Brussels, 06/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - Speaking at a conference in Chile, European Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella announced a raft of measures to protect the world's oceans, including a major political initiative on international ocean governance next year.
The European Commission is determined to contribute to improving the international governance of the oceans and strengthen the EU's external action in this area, says a press release published on the DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries website.
Vella was taking part in the second “Our Ocean” conference in Valparaiso, Chile. The conference, launched last year by US Secretary of State John Kerry, brought together more than 400 leaders from governments, academia, and civil society who are committed to protecting the oceans.
In a week's time, the public consultation launched by the Commission on governance of the oceans will close. Vella has intensified dialogue with international maritime stakeholders on how to improve ocean governance globally. Following recent stops in Norway and Washington, he is scheduled to visit Spain and China in the coming days.
The commissioner highlighted, too, the action that the EU is taking to protect and better manage its ocean areas, reduce marine pollution, ensure a better understanding of the ocean, and promote sustainable fisheries within and outside the EU:
- 10 percent of all EU marine waters will be covered by marine protected areas by 2020 and member states will adopt innovative maritime spatial plans for all EU marine waters by 2021;
- the EU will adopt a major quantitative reduction headline target for marine litter, and will half the number of single-use plastic bags in the EU by 2019;
- the EU will devote €100 million a year until 2020 to marine research, including in renewable energy, transport, maritime security, climate change, environment, fisheries, and aquaculture; work is also underway to create an unprecedented multi-resolution map of the European seabed by 2020;
- the EU is ready to commit €675 million from 2016 to 2020 to enter into sustainable fisheries partnership agreements with third countries; and, by the end of 2015, the Commission will bring forward a proposal to better and more sustainably manage the EU's external fishing fleet.
Vella also announced his willingness to host the 2017 Our Ocean conference in Europe. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)