Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. COM(2023) 102 final.

In her political guidelines, the European Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen, announced a 'European Oceans Pact', which would on boosting the blue economy and ensuring the good governance and sustainability of our oceans in all of their dimensions.

The EU’s main tool to protect and conserve the health of our coasts, seas and ocean is the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Its aim is to achieve a good environmental status of the EU's marine waters and sustainably protect the resource base upon which marine-related economic and social activities depend. Through the MSFD, the ecosystem-based approach became a legally-binding and operational principle for managing the EU’s entire marine environment.

The directive sets down EU countries’ common approach to the planning of maritime areas. This allows each EU country to plan its own maritime activities but this planning process - whether at national, regional or local level - is now more compatible EU-wide thanks to the introduction of a common timeframe and minimum common requirements. The new framework seeks to promote the sustainable: growth of maritime economies, known as the EU’s Blue Economy; development of marine areas; use of marine resources.