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The EU Ocean Pact was proposed by the European Commission and aims to bring coherence across any EU policies which are linked to the ocean. Some of the goals of the pact are to achieve healthy, resilient and thriving oceans and coastal communities and to promote a successful and sustainable blue economy.
At the end of January, the Commission launched a ‘Call for Evidence’ to allow EU citizens to have their opinions heard on what should be included and focussed on within the pact. While this pact is not legally binding, the EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, has stated that this does not mean that a series of legislation to enforce the pact cannot be formed.
The consultation period ended on the 17th February and on the 21st of February the first Fisheries and Ocean Dialogue was launched. This meeting was attended by Ministers holding the EU Council Presidency, Chair of the PECH (fisheries) Committee, Vice Chair from the European Parliaments SEARICA intergroup, as well as a diverse range of representatives from advisory councils, industry, NGOs and research institutes. They discussed issues around biodiversity, management, sustainable growth and how to support the resilience of coastal communities and cities in various EU sea basins.These Dialogues will continue and marks a significant step in shaping the EU Ocean Pact.
We submitted to the call for evidence as we believe it is important to ensure that NGOs have their issues addressed when it comes to shaping EU documents. We want to give a voice to nature and make sure that new policies are as ambitious as possible when it comes to nature protection and restoration. We are part of the Marine Protected Area group with Seas at Risk who are an environmental NGO based in Brussels. Seas at Risk (along with other NGOs working in the marine environment) released the Blue Manifesto when the new Parliament was elected at the end of 2024. Many of the points made within this document highlight what needs to be done to ensure healthy oceans and a sustainable blue economy.
Transparency
We asked for the Pact to be transparent and contain a clear roadmap of actions to be taken to reach the goals within it. This is to help ensure that enforcement and monitoring can be achieved. Unfortunately, the EU Marine Action Plan which was announced in 2022 and also didn’t have legal standing, seems to have lost traction across Member States (although some are doing better then others in regards to banning destructive bottom trawling etc). We don’t want a similar situation to occur with the Oceans Pact.
Just Transition for Sustainable Fisheries
Sustainability and ecological limits must take priority over economic growth for the underpinning framework for the Ocean Pact. A just transition away from destructive activities needs to be enabled, with communities affected provided with support to ensure this is a viable option. To do this an EU Ocean Fund needs to be established. Without ensuring sustainable fisheries are enacted, the viability of any blue economy will be precarious.
Coherence across Policies
It is necessary to create a framework to ensure coherence between the legally binding targets on ocean related EU Regulations. Alignment between policies such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Marine Spatial Planning Directive is crucial to ensure the sustainable use of the marine environment. With many industries evolving in the marine environment, climate change impacts proliferating and biodiversity declining, we must ensure sustainable marine spatial planning with an ecosystems approach is implemented. The use of an holistic approach has been mentioned so far in discussions around the Oceans Pact and we welcome that.
We asked for new legally binding legislations to effectively protect 30% of EU waters along with having 10% strictly protected. While there is a Commission document giving a definition of ‘Strict Protection’, this has not been legally defined and needs to be rectified to ensure Member States are able to comply. There also needs to be full implementation of ambitious National Restoration Plans under the EU Nature Restoration Law. This must include 30% of degraded marine habitats having measures in place to be restored by 2030.
The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has the means of ensuring sustainable fisheries but unfortunately, it has not been implemented effectively. Article 17 of the CFP states that precedence should be given when allocating quotes to boats using more sustainable and climate friendly fishing methods. This has not been undertaken and so does not incentivise fisheries to move away from harmful practices which destroy the ecosystem and deplete fish stocks with huge quantities of bycatch. Reopening the CFP will be a timely and resource heavy process and the marine environment does not have time to waste. Ensuring effective implementation of the current policy is enough to protect fish stocks and the wider ecosystem services that are provided.
What next?
We will continue advocating for the marine environment through our advocating and lobbying activities at national and EU level. The points we mentioned in our submission are points that ourselves and many other NGOs try to ensure are addressed across different legislative groups. There may be future consultations on the Oceans Pact which we will submit to and throughout the year there will be many opportunities, such as the UN Oceans Conference in July to advocate for healthy resilient oceans, fisheries and livelihoods.