Calling it ”a new tool to address the challenges emerging from the growth in competing uses of the sea”, the EU Commission has adopted a “roadmap on maritime spatial planning”.
In order to realise the growth potential of EU maritime sectors in a sustainable way, the roadmap will facilitate the development of spatial planning for both marine and coastal spaces. Maritime spatial planning can also help coastal areas to prepare for impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels, floods, altered marine ecosystems and investments in coastal protection, the Commission said.
Commissioner Joe Borg described the plan as “a key tool for a more rational use of sea areas”, adding that it was “the only way in which we can provide a predictable framework for economic investments in offshore areas and is a precondition for striking a balance between the vested interests of different maritime activities while preserving the marine environment”
Maritime spatial planning is a fairly new process which an increasing number of Member States are now developing in order to manage their maritime activities, and the development of a common approach to maritime spatial planning forms part of the Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU.
In 2009 the Commission will organise a number of workshops to discuss the key principles for maritime spatial planning set out in the roadmap, launch pilot projects aimed at developing cross-border cooperation aspects and produce a progress report, it announced.
The Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council (BS RAC) will hold a workshop on the subject in Tallinn, Estonia, on 20 February, and the Helsinki Commission on Baltic marine environment protection (HELCOM) will arrange a similar workshop in Helsinki, Finland, on January 27-29.