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Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries underlined the need for extensive cooperation among the member states seeking job creation in such sectors as coastal tourism, fisheries and shipping. In situations where interests often overlap, the need is to approach each activity in a regional context.

The EU’s “shared competence” is to craft partnerships and processes that transcend all kinds of borders across the maritime regions: across states and across sectors to seek an attitude of mutual benefit. Only the collective work can truly bring positive results.

The Commission is fully committed towards maritime cooperation, and intends to intensify efforts to become in effective support.

The EU is also responsible for environmental policies and has a scope to find even more areas for smart synergies. Being "smart" means finding the right balance between economic pursuits and the protection of existing resources and nature; i.e. that means using marine resources and the expanses of sea in a harmonized way.

Maritime Spatial Planning

Maritime spatial planning includes the coastal facilities, e.g. harbours, hotels, marinas, leisure areas, aquaculture farms, etc. Therefore, the EU is implementing the maritime spatial planning legislation; a process to plan the human usage of maritime space rationally and to establish the appropriate cross border cooperation.

For example, a pilot project in the marine border area is launched between Bulgaria and Romania; it is expected it to produce a plan for the intelligent use of maritime space and also recommendations for how to cooperate among countries.

The Commissioner encourages all maritime countries to set up similar projects, starting within their own national waters or even across borders. Competition for space is an issue that needs to be addressed now, before space gets too crowded – and the EU can support you financially to do so.

Marine Strategy Framework Directive, MSFD

Another example is the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which aims to protect biodiversity and restore the health of marine waters by 2020. To do this each EU member state is required to develop and regularly update a strategy for its marine waters, including waters that are shared with others.

The waters and the environment of the EU seas deserve specific attention and require the collaboration of all.

Regional Conventions

The EU has been seeking to become a party to the Bucharest Convention since the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU. The Union’s experience with the Barcelona Convention for the Mediterranean and the HELCOM for the Baltic Sea shows that the Commission’s involvement brought both political and financial benefits to the member states and third countries alike in each sea basin.

There’s no doubt that there would be mutual benefits in the Black Sea as well, because the marine environment cannot be protected by one country alone. The opportunities for cooperation and joined-up action will make Commission’s endeavours more effective.

Environment & tourism

There are already projects underway to strengthen monitoring capacities of the Black Sea marine environment, with the participation of all six coastal states. For tourism and culture the EU has funded the "Black Sea Silk Road Corridor", which re-traces for modern tourists the route of the western Silk Road and allows them to follow on the footsteps of ancient traders by means of a smartphone application. However, the tourism opportunities of the Black Sea are much bigger, particularly considering the cruise sector.

In Bulgaria and Romania alone, the five largest sectors of the blue economy create a total of 160.000 jobs and a Gross Added Value of over €1,2 billion.  The potentials of the marine and maritime sectors in the EU states are impressive. 

Marine knowledge is important as well: the Commission supports the creation of a single digital map of Europe's seabed including geology, habitats and marine life. Ten institutions from all Black Sea countries have been pooling the data they have collected in recent years, and a first version of the map is expected already next year. Data is available through a single web portal, the European Marine Observation and Data Network.

Collective efforts in fisheries management is a necessity: the efforts of any one country in isolation are of little use if the neighbouring country keeps overexploiting the seas.

Regional fisheries management has to be effective and equitable, and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean is the appropriate forum for this.

It is expected soon to have a fishery Advisory Council for the Black Sea, so that the sector as well as other stakeholders can be effectively consulted in the policy-making process.

The EU as a donor in the region

In terms of EU-Black Sea cooperation, the main political framework so far has been the Black Sea Synergy, which includes maritime integration. The implementation report highlights that over the last five years the EU has invested €140 million to reinforce regional dialogue and cooperation.

The EU is ready to support the sustainable marine and maritime development for the region.

Bulgaria and Romania have a total share of €250 million under the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

The new Operational programmes for Bulgaria and Romania, under the European Structural and Investment Funds, as well as the Association Agreements with Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, are designed to foster maritime cooperation in the Black Sea and develop integrated approaches.

The new Cross-border Cooperation Programme for the Black Sea increased its budget to € 49 million, up from €36 million in the previous round.

All Black Sea countries are eligible for project and Instruments for Pre-accession and European Neighbourhood are also available. More money will be coming in through the EU research programme Horizon 2020, also open to partners from the whole region.

In fact research institutes and businesses from the region are already implementing a major research project, the Black Sea Horizon, with a budget worth €1,5 million.

Suffice it to say that all these funds are available for cooperation across countries and it is up to the national administrations and maritime actors to be proactive and use them to drive the blue economy forward.

Integration pays back

The Commission expects “smart partnerships” between national and regional levels, between industry and civil society. A joined-up approach can resolve bottlenecks, avoid duplication and channel investment directly towards more jobs.

There are tangible evidences of that integration in the EU: over the last few years the European Commission has provided the tools to build the structure that best suits the member states.

Two things are essential for this process to move forward; the first is commitment; the Commission has finalising a comprehensive study to better understand the situation of the marine and maritime domain in the non-EU states around the Black Sea and to get insight on their potential for the blue economy. This knowledge will help to develop and support projects that span across maritime sectors and that can be carried out by several nations at the same time.

The Commission will provide technical support for projects on maritime integration with the national contact points in each coastal country and launch a call for proposals this year on the same subject.

The second is ownership: the Commission will assist the member states in developing their own national maritime strategies, crafting collaborative projects across sectors and between states and shaping national blue economy.

The lessons the Commission learned from corresponding strategies in the Baltic, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic maritime areas show that the process needs to be participatory and inclusive. Despite the political upheavals, these areas will find their own ways toward a common EU maritime agenda. The best way to achieve that is by ensuring as many actors are on board by tailoring assistance to their specific country needs.

Reference: European Commission, Speech by Commissioner Vella at the 2^nd Black Sea stakeholders conference on blue economy, Sofia, 24 March 2015. In:

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-15-4657_en.htm?locale=en