In December 2006, the EU’s Council of Ministers presented an ambitious strategy to more effectively protect marine environments across Europe. The stated objective of the strategy is “to promote the sustainable use of the seas and conserve marine ecosystems.”

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The strategy document is a revised version of the European Marine Strategy (EMS) Directive, which the European Commission originally presented in October 2005. Although there are several policies in Europe that refer in part to the marine environment (e.g. the Habitat Directive, Bird Directive and Water Framework Directive), none has yet been developed in an integrated way to protect all seas of the European Union.

The Marine Strategy will constitute the environmental pillar of future EU maritime policy, and is designed to harmonise full economic potential with a healthy marine environment. In order to implement the directive, European marine waters have been split into four different eco-regions: the Baltic Sea; the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (including the North Sea and Celtic Sea; the Bay of Biscay, Iberian coast and Macaronesian area (those waters surrounding Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands); and the Mediterranean (including the Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean-Levantine seas). It is recommended that separate marine strategies be implemented for each of these eco-regions.

One of the most important ongoing tasks set by the directive is to produce an environmental assessment of the current state of these water bodies, together with corresponding pressures and impacts. Things taken into consideration include physical and chemical characteristics, such as bathymetry, temperature and salinity; habitat types, together with their physico-chemical characteristics; and biological elements, like phytoplankton, zooplankton and invertebrate fauna.

Pressures and impacts to be assessed should include nutrient inputs and cycling, chemical pollution, physical loss, physical damage, non-physical disturbance, non-toxic contamination, and biological disturbance. Each study must also include an economic and social analysis of how a particular sea is used, together with the estimated cost of marine environment degradation.

Based on these assessments, a set of measurable environmental targets and associated indicators will have to be drawn up for all European waters. Surveillance programmes to monitor achievements will also need to be in place. If certain programmes fail to achieve established goals within a particular time frame, the Marine Strategy must be able to introduce corrective measures — both through ecological and socioeconomic means. In order to build this ambitious strategy, the EU must adopt new approaches and principles. First, a dual EU/regional approach needs to be established.

This involves building cooperation between member states and tertiary countries bordering EU oceans and seas. At the regional level, the planning and execution of measures must take into account a diversity of conditions requiring tailor-made solutions. Second, informed policy-making will depend on an integrated, knowledgebased approach.

Third, an ecosystem-based approach will allow for integrated management of human activity affecting the marine environment, and also promote conservation and sustainable use. Fourth, cooperation will be sought to enhance observance of and compliance with existing regional maritime treaties. The target date established by the directive for establishing “good” environmental status for all of Europe’s seas is 2021. This coincides with the first review of river basin management plans under the EU Water Framework Directive, thus allowing for synergies in the further implementation of both directives.