aquaculture : in July 2011, the Commission adopted a package of initiatives, including new legislative proposals, to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. The transition will be accompanied by a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to improve sustainability, the performance of small-scale coastal fisheries, promote aquaculture, support job creation in maritime communities and deliver cost-efficiency in maritime affairs.

The report shows that the strong contribution of maritime sectors to Europe’s economy and the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy are reinforced by coordinated action to lower costs, improve resource efficiency, reduce risks, support innovation and make better use of public money. By facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders, and by avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, the IMP has enhanced the sustainable development of the European maritime economy, while contributing to a better protection of the marine environment.

The Commission considers it is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping-stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

Documents

Activities

AmendmentsDossier
206 2012/2297(INI)
2013/03/26 REGI 36 amendments...
source: PE-508.008
2013/03/27 PECH 39 amendments...
source: PE-508.043
2013/05/02 TRAN 131 amendments...
source: PE-510.615

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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  • date: 2012-09-13T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2012/0494/COM_COM(2012)0494_EN.pdf title: COM(2012)0494 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2012&nu_doc=494 title: EUR-Lex summary: The Commission presents a Communication on Blue Growth : opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. This is the contribution of the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The EU's blue economy represents 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of just under EUR 500 billion per year . In all, 75% of Europe’s external trade and 37% of trade within the EU is seaborne. This Communication drives forward the Commission's Integrated Maritime Policy and launches a process which will place the blue economy firmly on the agenda of Member States, regions, enterprise and civil society. It describes how Member States and EU policies are already supporting the blue economy. It then identifies specific areas where targeted action could provide an additional stimulus. A set of initiatives will subsequently be launched to explore and develop the growth potential in these areas. Blue Growth Focus Areas : an analysis of the job-creation potential, as well as the potential for research and development to deliver technology improvements and innovation and the need for action at EU level, has suggested that five value chains could deliver sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. They could therefore benefit from clear-sighted policymaking, allowing the private sector to play a leading role in helping the blue economy reach its sustainable growth potential. This list should not be considered exhaustive. Ongoing EU initiatives are already encouraging innovation in sectors such as maritime transport. Other value chains may emerge over time as suitable areas for further policy focus. The Communication identifies five focus areas in which additional efforts at EU level could yield long-term growth and sustainable jobs: 1. Blue energy: marine energies have the potential to enhance the efficiency of harvesting the European energy resource, minimize land-use requirements of the power sector and reduce the European greenhouse gas emissions (by about 65 Mt CO2 in 2020). · Offshore wind could meet 4% of the EU electricity demand by 2020 and 14% by 2030. This would mean 170 000 jobs by 2020, increasing to 300 000 by 2030. · Other offshore renewable energy technologies are still at an early stage of development, with Member States planning to install only a moderate capacity of 2 to 4 GW by 2020. The challenge is to accelerate the commercialisation of ocean energy through reductions in technology costs as world-wide demand is expected to double annually in the near future. Further efforts to reinforce research and development in the field of ocean energy are needed. · EU measures, including funding (EIB, Structural Funds), can have a crucial role in providing a framework that gives investors the confidence to invest. · EU industry is a world leader in blue energy and can contribute to reductions in carbon emissions outside Europe through exports. In addition, synergies can also be explored with the offshore conventional energy sector, for example by tackling safety and infrastructure challenges together. The Commission proposal for levelling up safety standards in the offshore oil and gas sector EU-wide is a key initiative. Working together with the conventional energy sector will help secure affordable energy supplies in the EU. 2. Aquaculture: globally, aquaculture has a growth rate of 6.6% per annum, making it the fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector and faster than the 1.8% annual global population increases. Fish accounts for about 15.7% of the animal protein consumed globally. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that aquaculture provides half of this and that by 2030 it will reach 65%. It is currently 25% in the EU. As part of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, the Commission proposes to promote aquaculture through an 'open method of coordination' based on nonbinding strategic guidelines, multiannual national strategic plans and the exchange of best practice. There is a wide scope for improving administrative practices, especially in licensing. 3. Maritime, coastal and cruise tourism : the maritime and coastal tourism sub-sector has now become the largest single maritime economic activity, employing 2.35 million people, equivalent to 1.1% of total EU employment. More than 90% of enterprises employ less than 10 people. The cruise industry is also growing. Within Europe it employs nearly 150000 people and generates direct turnover of EUR 14.5 billion. EU shipyards have been successful in serving this specialised market – both with large cruise ships and small leisure vessels. 4. Marine mineral resources : between 2000 and 2010 there has been an annual increase of about 15% in the price of many non-energy raw materials, mainly as a result of consumer demand in emerging economies. There is a risk of supply shortage for several of these, including those identified as critical to Europe's economy. By 2020, 5% of the world's minerals, including cobalt, copper and zinc could come from the ocean floors. This could rise to 10% by 2030. Global annual turnover of marine mineral mining can be expected to grow from virtually nothing to EUR 5 billion in the next 10 years and up to EUR 10 billion by 2030. 5. Blue biotechnology: the unexplored and understudied nature of much of the underwater world means that the capacity of marine organisms other than fish and shellfish to provide inputs to the blue economy is only just beginning to be appreciated, partly through new gene sequencing technologies for living organisms. While estimated current employment in the sector in Europe is still relatively low, and a gross value added of EUR 0.8 billion, the growth of the sector will offer high-skilled employment, especially if ground-breaking drugs can be developed from marine organisms, and significant downstream opportunities. Commission plans: for each of the five activities highlighted the Commission will analyse policy options and consider further initiatives. This will involve: · assessing the options for giving industry the confidence to invest in ocean renewable energy, taking into account the framework provided by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, the aim being to address ocean renewable energy issues in a Communication in 2013; · working collaboratively with Member States to develop best practice and agree on Strategic Guidelines on Aquaculture in the EU to be adopted in early 2013; · assessing how maritime and coastal tourism can further contribute to economic growth and provide less precarious jobs whilst improving its environmental sustainability. An impact assessment will be followed by a Communication in 2013; · assessing how European industry can become competitive in extracting minerals from the seafloor and how best to ensure that this activity does not prevent future generations from benefiting from hitherto untouched ecosystems. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will be delivered in 2014; · assessing the options for blue biotechnology to harness the diversity of marine life. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will also be delivered in 2014. In each of these areas, the assessment of options will begin with consultations with Member States and industry and other relevant stakeholders in order to develop joint approaches that will provide the extra push that the blue economy needs in order to provide a positive contribution to Europe's economic future, while safeguarding our unique marine environment for future generations. type: Document attached to the procedure body: EC
  • date: 2013-04-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE507.950 title: PE507.950 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2013-04-24T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE505.985&secondRef=02 title: PE505.985 committee: PECH type: Committee opinion body: EP
  • date: 2013-04-24T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE506.188&secondRef=02 title: PE506.188 committee: REGI type: Committee opinion body: EP
  • date: 2013-05-02T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE510.615 title: PE510.615 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
  • date: 2013-11-28T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=23059&j=0&l=en title: SP(2013)627 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events
  • date: 2012-09-11T00:00:00 type: Non-legislative basic document published body: EC docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2012/0491/COM_COM(2012)0491_EN.pdf title: COM(2012)0491 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2012&nu_doc=491 title: EUR-Lex summary: PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy. CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize. Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States. In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion. Achievements : the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture. The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport ; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning. Cooperation across sectors : Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence. Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million. Blue Growth : in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth , opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy. · The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes. · Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education. · Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs. Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth. · The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020. · Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships. The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years . During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.
  • date: 2012-11-22T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2013-05-30T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2013-06-10T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2013-209&language=EN title: A7-0209/2013 summary: The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the own-initiative report by Spyros DANELLIS (S&D, EL) on Blue Growth: Enhancing sustainable growth in the EU’s marine, maritime transport and tourism sectors in response to the Commission’s communication on the same subject. The report recalls that over 70% of the earth's surface is covered by oceans and seas which can play a crucial role in addressing the long-term challenges facing the EU, such as climate change and global competitiveness. This report is Parliament’s roadmap for the further advancement of blue growth . It seeks to revitalise the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP). General framework : the committee welcomes the Commission’s communication on Blue Growth which gives a clear indication of the potential of the maritime economy to create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and generate employment opportunities . In addition, the coastal and maritime policy should be included in the general framework of the 2014-2020 programming period, also with a view to achieving the objectives set out in the Europe 2020 strategy. The committee reiterates its support for the IMP and stresses that the promotion of this policy remains the primary means for enhancing blue growth. It considers that the Blue Growth Strategy, as part of the Integrated Maritime Policy, will encourage the development of synergies and coordinated policies, thus generating European added value . Members consider that, in order to boost the competitiveness of the Union's maritime economic sectors in the global market, local, regional, national and European authorities must create the necessary conditions for sustainable growth, namely by establishing : maritime spatial planning systems, upgrading infrastructure, creating access to professional skills and securing funding (such as new rules for venture capital). On funding , the report calls on the Member States to channel available financial instruments and European funding towards blue economy projects. It stresses the importance of taking into account the specific needs of the bailed-out Member States that are facing increased difficulty in undertaking high-cost projects, as well as those of the outermost and island regions, which present structural constraints due to their remoteness and natural characteristics. Clusters : the committee calls on the EU and the Member States to give strong support to the creation of regional and crossborder maritime clusters . It stresses the strategic importance of such clusters as centres of excellence for economic activity related to blue growth and their ability to promote the sharing of knowledge and good practice, generate synergies between the various sectors of the blue economy, and help to attract investment. Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management : the committee welcomes the Commission’s legislative proposal for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as measures necessary for managing the increasing number of maritime and coastal activities and protecting the marine environment. It notes that MSP is expected to bring business costs down and improve the investment climate , while ICM will facilitate the coordination of activities in the coastal zone and will bring about an overall improvement in the governance of this zone. A tailored approach is needed, so as to leave the Member States scope, when implementing EU maritime and coastal planning guidelines, for taking account of local specificities and needs in liaison with local authorities. The report states that the land-sea interface needs to be strengthened in the context of spatial planning in order to safeguard continuity of human activities and of the supply chain and ensure that coastal areas are properly connected with their hinterland. This could help avoid the phenomenon of coasts being treated as borders. The Commission is urged to help Member States launch plans to map and survey wrecked ships and submerged archaeological sites, which form an important part of the Union's historical and cultural heritage. Maritime skills and employment : the committee considers that overall employment in the blue economy may exceed the estimated number of 7 million jobs by 2020, if it is supported by training policies aimed at ensuring the presence of a mobile workforce with sufficient skills and experience. It reiterates its call for a significant improvement in working, health and safety conditions in the maritime professions and encourages the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts in this field in order to improve career security and make jobs in the blue economy and related sectors more attractive. In this area, the Commission is called upon to: ensure that initiatives such as the ‘EU Skills Panorama’ reflect the needs of the blue economy; draw up an action plan to promote professions that are directly or indirectly linked to the blue economy; cooperate with the representatives of the maritime economic sector and training providers with a view to establishing and funding European Sector Councils on Employment and Skills , in order to register jobs, changes in skills required and related training needs; develop an initiative to encourage the mobility of research staff, especially in coastal areas , with specific reference to the areas of tourism, energy and biotechnology, along the lines of Erasmus, to be implemented as a priority during low tourist seasons in order to balance, in a sustainable manner, the flows of people in increasingly sensitive ecosystems. Research and innovation : Members recall the EU’s world-class research capacity in maritime fields. The Commission is called upon to inter alia : update its European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research by 2014, proposing concrete measures to improve synergies and knowledge dissemination among researchers in the EU; provide adequate long-term environmental monitoring and conduct research on early warning systems ; make the necessary legislative proposals for the creation of the Blue Belt , including the necessary revision of the EU Customs Code, before the end of 2013; issue a communication on the progress, development and future of the motorways of the sea; significantly step up their efforts to reach an international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport . Maritime and coastal tourism : the report calls on the Member States to support initiatives to develop and upgrade sustainable tourism infrastructure, in particular to promote new forms of tourism, such as eco-agro-fishing and sustainable water sports. The importance of yachting and sailing for maritime tourism is also. Blue energy : the report notes that climate change is one of the main threats to marine biodiversity worldwide, and that the energy aspects of a blue growth strategy must be based on renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Commission is called upon to adopt an integrated approach to the development of marine energy resources, by exploiting synergies between offshore wind energy and other forms of renewable marine energy. Fisheries and aquaculture : the report points out that aquaculture in the EU has the potential significantly to improve the economies of coastal communities. It calls on the Commission, in its forthcoming strategic guidelines for aquaculture in the EU, to promote offshore aquaculture, which can be combined with blue energy facilities so as to reduce pressure from over-intensive aquaculture on coastal ecosystems and on other activities. Members acknowledge that protecting Europe’s maritime borders is a challenge for Member States and consider that a successful blue economy requires secure EU maritime borders , with a view to ensuring the protection of the marine environment, fisheries controls, the fight against illegal fishing and law enforcement. A European coastguard should be set up to coordinate operations and surveillance at sea. Marine mineral extraction : Members call on the Commission to pay particular attention to the environmental consequences of mining the seabed , especially in highly sensitive marine environments, to support relevant research projects, to apply the precautionary principle, and to cooperate with the authorities of third countries involved in the sector in the attempt to fill existing gaps in scientific knowledge more rapidly. Blue biotechnology : Members recognise that blue biotechnology has the potential to create high-skilled employment and has much to offer in critical areas such as health, nutrition and innovation. They welcome the Commission’s intention to support the research and innovation needed to promote this activity in the field of entrepreneurship.
  • date: 2013-07-01T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20130701&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2013-07-02T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=23059&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2013-07-02T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-300 title: T7-0300/2013 summary: The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Blue Growth: Enhancing sustainable growth in the EU’s marine, maritime transport and tourism sectors. The resolution recalls that over 70% of the earth's surface is covered by oceans and seas which can play a crucial role in addressing the long-term challenges facing the EU, such as climate change and global competitiveness. Approximately half of Europe's population lives along the 89 000 kilometres of Europe's coastline, and it is therefore important that regional and local authorities take this demographic pressure into account when implementing public policies. The adopted resolution is Parliament’s roadmap for the further advancement of blue growth . It seeks to revitalise the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP). General framework : Parliament welcomes the Commission’s communication on Blue Growth which gives a clear indication of the potential of the maritime economy to create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and generates employment opportunities . In addition, the coastal and maritime policy should be included in the general framework of the 2014-2020 programming period, also with a view to achieving the objectives set out in the Europe 2020 strategy. Members reiterate its support for the IMP and stresses that the promotion of this policy remains the primary means for enhancing blue growth. They consider that the Blue Growth Strategy, as part of the Integrated Maritime Policy, will encourage the development of synergies and coordinated policies, thus generating European added value . Parliament considers that, in order to boost the competitiveness of the Union's maritime economic sectors in the global market, local, regional, national and European authorities must create the necessary conditions for sustainable growth, namely by establishing: maritime spatial planning systems, upgrading infrastructure, creating access to professional skills, securing funding (such as new rules for venture capital). It stresses the importance of sharing information and best practices between the different levels of public authorities through the creation of a specific EU platform . On funding , the resolution calls on the Member States to channel available financial instruments and European funding towards blue economy projects. It stresses the importance of taking into account the specific needs of the bailed-out Member States that are facing increased difficulty in undertaking high-cost projects, as well as those of the outermost and island regions, which present structural constraints due to their remoteness and natural characteristics. Clusters : Members call on the EU and the Member States to give strong support to the creation of regional and crossborder maritime clusters . They stress the strategic importance of such clusters as centres of excellence for economic activity related to blue growth and their ability to promote the sharing of knowledge and good practice, generate synergies between the various sectors of the blue economy, and help to attract investment. Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management : Parliament welcomes the Commission’s legislative proposal for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as measures necessary for managing the increasing number of maritime and coastal activities and protecting the marine environment. It also notes that MSP is expected to bring business costs down and improve the investment climate , while ICM will facilitate the coordination of activities in the coastal zone and will bring about an overall improvement in the governance of this zone. A tailored approach is needed, so as to leave the Member States scope, when implementing EU maritime and coastal planning guidelines, for taking account of local specificities and needs in liaison with local authorities. The resolution states that the land-sea interface needs to be strengthened in the context of spatial planning in order to safeguard continuity of human activities and of the supply chain and ensure that coastal areas are properly connected with their hinterland. This could help avoid the phenomenon of coasts being treated as borders. The Commission is urged to help Member States launch plans to map and survey wrecked ships and submerged archaeological sites, which form an important part of the Union's historical and cultural heritage. Maritime skills and employment : Members consider that overall employment in the blue economy may exceed the estimated number of 7 million jobs by 2020, if it is supported by training policies aimed at ensuring the presence of a mobile workforce with sufficient skills and experience. They reiterate their call for a significant improvement in working, health and safety conditions in the maritime professions and encourage the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts in this field in order to improve career security and make jobs in the blue economy and related sectors more attractive. In this area, the Commission is called upon to: ensure that initiatives such as the ‘EU Skills Panorama’ reflect the needs of the blue economy; draw up an action plan to promote professions that are directly or indirectly linked to the blue economy; cooperate with the representatives of the maritime economic sector and training providers with a view to establishing and funding European Sector Councils on Employment and Skills , in order to register jobs, changes in skills required and related training needs; develop an initiative to encourage the mobility of research staff, especially in coastal areas , with specific reference to the areas of tourism, energy and biotechnology, along the lines of Erasmus, to be implemented as a priority during low tourist seasons in order to balance, in a sustainable manner, the flows of people in increasingly sensitive ecosystems. Research and innovation : Members recall the EU’s world-class research capacity in maritime fields. It calls on the Commission to update its European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research by 2014 and provide adequate long-term environmental monitoring and conduct research on early warning systems. Members recognise that blue biotechnology has the potential to create high-skilled employment and has much to offer in critical areas such as health, nutrition and innovation. They welcome the Commission’s intention to support the research and innovation needed to promote this activity in the field of entrepreneurship. Shipping and shipbuilding : Parliament notes with concern that shipping within the EU continues to be hampered by administrative and customs red tape which prevents growth in the industry, especially in maritime cabotage and motorways of the sea. A uniform set of rules for intra-Union shipping needs to be developed as it is crucial to ensuring the free movement of goods and persons in EU waters. Members call on the Commission to make the necessary legislative proposals for the creation of the Blue Belt , including the necessary revision of the EU Customs Code, before the end of 2013. The Commission and the Member States are called upon to significantly step up their efforts to reach an international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport , taking into account the growing impact of greenhouse gas emissions from ships. The resolution points out that eco-friendly fuels such as LNG can play an important role in achieving the target of reducing the EU's CO2 emissions from maritime bunker fuels by at least 40% by 2050. The Council is urged to reach an agreement with Parliament to adopt a regulation providing for vessels to be dismantled in a way that respects the environment and the workers' working conditions. Maritime and coastal tourism : the resolution calls on the Member States to support initiatives to develop and upgrade sustainable tourism infrastructure, in particular to promote new forms of tourism, such as eco-agro-fishing and sustainable water sports. The importance of yachting and sailing for maritime tourism is also. Blue energy : the resolution notes that climate change is one of the main threats to marine biodiversity worldwide, and that the energy aspects of a blue growth strategy must be based on renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Commission is called upon to adopt an integrated approach to the development of marine energy resources, by exploiting synergies between offshore wind energy and other forms of renewable marine energy. Fisheries and aquaculture : Members acknowledge that protecting Europe’s maritime borders is a challenge for Member States and consider that a successful blue economy requires secure EU maritime borders , with a view to ensuring the protection of the marine environment, fisheries controls, the fight against illegal fishing and law enforcement. A European coastguard should be set up to coordinate operations and surveillance at sea.
  • date: 2013-07-02T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
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  • 3.15 Fisheries policy
  • 3.20.03 Maritime transport: passengers and freight
  • 3.20.03.01 Maritime safety
  • 3.70.05 Marine and coastal pollution, pollution from ships, oil pollution
  • 3.70.20 Sustainable development
  • 4.50 Tourism
  • 4.70.05 Regional cooperation, transfrontier cooperation
  • 5.05 Economic growth
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The Commission presents a Communication on Blue Growth: opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. This is the contribution of the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The EU's blue economy represents 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of just under EUR 500 billion per year. In all, 75% of Europe’s external trade and 37% of trade within the EU is seaborne.

This Communication drives forward the Commission's Integrated Maritime Policy and launches a process which will place the blue economy firmly on the agenda of Member States, regions, enterprise and civil society. It describes how Member States and EU policies are already supporting the blue economy. It then identifies specific areas where targeted action could provide an additional stimulus. A set of initiatives will subsequently be launched to explore and develop the growth potential in these areas.

Blue Growth Focus Areas: an analysis of the job-creation potential, as well as the potential for research and development to deliver technology improvements and innovation and the need for action at EU level, has suggested that five value chains could deliver sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. They could therefore benefit from clear-sighted policymaking, allowing the private sector to play a leading role in helping the blue economy reach its sustainable growth potential. This list should not be considered exhaustive. Ongoing EU initiatives are already encouraging innovation in sectors such as maritime transport. Other value chains may emerge over time as suitable areas for further policy focus. 

The Communication identifies five focus areas in which additional efforts at EU level could yield long-term growth and sustainable jobs:

1. Blue energy: marine energies have the potential to enhance the efficiency of harvesting the European energy resource, minimize land-use requirements of the power sector and reduce the European greenhouse gas emissions (by about 65 Mt CO2 in 2020).

·        Offshore wind could meet 4% of the EU electricity demand by 2020 and 14% by 2030. This would mean 170 000 jobs by 2020, increasing to 300 000 by 2030.

·        Other offshore renewable energy technologies are still at an early stage of development, with Member States planning to install only a moderate capacity of 2 to 4 GW by 2020. The challenge is to accelerate the commercialisation of ocean energy through reductions in technology costs as world-wide demand is expected to double annually in the near future. Further efforts to reinforce research and development in the field of ocean energy are needed.

·        EU measures, including funding (EIB, Structural Funds), can have a crucial role in providing a framework that gives investors the confidence to invest.

·        EU industry is a world leader in blue energy and can contribute to reductions in carbon emissions outside Europe through exports. In addition, synergies can also be explored with the offshore conventional energy sector, for example by tackling safety and infrastructure challenges together. The Commission proposal for levelling up safety standards in the offshore oil and gas sector EU-wide is a key initiative. Working together with the conventional energy sector will help secure affordable energy supplies in the EU.

2. Aquaculture: globally, aquaculture has a growth rate of 6.6% per annum, making it the fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector and faster than the 1.8% annual global population increases. Fish accounts for about 15.7% of the animal protein consumed globally. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that aquaculture provides half of this and that by 2030 it will reach 65%. It is currently 25% in the EU.

As part of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, the Commission proposes to promote aquaculture through an 'open method of coordination' based on nonbinding strategic guidelines, multiannual national strategic plans and the exchange of best practice. There is a wide scope for improving administrative practices, especially in licensing.

3. Maritime, coastal and cruise tourism: the maritime and coastal tourism sub-sector has now become the largest single maritime economic activity, employing 2.35 million people, equivalent to 1.1% of total EU employment. More than 90% of enterprises employ less than 10 people. The cruise industry is also growing. Within Europe it employs nearly 150000 people and generates direct turnover of EUR 14.5 billion. EU shipyards have been successful in serving this specialised market – both with large cruise ships and small leisure vessels.

4. Marine mineral resources: between 2000 and 2010 there has been an annual increase of about 15% in the price of many non-energy raw materials, mainly as a result of consumer demand in emerging economies. There is a risk of supply shortage for several of these, including those identified as critical to Europe's economy. By 2020, 5% of the world's minerals, including cobalt, copper and zinc could come from the ocean floors. This could rise to 10% by 2030. Global annual turnover of marine mineral mining can be expected to grow from virtually nothing to EUR 5 billion in the next 10 years and up to EUR 10 billion by 2030.

5. Blue biotechnology: the unexplored and understudied nature of much of the underwater world means that the capacity of marine organisms other than fish and shellfish to provide inputs to the blue economy is only just beginning to be appreciated, partly through new gene sequencing technologies for living organisms. While estimated current employment in the sector in Europe is still relatively low, and a gross value added of EUR 0.8 billion, the growth of the sector will offer high-skilled employment, especially if ground-breaking drugs can be developed from marine organisms, and significant downstream opportunities.

Commission plans: for each of the five activities highlighted the Commission will analyse policy options and consider further initiatives. This will involve:

·        assessing the options for giving industry  the confidence to invest in ocean renewable energy, taking into account the framework provided by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, the aim being to address ocean renewable energy issues in a Communication in 2013;

·        working collaboratively with Member States to develop  best practice and agree on Strategic Guidelines on Aquaculture in the EU to be adopted in early 2013;

·        assessing how maritime and coastal tourism can further contribute to economic growth and provide less precarious jobs whilst improving its environmental sustainability. An impact assessment will be followed by a Communication in 2013;

·        assessing how European industry can  become competitive in extracting minerals from the seafloor and how best to ensure that this activity does not prevent future generations from benefiting from hitherto untouched ecosystems. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will be delivered in 2014;

·        assessing the options for blue biotechnology to harness the diversity of marine life. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will also be delivered in 2014.

In each of these areas, the assessment of options will begin with consultations with Member States and industry and other relevant stakeholders in order to develop joint approaches that will provide the extra push that the blue economy needs in order to provide a positive contribution to Europe's economic future, while safeguarding our unique marine environment for future generations.

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PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

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  • The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Blue Growth: Enhancing sustainable growth in the EU’s marine, maritime transport and tourism sectors.

    The resolution recalls that over 70% of the earth's surface is covered by oceans and seas which can play a crucial role in addressing the long-term challenges facing the EU, such as climate change and global competitiveness. Approximately half of Europe's population lives along the 89 000 kilometres of Europe's coastline, and it is therefore important that regional and local authorities take this demographic pressure into account when implementing public policies.

    The adopted resolution is Parliament’s roadmap for the further advancement of blue growth. It seeks to revitalise the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP).

    General framework: Parliament welcomes the Commission’s communication on Blue Growth which gives a clear indication of the potential of the maritime economy to create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and generates employment opportunities. In addition, the coastal and maritime policy should be included in the general framework of the 2014-2020 programming period, also with a view to achieving the objectives set out in the Europe 2020 strategy.

    Members reiterate its support for the IMP and stresses that the promotion of this policy remains the primary means for enhancing blue growth. They consider that the Blue Growth Strategy, as part of the Integrated Maritime Policy, will encourage the development of synergies and coordinated policies, thus generating European added value.

    Parliament considers that, in order to boost the competitiveness of the Union's maritime economic sectors in the global market, local, regional, national and European authorities must create the necessary conditions for sustainable growth, namely by establishing:

    • maritime spatial planning systems,
    • upgrading infrastructure,
    • creating access to professional skills,
    • securing funding (such as new rules for venture capital).

    It stresses the importance of sharing information and best practices between the different levels of public authorities through the creation of a specific EU platform.

    On funding, the resolution calls on the Member States to channel available financial instruments and European funding towards blue economy projects. It stresses the importance of taking into account the specific needs of the bailed-out Member States that are facing increased difficulty in undertaking high-cost projects, as well as those of the outermost and island regions, which present structural constraints due to their remoteness and natural characteristics.

    Clusters: Members call on the EU and the Member States to give strong support to the creation of regional and crossborder maritime clusters. They stress the strategic importance of such clusters as centres of excellence for economic activity related to blue growth and their ability to promote the sharing of knowledge and good practice, generate synergies between the various sectors of the blue economy, and help to attract investment.

    Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management: Parliament welcomes the Commission’s legislative proposal for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as measures necessary for managing the increasing number of maritime and coastal activities and protecting the marine environment. It also notes that MSP is expected to bring business costs down and improve the investment climate, while ICM will facilitate the coordination of activities in the coastal zone and will bring about an overall improvement in the governance of this zone. A tailored approach is needed, so as to leave the Member States scope, when implementing EU maritime and coastal planning guidelines, for taking account of local specificities and needs in liaison with local authorities.

    The resolution states that the land-sea interface needs to be strengthened in the context of spatial planning in order to safeguard continuity of human activities and of the supply chain and ensure that coastal areas are properly connected with their hinterland. This could help avoid the phenomenon of coasts being treated as borders.

    The Commission is urged to help Member States launch plans to map and survey wrecked ships and submerged archaeological sites, which form an important part of the Union's historical and cultural heritage.

    Maritime skills and employment: Members consider that overall employment in the blue economy may exceed the estimated number of 7 million jobs by 2020, if it is supported by training policies aimed at ensuring the presence of a mobile workforce with sufficient skills and experience. They reiterate their call for a significant improvement in working, health and safety conditions in the maritime professions and encourage the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts in this field in order to improve career security and make jobs in the blue economy and related sectors more attractive.

    In this area, the Commission is called upon to:

    • ensure that initiatives such as the ‘EU Skills Panorama’ reflect the needs of the blue economy;
    • draw up an action plan to promote professions that are directly or indirectly linked to the blue economy;
    • cooperate with the representatives of the maritime economic sector and training providers with a view to establishing and funding European Sector Councils on Employment and Skills, in order to register jobs, changes in skills required and related training needs;
    • develop an initiative to encourage the mobility of research staff, especially in coastal areas, with specific reference to the areas of tourism, energy and biotechnology, along the lines of Erasmus, to be implemented as a priority during low tourist seasons in order to balance, in a sustainable manner, the flows of people in increasingly sensitive ecosystems.

    Research and innovation: Members recall the EU’s world-class research capacity in maritime fields. It calls on the Commission to update its European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research by 2014 and provide adequate long-term environmental monitoring and conduct research on early warning systems.

    Members recognise that blue biotechnology has the potential to create high-skilled employment and has much to offer in critical areas such as health, nutrition and innovation. They welcome the Commission’s intention to support the research and innovation needed to promote this activity in the field of entrepreneurship.

    Shipping and shipbuilding: Parliament notes with concern that shipping within the EU continues to be hampered by administrative and customs red tape which prevents growth in the industry, especially in maritime cabotage and motorways of the sea. A uniform set of rules for intra-Union shipping needs to be developed as it is crucial to ensuring the free movement of goods and persons in EU waters.

    Members call on the Commission to make the necessary legislative proposals for the creation of the Blue Belt, including the necessary revision of the EU Customs Code, before the end of 2013.

    The Commission and the Member States are called upon to significantly step up their efforts to reach an international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport, taking into account the growing impact of greenhouse gas emissions from ships. The resolution points out that eco-friendly fuels such as LNG can play an important role in achieving the target of reducing the EU's CO2 emissions from maritime bunker fuels by at least 40% by 2050.

    The Council is urged to reach an agreement with Parliament to adopt a regulation providing for vessels to be dismantled in a way that respects the environment and the workers' working conditions.

    Maritime and coastal tourism: the resolution calls on the Member States to support initiatives to develop and upgrade sustainable tourism infrastructure, in particular to promote new forms of tourism, such as eco-agro-fishing and sustainable water sports. The importance of yachting and sailing for maritime tourism is also.

    Blue energy: the resolution notes that climate change is one of the main threats to marine biodiversity worldwide, and that the energy aspects of a blue growth strategy must be based on renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Commission is called upon to adopt an integrated approach to the development of marine energy resources, by exploiting synergies between offshore wind energy and other forms of renewable marine energy.

    Fisheries and aquaculture: Members acknowledge that protecting Europe’s maritime borders is a challenge for Member States and consider that a successful blue economy requires secure EU maritime borders, with a view to ensuring the protection of the marine environment, fisheries controls, the fight against illegal fishing and law enforcement. A European coastguard should be set up to coordinate operations and surveillance at sea.

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  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2013-300 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0300/2013
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  • The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the own-initiative report by Spyros DANELLIS (S&D, EL) on Blue Growth: Enhancing sustainable growth in the EU’s marine, maritime transport and tourism sectors in response to the Commission’s communication on the same subject.

    The report recalls that over 70% of the earth's surface is covered by oceans and seas which can play a crucial role in addressing the long-term challenges facing the EU, such as climate change and global competitiveness.

    This report is Parliament’s roadmap for the further advancement of blue growth. It seeks to revitalise the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP).

    General framework: the committee welcomes the Commission’s communication on Blue Growth which gives a clear indication of the potential of the maritime economy to create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and generate employment opportunities. In addition, the coastal and maritime policy should be included in the general framework of the 2014-2020 programming period, also with a view to achieving the objectives set out in the Europe 2020 strategy.

    The committee reiterates its support for the IMP and stresses that the promotion of this policy remains the primary means for enhancing blue growth. It considers that the Blue Growth Strategy, as part of the Integrated Maritime Policy, will encourage the development of synergies and coordinated policies, thus generating European added value.

    Members consider that, in order to boost the competitiveness of the Union's maritime economic sectors in the global market, local, regional, national and European authorities must create the necessary conditions for sustainable growth, namely by establishing :

    • maritime spatial planning systems,
    • upgrading infrastructure,
    • creating access to professional skills and securing funding (such as new rules for venture capital).

    On funding, the report calls on the Member States to channel available financial instruments and European funding towards blue economy projects. It stresses the importance of taking into account the specific needs of the bailed-out Member States that are facing increased difficulty in undertaking high-cost projects, as well as those of the outermost and island regions, which present structural constraints due to their remoteness and natural characteristics.

    Clusters: the committee calls on the EU and the Member States to give strong support to the creation of regional and crossborder maritime clusters. It stresses the strategic importance of such clusters as centres of excellence for economic activity related to blue growth and their ability to promote the sharing of knowledge and good practice, generate synergies between the various sectors of the blue economy, and help to attract investment.

    Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management: the committee welcomes the Commission’s legislative proposal for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as measures necessary for managing the increasing number of maritime and coastal activities and protecting the marine environment. It notes that MSP is expected to bring business costs down and improve the investment climate, while ICM will facilitate the coordination of activities in the coastal zone and will bring about an overall improvement in the governance of this zone. A tailored  approach is needed, so as to leave the Member States scope, when implementing EU maritime and coastal planning guidelines, for taking account of local specificities and needs in liaison with local authorities.

    The report states that the land-sea interface needs to be strengthened in the context of spatial planning in order to safeguard continuity of human activities and of the supply chain and ensure that coastal areas are properly connected with their hinterland. This could help avoid the phenomenon of coasts being treated as borders.

    The Commission is urged to help Member States launch plans to map and survey wrecked ships and submerged archaeological sites, which form an important part of the Union's historical and cultural heritage.

    Maritime skills and employment: the committee considers that overall employment in the blue economy may exceed the estimated number of 7 million jobs by 2020, if it is supported by training policies aimed at ensuring the presence of a mobile workforce with sufficient skills and experience. It reiterates its call for a significant improvement in working, health and safety conditions in the maritime professions and encourages the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts in this field in order to improve career security and make jobs in the blue economy and related sectors more attractive.

    In this area, the Commission is called upon to:

    • ensure that initiatives such as the ‘EU Skills Panorama’ reflect the needs of the blue economy;
    • draw up an action plan to promote professions that are directly or indirectly linked to the blue economy;
    • cooperate with the representatives of the maritime economic sector and training providers with a view to establishing and funding European Sector Councils on Employment and Skills, in order to register jobs, changes in skills required and related training needs;
    • develop an initiative to encourage the mobility of research staff, especially in coastal areas, with specific reference to the areas of tourism, energy and biotechnology, along the lines of Erasmus, to be implemented as a priority during low tourist seasons in order to balance, in a sustainable manner, the flows of people in increasingly sensitive ecosystems.

    Research and innovation: Members recall the EU’s world-class research capacity in maritime fields.

    The Commission is called upon to inter alia:

    • update its European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research by 2014, proposing concrete measures to improve synergies and knowledge dissemination among researchers in the EU;
    • provide adequate long-term environmental monitoring and conduct research on early warning systems;
    • make the necessary legislative proposals for the creation of the Blue Belt, including the necessary revision of the EU Customs Code, before the end of 2013;
    • issue a communication on the progress, development and future of the motorways of the sea;
    • significantly step up their efforts to reach an international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport.

    Maritime and coastal tourism: the report calls on the Member States to support initiatives to develop and upgrade sustainable tourism infrastructure, in particular to promote new forms of tourism, such as eco-agro-fishing and sustainable water sports. The importance of yachting and sailing for maritime tourism is also.

    Blue energy: the report notes that climate change is one of the main threats to marine biodiversity worldwide, and that the energy aspects of a blue growth strategy must be based on renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Commission is called upon to adopt an integrated approach to the development of marine energy resources, by exploiting synergies between offshore wind energy and other forms of renewable marine energy.

    Fisheries and aquaculture: the report points out that aquaculture in the EU has the potential significantly to improve the economies of coastal communities. It calls on the Commission, in its forthcoming strategic guidelines for aquaculture in the EU, to promote offshore aquaculture, which can be combined with blue energy facilities so as to reduce pressure from over-intensive aquaculture on coastal ecosystems and on other activities. Members acknowledge that protecting Europe’s maritime borders is a challenge for Member States and consider that a successful blue economy requires secure EU maritime borders, with a view to ensuring the protection of the marine environment, fisheries controls, the fight against illegal fishing and law enforcement. A European coastguard should be set up to coordinate operations and surveillance at sea.

    Marine mineral extraction: Members call on the Commission to pay particular attention to the environmental consequences of mining the seabed, especially in highly sensitive marine environments, to support relevant research projects, to apply the precautionary principle, and to cooperate with the authorities of third countries involved in the sector in the attempt to fill existing gaps in scientific knowledge more rapidly.

    Blue biotechnology: Members recognise that blue biotechnology has the potential to create high-skilled employment and has much to offer in critical areas such as health, nutrition and innovation. They welcome the Commission’s intention to support the research and innovation needed to promote this activity in the field of entrepreneurship.

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The Commission presents its second report describing the progress of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights the contribution of these policies to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The report notes that the IMP was created to reaffirm the maritime dimension of the EU. The IMP has grown from this vision into a tool delivering concrete benefits for maritime growth and sustainability in Europe. The report presents a picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. It examines actions taken under the following policy areas: transport, research, environment, tourism, shipbuilding, climate change adaption, and regional policies. Among the initiatives launched are the following:

·        the White Paper for Transport, which further specifies the orientations of the Maritime Transport Strategy until 2018: the ability to provide cost-efficient maritime transport services; the long-term competitiveness of the EU shipping sector; and the creation of seamless transport chains for passengers and cargo across transport modes;

·        the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance;

·        a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness;

·        three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users;

·        a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011;

·        a Decision to implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, laying down criteria and methodological standards for the assessment of Good Environmental Status.

The contribution of the maritime economy to growth and employment

Blue Growth: the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy. A study launched by the Commission in 2010 has identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes. Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage — for example through encouraging clusters of industry and education. Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential —maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology — have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Energy: offshore wind energy contributes to reach a 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. In 2011, the Commission proposed guidelines to lay down rules for the development and interoperability of trans-European energy networks. Priority corridors were identified, including the North Sea Offshore Grid and the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.

Shipbuilding: a new Framework on State Aid to Shipbuilding was adopted in December 2011 containing specific provisions in relation to innovation aid and regional aid for shipbuilding, as well as provisions on exports credits. Its extended scope now applies to inland waterway vessels and floating and moving offshore structures. 

Fisheries and aquaculture: in July 2011, the Commission adopted a package of initiatives, including new legislative proposals, to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. The transition will be accompanied by a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to improve sustainability, the performance of small-scale coastal fisheries, promote aquaculture, support job creation in maritime communities and deliver cost-efficiency in maritime affairs.

The report shows that the strong contribution of maritime sectors to Europe’s economy and the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy are reinforced by coordinated action to lower costs, improve resource efficiency, reduce risks, support innovation and make better use of public money. By facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders, and by avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, the IMP has enhanced the sustainable development of the European maritime economy, while contributing to a better protection of the marine environment.

The Commission considers it is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping-stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

New

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

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New
Debate scheduled
activities/8/type
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Vote in plenary scheduled
New
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activities/0/docs/0/text/0
Old

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

New

The Commission presents its second report describing the progress of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights the contribution of these policies to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The report notes that the IMP was created to reaffirm the maritime dimension of the EU. The IMP has grown from this vision into a tool delivering concrete benefits for maritime growth and sustainability in Europe. The report presents a picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. It examines actions taken under the following policy areas: transport, research, environment, tourism, shipbuilding, climate change adaption, and regional policies. Among the initiatives launched are the following:

·        the White Paper for Transport, which further specifies the orientations of the Maritime Transport Strategy until 2018: the ability to provide cost-efficient maritime transport services; the long-term competitiveness of the EU shipping sector; and the creation of seamless transport chains for passengers and cargo across transport modes;

·        the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance;

·        a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness;

·        three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users;

·        a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011;

·        a Decision to implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, laying down criteria and methodological standards for the assessment of Good Environmental Status.

The contribution of the maritime economy to growth and employment

Blue Growth: the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy. A study launched by the Commission in 2010 has identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes. Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage — for example through encouraging clusters of industry and education. Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential —maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology — have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Energy: offshore wind energy contributes to reach a 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. In 2011, the Commission proposed guidelines to lay down rules for the development and interoperability of trans-European energy networks. Priority corridors were identified, including the North Sea Offshore Grid and the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.

Shipbuilding: a new Framework on State Aid to Shipbuilding was adopted in December 2011 containing specific provisions in relation to innovation aid and regional aid for shipbuilding, as well as provisions on exports credits. Its extended scope now applies to inland waterway vessels and floating and moving offshore structures. 

Fisheries and aquaculture: in July 2011, the Commission adopted a package of initiatives, including new legislative proposals, to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. The transition will be accompanied by a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to improve sustainability, the performance of small-scale coastal fisheries, promote aquaculture, support job creation in maritime communities and deliver cost-efficiency in maritime affairs.

The report shows that the strong contribution of maritime sectors to Europe’s economy and the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy are reinforced by coordinated action to lower costs, improve resource efficiency, reduce risks, support innovation and make better use of public money. By facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders, and by avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, the IMP has enhanced the sustainable development of the European maritime economy, while contributing to a better protection of the marine environment.

The Commission considers it is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping-stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

activities/0/type
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New
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activities/7/type
Old
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New
Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
activities/8/type
Old
Vote scheduled
New
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activities/0/docs/0/text/0
Old

The Commission presents its second report describing the progress of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights the contribution of these policies to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The report notes that the IMP was created to reaffirm the maritime dimension of the EU. The IMP has grown from this vision into a tool delivering concrete benefits for maritime growth and sustainability in Europe. The report presents a picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. It examines actions taken under the following policy areas: transport, research, environment, tourism, shipbuilding, climate change adaption, and regional policies. Among the initiatives launched are the following:

·        the White Paper for Transport, which further specifies the orientations of the Maritime Transport Strategy until 2018: the ability to provide cost-efficient maritime transport services; the long-term competitiveness of the EU shipping sector; and the creation of seamless transport chains for passengers and cargo across transport modes;

·        the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance;

·        a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness;

·        three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users;

·        a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011;

·        a Decision to implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, laying down criteria and methodological standards for the assessment of Good Environmental Status.

The contribution of the maritime economy to growth and employment

Blue Growth: the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy. A study launched by the Commission in 2010 has identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes. Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage — for example through encouraging clusters of industry and education. Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential —maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology — have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Energy: offshore wind energy contributes to reach a 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. In 2011, the Commission proposed guidelines to lay down rules for the development and interoperability of trans-European energy networks. Priority corridors were identified, including the North Sea Offshore Grid and the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.

Shipbuilding: a new Framework on State Aid to Shipbuilding was adopted in December 2011 containing specific provisions in relation to innovation aid and regional aid for shipbuilding, as well as provisions on exports credits. Its extended scope now applies to inland waterway vessels and floating and moving offshore structures. 

Fisheries and aquaculture: in July 2011, the Commission adopted a package of initiatives, including new legislative proposals, to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. The transition will be accompanied by a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to improve sustainability, the performance of small-scale coastal fisheries, promote aquaculture, support job creation in maritime communities and deliver cost-efficiency in maritime affairs.

The report shows that the strong contribution of maritime sectors to Europe’s economy and the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy are reinforced by coordinated action to lower costs, improve resource efficiency, reduce risks, support innovation and make better use of public money. By facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders, and by avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, the IMP has enhanced the sustainable development of the European maritime economy, while contributing to a better protection of the marine environment.

The Commission considers it is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping-stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

New

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

activities/0/type
Old
Follow-up document
New
Non-legislative basic document
activities/7/type
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New
Debate scheduled
activities/8
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2013-07-02T00:00:00
body
EP
type
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activities/0/commission/0/Commissioner
Old
KALLAS Siim
New
DAMANAKI Maria
activities/0/docs/0/text/0
Old

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

New

The Commission presents its second report describing the progress of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights the contribution of these policies to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The report notes that the IMP was created to reaffirm the maritime dimension of the EU. The IMP has grown from this vision into a tool delivering concrete benefits for maritime growth and sustainability in Europe. The report presents a picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. It examines actions taken under the following policy areas: transport, research, environment, tourism, shipbuilding, climate change adaption, and regional policies. Among the initiatives launched are the following:

·        the White Paper for Transport, which further specifies the orientations of the Maritime Transport Strategy until 2018: the ability to provide cost-efficient maritime transport services; the long-term competitiveness of the EU shipping sector; and the creation of seamless transport chains for passengers and cargo across transport modes;

·        the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance;

·        a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness;

·        three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users;

·        a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011;

·        a Decision to implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, laying down criteria and methodological standards for the assessment of Good Environmental Status.

The contribution of the maritime economy to growth and employment

Blue Growth: the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy. A study launched by the Commission in 2010 has identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes. Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage — for example through encouraging clusters of industry and education. Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential —maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology — have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Energy: offshore wind energy contributes to reach a 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. In 2011, the Commission proposed guidelines to lay down rules for the development and interoperability of trans-European energy networks. Priority corridors were identified, including the North Sea Offshore Grid and the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.

Shipbuilding: a new Framework on State Aid to Shipbuilding was adopted in December 2011 containing specific provisions in relation to innovation aid and regional aid for shipbuilding, as well as provisions on exports credits. Its extended scope now applies to inland waterway vessels and floating and moving offshore structures. 

Fisheries and aquaculture: in July 2011, the Commission adopted a package of initiatives, including new legislative proposals, to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. The transition will be accompanied by a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to improve sustainability, the performance of small-scale coastal fisheries, promote aquaculture, support job creation in maritime communities and deliver cost-efficiency in maritime affairs.

The report shows that the strong contribution of maritime sectors to Europe’s economy and the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy are reinforced by coordinated action to lower costs, improve resource efficiency, reduce risks, support innovation and make better use of public money. By facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders, and by avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, the IMP has enhanced the sustainable development of the European maritime economy, while contributing to a better protection of the marine environment.

The Commission considers it is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping-stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

activities/0/type
Old
Non-legislative basic document
New
Follow-up document
activities/1/commission/0/Commissioner
Old
KALLAS Siim
New
DAMANAKI Maria
other/0/commissioner
Old
KALLAS Siim
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DAMANAKI Maria
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  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: PECH date: 2012-11-29T00:00:00 committee_full: Fisheries rapporteur: group: EFD name: SALAVRAKOS Nikolaos
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: REGI date: 2012-12-18T00:00:00 committee_full: Regional Development rapporteur: group: EPP name: KELLY Seán
  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: VLASTO Dominique group: ALDE name: MEISSNER Gesine group: Verts/ALE name: TAYLOR Keith group: ECR name: VAN DALEN Peter group: GUE/NGL name: RUBIKS Alfreds responsible: True committee: TRAN date: 2012-11-05T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: S&D name: DANELLIS Spyros
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5.05 Sustainable development and growth
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5.05 Sustainable economic growth
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3.70.20 Sustainable development
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Old
Advancing the EU’s Maritime Transport and Tourism Policies
New
Blue growth - Enhancing sustainable growth in the EU's marine, maritime transport and tourism sectors
activities/0/docs/0/text/0
Old

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

New

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

activities/1/docs/0/text/0
Old

The Commission presents a Communication on Blue Growth: opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. This is the contribution of the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The EU's blue economy represents 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of just under EUR 500 billion per year. In all, 75% of Europe’s external trade and 37% of trade within the EU is seaborne.

This Communication drives forward the Commission's Integrated Maritime Policy and launches a process which will place the blue economy firmly on the agenda of Member States, regions, enterprise and civil society. It describes how Member States and EU policies are already supporting the blue economy. It then identifies specific areas where targeted action could provide an additional stimulus. A set of initiatives will subsequently be launched to explore and develop the growth potential in these areas.

Blue Growth Focus Areas: an analysis of the job-creation potential, as well as the potential for research and development to deliver technology improvements and innovation and the need for action at EU level, has suggested that five value chains could deliver sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. They could therefore benefit from clear-sighted policymaking, allowing the private sector to play a leading role in helping the blue economy reach its sustainable growth potential. This list should not be considered exhaustive. Ongoing EU initiatives are already encouraging innovation in sectors such as maritime transport. Other value chains may emerge over time as suitable areas for further policy focus. 

The Communication identifies five focus areas in which additional efforts at EU level could yield long-term growth and sustainable jobs:

1. Blue energy: marine energies have the potential to enhance the efficiency of harvesting the European energy resource, minimize land-use requirements of the power sector and reduce the European greenhouse gas emissions (by about 65 Mt CO2 in 2020).

·        Offshore wind could meet 4% of the EU electricity demand by 2020 and 14% by 2030. This would mean 170 000 jobs by 2020, increasing to 300 000 by 2030.

·        Other offshore renewable energy technologies are still at an early stage of development, with Member States planning to install only a moderate capacity of 2 to 4 GW by 2020. The challenge is to accelerate the commercialisation of ocean energy through reductions in technology costs as world-wide demand is expected to double annually in the near future. Further efforts to reinforce research and development in the field of ocean energy are needed.

·        EU measures, including funding (EIB, Structural Funds), can have a crucial role in providing a framework that gives investors the confidence to invest.

·        EU industry is a world leader in blue energy and can contribute to reductions in carbon emissions outside Europe through exports. In addition, synergies can also be explored with the offshore conventional energy sector, for example by tackling safety and infrastructure challenges together. The Commission proposal for levelling up safety standards in the offshore oil and gas sector EU-wide is a key initiative. Working together with the conventional energy sector will help secure affordable energy supplies in the EU.

2. Aquaculture: globally, aquaculture has a growth rate of 6.6% per annum, making it the fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector and faster than the 1.8% annual global population increases. Fish accounts for about 15.7% of the animal protein consumed globally. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that aquaculture provides half of this and that by 2030 it will reach 65%. It is currently 25% in the EU.

As part of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, the Commission proposes to promote aquaculture through an 'open method of coordination' based on nonbinding strategic guidelines, multiannual national strategic plans and the exchange of best practice. There is a wide scope for improving administrative practices, especially in licensing.

3. Maritime, coastal and cruise tourism: the maritime and coastal tourism sub-sector has now become the largest single maritime economic activity, employing 2.35 million people, equivalent to 1.1% of total EU employment. More than 90% of enterprises employ less than 10 people. The cruise industry is also growing. Within Europe it employs nearly 150000 people and generates direct turnover of EUR 14.5 billion. EU shipyards have been successful in serving this specialised market – both with large cruise ships and small leisure vessels.

4. Marine mineral resources: between 2000 and 2010 there has been an annual increase of about 15% in the price of many non-energy raw materials, mainly as a result of consumer demand in emerging economies. There is a risk of supply shortage for several of these, including those identified as critical to Europe's economy. By 2020, 5% of the world's minerals, including cobalt, copper and zinc could come from the ocean floors. This could rise to 10% by 2030. Global annual turnover of marine mineral mining can be expected to grow from virtually nothing to EUR 5 billion in the next 10 years and up to EUR 10 billion by 2030.

5. Blue biotechnology: the unexplored and understudied nature of much of the underwater world means that the capacity of marine organisms other than fish and shellfish to provide inputs to the blue economy is only just beginning to be appreciated, partly through new gene sequencing technologies for living organisms. While estimated current employment in the sector in Europe is still relatively low, and a gross value added of EUR 0.8 billion, the growth of the sector will offer high-skilled employment, especially if ground-breaking drugs can be developed from marine organisms, and significant downstream opportunities.

Commission plans: for each of the five activities highlighted the Commission will analyse policy options and consider further initiatives. This will involve:

·        assessing the options for giving industry  the confidence to invest in ocean renewable energy, taking into account the framework provided by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, the aim being to address ocean renewable energy issues in a Communication in 2013;

·        working collaboratively with Member States to develop  best practice and agree on Strategic Guidelines on Aquaculture in the EU to be adopted in early 2013;

·        assessing how maritime and coastal tourism can further contribute to economic growth and provide less precarious jobs whilst improving its environmental sustainability. An impact assessment will be followed by a Communication in 2013;

·        assessing how European industry can  become competitive in extracting minerals from the seafloor and how best to ensure that this activity does not prevent future generations from benefiting from hitherto untouched ecosystems. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will be delivered in 2014;

·        assessing the options for blue biotechnology to harness the diversity of marine life. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will also be delivered in 2014.

In each of these areas, the assessment of options will begin with consultations with Member States and industry and other relevant stakeholders in order to develop joint approaches that will provide the extra push that the blue economy needs in order to provide a positive contribution to Europe's economic future, while safeguarding our unique marine environment for future generations.

New

The Commission presents a Communication on Blue Growth: opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. This is the contribution of the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The EU's blue economy represents 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of just under EUR 500 billion per year. In all, 75% of Europe’s external trade and 37% of trade within the EU is seaborne.

This Communication drives forward the Commission's Integrated Maritime Policy and launches a process which will place the blue economy firmly on the agenda of Member States, regions, enterprise and civil society. It describes how Member States and EU policies are already supporting the blue economy. It then identifies specific areas where targeted action could provide an additional stimulus. A set of initiatives will subsequently be launched to explore and develop the growth potential in these areas.

Blue Growth Focus Areas: an analysis of the job-creation potential, as well as the potential for research and development to deliver technology improvements and innovation and the need for action at EU level, has suggested that five value chains could deliver sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. They could therefore benefit from clear-sighted policymaking, allowing the private sector to play a leading role in helping the blue economy reach its sustainable growth potential. This list should not be considered exhaustive. Ongoing EU initiatives are already encouraging innovation in sectors such as maritime transport. Other value chains may emerge over time as suitable areas for further policy focus. 

The Communication identifies five focus areas in which additional efforts at EU level could yield long-term growth and sustainable jobs:

1. Blue energy: marine energies have the potential to enhance the efficiency of harvesting the European energy resource, minimize land-use requirements of the power sector and reduce the European greenhouse gas emissions (by about 65 Mt CO2 in 2020).

·        Offshore wind could meet 4% of the EU electricity demand by 2020 and 14% by 2030. This would mean 170 000 jobs by 2020, increasing to 300 000 by 2030.

·        Other offshore renewable energy technologies are still at an early stage of development, with Member States planning to install only a moderate capacity of 2 to 4 GW by 2020. The challenge is to accelerate the commercialisation of ocean energy through reductions in technology costs as world-wide demand is expected to double annually in the near future. Further efforts to reinforce research and development in the field of ocean energy are needed.

·        EU measures, including funding (EIB, Structural Funds), can have a crucial role in providing a framework that gives investors the confidence to invest.

·        EU industry is a world leader in blue energy and can contribute to reductions in carbon emissions outside Europe through exports. In addition, synergies can also be explored with the offshore conventional energy sector, for example by tackling safety and infrastructure challenges together. The Commission proposal for levelling up safety standards in the offshore oil and gas sector EU-wide is a key initiative. Working together with the conventional energy sector will help secure affordable energy supplies in the EU.

2. Aquaculture: globally, aquaculture has a growth rate of 6.6% per annum, making it the fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector and faster than the 1.8% annual global population increases. Fish accounts for about 15.7% of the animal protein consumed globally. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that aquaculture provides half of this and that by 2030 it will reach 65%. It is currently 25% in the EU.

As part of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, the Commission proposes to promote aquaculture through an 'open method of coordination' based on nonbinding strategic guidelines, multiannual national strategic plans and the exchange of best practice. There is a wide scope for improving administrative practices, especially in licensing.

3. Maritime, coastal and cruise tourism: the maritime and coastal tourism sub-sector has now become the largest single maritime economic activity, employing 2.35 million people, equivalent to 1.1% of total EU employment. More than 90% of enterprises employ less than 10 people. The cruise industry is also growing. Within Europe it employs nearly 150000 people and generates direct turnover of EUR 14.5 billion. EU shipyards have been successful in serving this specialised market – both with large cruise ships and small leisure vessels.

4. Marine mineral resources: between 2000 and 2010 there has been an annual increase of about 15% in the price of many non-energy raw materials, mainly as a result of consumer demand in emerging economies. There is a risk of supply shortage for several of these, including those identified as critical to Europe's economy. By 2020, 5% of the world's minerals, including cobalt, copper and zinc could come from the ocean floors. This could rise to 10% by 2030. Global annual turnover of marine mineral mining can be expected to grow from virtually nothing to EUR 5 billion in the next 10 years and up to EUR 10 billion by 2030.

5. Blue biotechnology: the unexplored and understudied nature of much of the underwater world means that the capacity of marine organisms other than fish and shellfish to provide inputs to the blue economy is only just beginning to be appreciated, partly through new gene sequencing technologies for living organisms. While estimated current employment in the sector in Europe is still relatively low, and a gross value added of EUR 0.8 billion, the growth of the sector will offer high-skilled employment, especially if ground-breaking drugs can be developed from marine organisms, and significant downstream opportunities.

Commission plans: for each of the five activities highlighted the Commission will analyse policy options and consider further initiatives. This will involve:

·        assessing the options for giving industry  the confidence to invest in ocean renewable energy, taking into account the framework provided by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, the aim being to address ocean renewable energy issues in a Communication in 2013;

·        working collaboratively with Member States to develop  best practice and agree on Strategic Guidelines on Aquaculture in the EU to be adopted in early 2013;

·        assessing how maritime and coastal tourism can further contribute to economic growth and provide less precarious jobs whilst improving its environmental sustainability. An impact assessment will be followed by a Communication in 2013;

·        assessing how European industry can  become competitive in extracting minerals from the seafloor and how best to ensure that this activity does not prevent future generations from benefiting from hitherto untouched ecosystems. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will be delivered in 2014;

·        assessing the options for blue biotechnology to harness the diversity of marine life. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will also be delivered in 2014.

In each of these areas, the assessment of options will begin with consultations with Member States and industry and other relevant stakeholders in order to develop joint approaches that will provide the extra push that the blue economy needs in order to provide a positive contribution to Europe's economic future, while safeguarding our unique marine environment for future generations.

activities/0/docs/0/text/0
Old

The Commission presents its second report describing the progress of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights the contribution of these policies to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The report notes that the IMP was created to reaffirm the maritime dimension of the EU. The IMP has grown from this vision into a tool delivering concrete benefits for maritime growth and sustainability in Europe. The report presents a picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. It examines actions taken under the following policy areas: transport, research, environment, tourism, shipbuilding, climate change adaption, and regional policies. Among the initiatives launched are the following:

·        the White Paper for Transport, which further specifies the orientations of the Maritime Transport Strategy until 2018: the ability to provide cost-efficient maritime transport services; the long-term competitiveness of the EU shipping sector; and the creation of seamless transport chains for passengers and cargo across transport modes;

·        the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance;

·        a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness;

·        three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users;

·        a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011;

·        a Decision to implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, laying down criteria and methodological standards for the assessment of Good Environmental Status.

The contribution of the maritime economy to growth and employment

Blue Growth: the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy. A study launched by the Commission in 2010 has identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes. Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage — for example through encouraging clusters of industry and education. Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential —maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology — have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Energy: offshore wind energy contributes to reach a 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. In 2011, the Commission proposed guidelines to lay down rules for the development and interoperability of trans-European energy networks. Priority corridors were identified, including the North Sea Offshore Grid and the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.

Shipbuilding: a new Framework on State Aid to Shipbuilding was adopted in December 2011 containing specific provisions in relation to innovation aid and regional aid for shipbuilding, as well as provisions on exports credits. Its extended scope now applies to inland waterway vessels and floating and moving offshore structures. 

Fisheries and aquaculture: in July 2011, the Commission adopted a package of initiatives, including new legislative proposals, to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. The transition will be accompanied by a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to improve sustainability, the performance of small-scale coastal fisheries, promote aquaculture, support job creation in maritime communities and deliver cost-efficiency in maritime affairs.

The report shows that the strong contribution of maritime sectors to Europe’s economy and the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy are reinforced by coordinated action to lower costs, improve resource efficiency, reduce risks, support innovation and make better use of public money. By facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders, and by avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, the IMP has enhanced the sustainable development of the European maritime economy, while contributing to a better protection of the marine environment.

The Commission considers it is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping-stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

New

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

activities/0/type
Old
Follow-up document
New
Non-legislative basic document
activities/0/docs/0/text/0
Old

PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

New

The Commission presents its second report describing the progress of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights the contribution of these policies to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

The report notes that the IMP was created to reaffirm the maritime dimension of the EU. The IMP has grown from this vision into a tool delivering concrete benefits for maritime growth and sustainability in Europe. The report presents a picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas. It examines actions taken under the following policy areas: transport, research, environment, tourism, shipbuilding, climate change adaption, and regional policies. Among the initiatives launched are the following:

·        the White Paper for Transport, which further specifies the orientations of the Maritime Transport Strategy until 2018: the ability to provide cost-efficient maritime transport services; the long-term competitiveness of the EU shipping sector; and the creation of seamless transport chains for passengers and cargo across transport modes;

·        the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance;

·        a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness;

·        three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users;

·        a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011;

·        a Decision to implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, laying down criteria and methodological standards for the assessment of Good Environmental Status.

The contribution of the maritime economy to growth and employment

Blue Growth: the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy. A study launched by the Commission in 2010 has identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes. Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage — for example through encouraging clusters of industry and education. Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential —maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology — have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

Energy: offshore wind energy contributes to reach a 20% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. In 2011, the Commission proposed guidelines to lay down rules for the development and interoperability of trans-European energy networks. Priority corridors were identified, including the North Sea Offshore Grid and the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan.

Shipbuilding: a new Framework on State Aid to Shipbuilding was adopted in December 2011 containing specific provisions in relation to innovation aid and regional aid for shipbuilding, as well as provisions on exports credits. Its extended scope now applies to inland waterway vessels and floating and moving offshore structures. 

Fisheries and aquaculture: in July 2011, the Commission adopted a package of initiatives, including new legislative proposals, to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. The transition will be accompanied by a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to improve sustainability, the performance of small-scale coastal fisheries, promote aquaculture, support job creation in maritime communities and deliver cost-efficiency in maritime affairs.

The report shows that the strong contribution of maritime sectors to Europe’s economy and the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy are reinforced by coordinated action to lower costs, improve resource efficiency, reduce risks, support innovation and make better use of public money. By facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders, and by avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, the IMP has enhanced the sustainable development of the European maritime economy, while contributing to a better protection of the marine environment.

The Commission considers it is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping-stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

activities/0/type
Old
Non-legislative basic document
New
Follow-up document
activities/2/committees/5/shadows/4
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GUE/NGL
name
RUBIKS Alfreds
committees/5/shadows/4
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GUE/NGL
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RUBIKS Alfreds
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Document attached to the procedure
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2012-12-18T00:00:00
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  • group: EPP name: KELLY Seán
committees/4/date
2012-12-18T00:00:00
committees/4/rapporteur
  • group: EPP name: KELLY Seán
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Old
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Legislative proposal
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activities/1/type
Old
Legislative proposal
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Document attached to the procedure
activities/4
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2013-07-01T00:00:00
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EP
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2013-05-30T00:00:00
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activities/0/docs/0/text
  • PURPOSE: second progress report on the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy.

    CONTENT: since its creation in 2007, the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has sought to enhance the sustainable development of the European maritime economy and better protect the marine environment by facilitating the cooperation of all maritime players across sectors and borders. The potential for growth in the maritime economy is an opportunity that Europe, as a maritime continent, needs to seize.

    Since 2009, the EU has launched key initiatives in all policy areas related to the seas in order to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. By avoiding duplication of spending and efforts, and encouraging the sustainable development of maritime activities, the IMP has brought concrete benefits to the European economy and maritime sectors in Member States.

    In 2009, the Council and European Parliament welcomed the first Progress Report on the IMP and asked the Commission to present further developments in 2012. This second Report describes the progress of the EU’s IMP and maritime sectoral policies between 2010 and 2012. It highlights their contribution to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by taking stock of concrete achievements that help create growth, enhance resource efficiency and save public money.

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the IMP in October 2010, which confirmed the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs and invited the Commission to develop a maritime dimension to the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU is seeking to get the European economy back on track to deliver employment, competitiveness and social cohesion.

    Achievements: the report presents a coherent picture of achievements in all policy areas related to the seas.  These include maritime transport, energy, shipbuilding, and fisheries and aquaculture.

    The EU has launched key initiatives such as: (i) the White Paper for Transport; (ii) the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU’s maritime domain to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of maritime surveillance; (iii) a Task force on Maritime Employment and Competitiveness; (iv) three joint calls of FP7 Research Programme under the Ocean of Tomorrow to support multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects, a first version of the European Marine Observation and Data Network to improve access to data and reduce costs to users; (v) a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic adopted in November 2011; (vi) the further implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environment pillar of the IMP to achieve better environmental status for EU marine waters by 2020 and initiatives to promote Maritime Spatial Planning.

    Cooperation across sectors: Europe is going through cuts in public spending, so delivering maximum results with limited means is crucial. Cooperation makes operations at sea more cost-efficient and optimise data usage. As new uses of the sea are being developed daily, the Commission considers that it is crucial that Member States put in place stable planning systems favouring long-term investment and cross-border coherence.

    Research: the European maritime industry is characterised by innovation and high-quality markets. The Commission is strengthening this competitive edge by developing an ambitious marine research programme and making marine data more accessible for innovation. The EU financial contribution to marine related-research and innovation has amounted to EUR 1.4 billion through 644 projects over 2007-2010. Three joint calls of FP7, under the Ocean of Tomorrow label, have supported multidisciplinary marine and maritime projects for a total EU contribution of EUR 134 million. This effort was complemented with the launch of coordinated topics in 2012 in order to support the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, for a total EU contribution of EUR 42 million.

    Blue Growth: in September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication on Blue Growth, opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. The objective is to launch a joint initiative with Member States, regions, and all relevant stakeholders to unlock the potential of the blue economy.

    ·        The Commission, in a 2010 study, identified as common bottlenecks the lack of appropriate skills, access to risk capital, fragmented marine data, environmental challenges and difficult planning processes.

    ·        Actions are underway in Member States to remedy the skills shortage - for example, through encouraging clusters of industry and education.

    ·        Integrated maritime policy initiatives are addressing the data and planning issues. However, certain sectors require a more targeted approach. Accordingly, five areas with growth potential - maritime and coastal tourism, ocean renewable energy, marine mineral resources, aquaculture, and blue biotechnology - have been analysed in more depth to suggest additional measures needed to increase growth and jobs.

    Protection of the marine environment: the EU has the largest maritime territory in the world. Ensuring the health of marine ecosystems is necessary for the future of ocean biodiversity and to sustain maritime growth.

    ·        The 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive is ţhe environment pillar of the IMP. Its overarching aim is to achieve good environmental status (GES) for EU marine waters by 2020.

    ·        Action must also be taken with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and addressing air pollution from ships.

    The Commission is setting the best possible conditions for sustainable economic development to come from the sea. Building on those achievements, Blue Growth is the objective for the coming years. During Cyprus’s Council Presidency, an informal Ministerial Conference on IMP will be a major stepping stone towards this goal. Blue Growth will drive a second phase of the Integrated Maritime Policy to achieve a healthy maritime economy that delivers innovation, growth and sustainability for European citizens.

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  • The Commission presents a Communication on Blue Growth: opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth. This is the contribution of the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The EU's blue economy represents 5.4 million jobs and a gross added value of just under EUR 500 billion per year. In all, 75% of Europe’s external trade and 37% of trade within the EU is seaborne.

    This Communication drives forward the Commission's Integrated Maritime Policy and launches a process which will place the blue economy firmly on the agenda of Member States, regions, enterprise and civil society. It describes how Member States and EU policies are already supporting the blue economy. It then identifies specific areas where targeted action could provide an additional stimulus. A set of initiatives will subsequently be launched to explore and develop the growth potential in these areas.

    Blue Growth Focus Areas: an analysis of the job-creation potential, as well as the potential for research and development to deliver technology improvements and innovation and the need for action at EU level, has suggested that five value chains could deliver sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. They could therefore benefit from clear-sighted policymaking, allowing the private sector to play a leading role in helping the blue economy reach its sustainable growth potential. This list should not be considered exhaustive. Ongoing EU initiatives are already encouraging innovation in sectors such as maritime transport. Other value chains may emerge over time as suitable areas for further policy focus. 

    The Communication identifies five focus areas in which additional efforts at EU level could yield long-term growth and sustainable jobs:

    1. Blue energy: marine energies have the potential to enhance the efficiency of harvesting the European energy resource, minimize land-use requirements of the power sector and reduce the European greenhouse gas emissions (by about 65 Mt CO2 in 2020).

    ·        Offshore wind could meet 4% of the EU electricity demand by 2020 and 14% by 2030. This would mean 170 000 jobs by 2020, increasing to 300 000 by 2030.

    ·        Other offshore renewable energy technologies are still at an early stage of development, with Member States planning to install only a moderate capacity of 2 to 4 GW by 2020. The challenge is to accelerate the commercialisation of ocean energy through reductions in technology costs as world-wide demand is expected to double annually in the near future. Further efforts to reinforce research and development in the field of ocean energy are needed.

    ·        EU measures, including funding (EIB, Structural Funds), can have a crucial role in providing a framework that gives investors the confidence to invest.

    ·        EU industry is a world leader in blue energy and can contribute to reductions in carbon emissions outside Europe through exports. In addition, synergies can also be explored with the offshore conventional energy sector, for example by tackling safety and infrastructure challenges together. The Commission proposal for levelling up safety standards in the offshore oil and gas sector EU-wide is a key initiative. Working together with the conventional energy sector will help secure affordable energy supplies in the EU.

    2. Aquaculture: globally, aquaculture has a growth rate of 6.6% per annum, making it the fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector and faster than the 1.8% annual global population increases. Fish accounts for about 15.7% of the animal protein consumed globally. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that aquaculture provides half of this and that by 2030 it will reach 65%. It is currently 25% in the EU.

    As part of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, the Commission proposes to promote aquaculture through an 'open method of coordination' based on nonbinding strategic guidelines, multiannual national strategic plans and the exchange of best practice. There is a wide scope for improving administrative practices, especially in licensing.

    3. Maritime, coastal and cruise tourism: the maritime and coastal tourism sub-sector has now become the largest single maritime economic activity, employing 2.35 million people, equivalent to 1.1% of total EU employment. More than 90% of enterprises employ less than 10 people. The cruise industry is also growing. Within Europe it employs nearly 150000 people and generates direct turnover of EUR 14.5 billion. EU shipyards have been successful in serving this specialised market – both with large cruise ships and small leisure vessels.

    4. Marine mineral resources: between 2000 and 2010 there has been an annual increase of about 15% in the price of many non-energy raw materials, mainly as a result of consumer demand in emerging economies. There is a risk of supply shortage for several of these, including those identified as critical to Europe's economy. By 2020, 5% of the world's minerals, including cobalt, copper and zinc could come from the ocean floors. This could rise to 10% by 2030. Global annual turnover of marine mineral mining can be expected to grow from virtually nothing to EUR 5 billion in the next 10 years and up to EUR 10 billion by 2030.

    5. Blue biotechnology: the unexplored and understudied nature of much of the underwater world means that the capacity of marine organisms other than fish and shellfish to provide inputs to the blue economy is only just beginning to be appreciated, partly through new gene sequencing technologies for living organisms. While estimated current employment in the sector in Europe is still relatively low, and a gross value added of EUR 0.8 billion, the growth of the sector will offer high-skilled employment, especially if ground-breaking drugs can be developed from marine organisms, and significant downstream opportunities.

    Commission plans: for each of the five activities highlighted the Commission will analyse policy options and consider further initiatives. This will involve:

    ·        assessing the options for giving industry  the confidence to invest in ocean renewable energy, taking into account the framework provided by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan, the aim being to address ocean renewable energy issues in a Communication in 2013;

    ·        working collaboratively with Member States to develop  best practice and agree on Strategic Guidelines on Aquaculture in the EU to be adopted in early 2013;

    ·        assessing how maritime and coastal tourism can further contribute to economic growth and provide less precarious jobs whilst improving its environmental sustainability. An impact assessment will be followed by a Communication in 2013;

    ·        assessing how European industry can  become competitive in extracting minerals from the seafloor and how best to ensure that this activity does not prevent future generations from benefiting from hitherto untouched ecosystems. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will be delivered in 2014;

    ·        assessing the options for blue biotechnology to harness the diversity of marine life. An impact assessment followed by a Communication will also be delivered in 2014.

    In each of these areas, the assessment of options will begin with consultations with Member States and industry and other relevant stakeholders in order to develop joint approaches that will provide the extra push that the blue economy needs in order to provide a positive contribution to Europe's economic future, while safeguarding our unique marine environment for future generations.

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activities/2/committees/3/date
2012-11-29T00:00:00
activities/2/committees/3/rapporteur
  • group: EFD name: SALAVRAKOS Nikolaos
committees/3/date
2012-11-29T00:00:00
committees/3/rapporteur
  • group: EFD name: SALAVRAKOS Nikolaos
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activities/2
date
2012-11-22T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
committees
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
TRAN/7/11242
procedure/stage_reached
Old
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New
Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
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activities
  • date: 2012-09-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/registre/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2012/0491/COM_COM(2012)0491_EN.pdf celexid: CELEX:52012DC0491:EN type: Non-legislative basic document published title: COM(2012)0491 body: EC type: Non-legislative basic document commission: DG: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/transport/index_en.htm title: Mobility and Transport Commissioner: KALLAS Siim
  • date: 2012-09-13T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/registre/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2012/0494/COM_COM(2012)0494_EN.pdf title: COM(2012)0494 type: Document attached to the procedure celexid: CELEX:52012DC0494:EN body: EC type: Document attached to the procedure commission: DG: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/transport/index_en.htm title: Mobility and Transport Commissioner: KALLAS Siim
committees
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: VLASTO Dominique group: ALDE name: MEISSNER Gesine group: Verts/ALE name: TAYLOR Keith group: ECR name: VAN DALEN Peter responsible: True committee: TRAN date: 2012-11-05T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: S&D name: DANELLIS Spyros
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/transport/index_en.htm title: Mobility and Transport commissioner: KALLAS Siim
procedure
reference
2012/2297(INI)
title
Advancing the EU’s Maritime Transport and Tourism Policies
legal_basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 048
stage_reached
Preparatory phase in Parliament
subtype
Initiative
type
INI - Own-initiative procedure
subject