During a ministerial HELCOM meeting in Brussels, on Tuesday 6 March, the European Commission and the environment ministers of the nine Baltic rim countries took the written commitment to step up their efforts to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea.
Time is running short as only three years are left for keeping the commitment subscribed to, to restore the ecological balance required so that, by 2021, the Baltic Sea is a healthy sea.
With their commitment, the nine countries concerned (Latvia, Finland – Aland Islands, Lithuania, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Poland, Denmark and Sweden) and the European commissioner for the environment and maritime affairs, Karmenu Vella, update the Baltic Sea Action Plan which aims to eliminate eutrophication, and substances hazardous for marine life, and guarantee maritime activities carried out in an environmentally-friendly way, as well as enable favourable conservation of Baltic Sea biodiversity.
The parties mainly agreed to develop regional and national measures to limit the impact of submarine noise on sensitive marine species and develop a strategy for recycling nutrients from farming and sewage sludge in order to reduce the presence of the same in the Baltic Sea.
The statement adopted after the meeting had been endorsed, at the proposal stage, by the EU Environment Council on 5 March. It is accessible on line: http://bit.ly/2oMRAz8 . (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)