EU launches task force on new maritime policy

European Commissioner Joe Borg yesterday announced the launch of a long consultation process on a future maritime policy for the EU.

The announcement came following the presentation of a new communication during the weekly Commission meeting presented jointly by the Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Dr Borg.

During a press conference in Brussels, Dr Borg said that "the contribution that the sea makes to our livelihood and well-being is considerable as is the potential for economic growth. The challenge is to ensure that we make the most of this potential in a sustainable manner.

"An integrated approach would help avoid conflicts and optimise synergies between the various sea-based activities so as to boost their economic potential and safeguard the environment. It would also encourage greater stakeholders' participation and enable all the parties concerned to consider the sea as a whole as well as understand the implications of each set of activities thereon." Following Dr Borg's recommendation, a task force, made up of commissioners responsible for sea-related policies and chaired by the Maltese EU commissioner, will prepare a consultation paper on a future maritime policy for the EU.

The publication of this document, scheduled for the first half of next year, will launch an extensive consultation exercise as to possible options for a European maritime policy. The Commission will then examine all the contributions and decide what shape and form the new policy should take before preparing proposals in this direction.

At present, maritime activities in the EU play a very important part in the EU's economy, however there is still no common policy. In fact, 20 member states, including Malta, are coastal states and when Romania and Bulgaria join the Union in 2007, the EU borders will extend to the Black Sea.

The EU has a coastline seven times longer than that of the US and four times that of Russia. Apart from that, the maritime regions of Europe account today for almost half of the EU population and gross domestic product. It is estimated that about eight million jobs in the EU are connected directly to maritime activities.

Dr Borg told The Times that the formulation of this policy is of direct interest to Malta, being a prime maritime state. Through it, Malta would be part of a bigger maritime bloc and would have more relevance in international fora.

Malta, he added, will also be able to take a pro-active role in the development of maritime policy within the EU.

The members of the task force are Guenther Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry, Jacques Barrot, transport, Stavros Dimas, environment, Danuta Hubner, regional policy, Janez Potocnik, research and Andris Pieblags, energy. Other commissioners may also be asked to participate when the discussions will relate to subjects linked to their portfolios. In drawing up the consultation paper, expertise will be drawn from a range of policy and technical areas.

Greenpeace International reacted immediately to Dr Borg's announcement, saying that as a result of this proposal there exists a risk of duplicating earlier efforts made by the EU in this area.

Saskia Richartz, EU marine policy director of Greenpeace, said that the EU's announcement was all about process. "What we need is legislation that will address the degradation of our seas."

She added that over the past two years, the Commission has consulted fishermen, the shipping industry and environmental NGOs on the development of the European Marine Strategy, and a proposal was due this summer.

She said that as time is running out for threatened species and depleted fish stocks, Europe has everything to gain by acting on what it already knows thanks to recent consultations.