Brussels, 23/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The peripheral maritime regions have been quick to tell the forthcoming Cypriot Presidency what the priorities should be in European maritime policy. After it assumes the Presidency in July, Cyprus, itself an island state, should pay heed to this policy area. The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) set out its viewpoint at the EU Maritime Days in Gothenburg on 23 May. CPMR Secretary General Eleni Marianou would like to see the incoming Presidency renew the European maritime vision which should bring together both thematic and macro-regional dimensions. She says that, in order to reinforce the integrated European Maritime Policy, “it is necessary to develop better planning of the land and sea space, and also to ensure cross-border coordination”. In terms of blue growth, the CPMR wants to make sure that sight is not lost of maritime industries: “It is not simply to seek aid for shipyards. We must save the shipyards because they are the foundation of maritime industries. If Europe renounces the major projects, it waives its maritime ambitions”, said Christophe Clergeau, Vice-President of the Pays de la Loire Region in France. (MD/transl.rt)