Brussels, 17/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - A conference in Brussels on Tuesday 17 November brought together ministers in charge of various portfolios and senior officials from the Euro-Mediterranean countries to discuss the potential of the blue economy in the Mediterranean region. The notion of the blue economy involves everything that is to do with the economy linked to the sea and its promotion in a context of seeking factors for growth, employment and integration between the countries of the region. A common statement and a roadmap were adopted. The conference marks a “step of hope” in a Mediterranean that “so greatly needs it”, said European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella.
The meeting was attended by the 43 member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and was co-chaired by the EU and Jordan - Jordan being represented by its minister for transport. According to those who attended, the atmosphere was studious but there was relative disinterest from the partner countries - with only Jordan being represented at ministerial level. Six ministers or secretaries of state from the EU member countries took part. The discussion was based on the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, the so-called Barcelona Convention, the UN action plan and various other international texts such as the Strategy for Sustainable Development. On the strictly regional level, various conferences have marked the steps towards the design of the blue economy, including the conference organised in Athens on 27 May on the potential of blue investment, the establishment on 18 November 2014 of the European strategy in the Adriatic and Ionian Sea, and work within the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). The commitment is to being involved in a phase of implementing the recommendations that result for the Mediterranean.
In their joint statement, the ministers underlined the breadth of the “growing challenges” in the region or “the environmental and climate challenges” that could be “exacerbated by rapid demographic growth and urbanisation, as well as by the unsustainable use of marine resources”. The ministers believe that “if the problems are not managed adequately, taking the respective capacities and development needs into consideration, they can increasingly become a source of instability” and of harm to the “living conditions of current and future generations” in the region - a region which is already confronted with crises and “bad news”, said Vella. The ministers state that attention also needs to be paid to preserving the cultural heritage and to sharing out the wealth of the blue economy fairly between the countries bordering the Mediterranean.
The ministers noted “the need for the Mediterranean region to draw the most from the potential of the blue economy” while “keeping the seas in good health and developing a clear vision for sustainable development that is integrated with maritime sectors”, including the basin levels. The ministers stated that they were “concerned by the impact of unequal economic development” and by the “disparities in research and innovation capacity”. They drew up a list of braking factors to be taken into account - such as the weakness of qualifications and of the constitution of networks, as well as the difficulty of SMEs' in gaining access to finance. The recommendation is to emphasise “the interconnection” between the sea-related industries in the whole region. A very long list of actions is proposed as an appendix to the statement, organising the creation of maritime governance tools, joint action in “new technologies and skills for maritime transport, the energy of the oceans and the offshore wind energy” and for a new concept of “sustainable tourism”.
Vella summed up the spirit of the statement, affirming the resolve to promote a sustainable blue economy as a priority in the Mediterranean. Following this path, the commitment is to step up “blue research and innovation”, technology transfer and industrial partnership along the North-South axis. “We will open the EU's BlueMed initiative on research and development to all UfM partner countries”, Vella stated. It is also important to “boost cooperation on skills development”, to “better coordinate transnational cooperation programmes”, and to “improve maritime governance through strengthened coordination and cooperation”. The creation of a UfM Forum on the Blue Economy was announced at the end of the meeting. The EU will reserve over €40 million to achieve this action in the areas linked to the sea - “for example, to help set up a regional network of maritime clusters”, Vella said. (Original version in French by Fathi B'Chir)