On Monday 28 September, the environment, agriculture and fisheries ministers of eight EU countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden) adopted a declaration to restore good water quality in the Baltic Sea.
This declaration was signed after a conference organised by the European Commission to address the threats affecting the Baltic Sea (loss of biodiversity, climate change, overfishing, etc.)
Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, who actively participated in the event, said that 97% of the Baltic Sea suffers from eutrophication (nutrients accumulating in an environment or habitat), that some fish stocks are depleted, and that the sea is one of the most polluted in the world.
“Our ambition is to achieve a clean, healthy and productive sea. And today we have made progress”, the Commissioner said.
He also said that, through this Ministerial Declaration, the EU commits itself to tackle the main problems of eutrophication, unsustainable fishing, high levels of contaminants, and waste.
The declaration is based on reinforced implementation of existing Community legislation. Member States will also commit to new targets in line with the ‘biodiversity’ and ‘farm to fork’ strategies proposed by the European Commission last May.
Link to the ministerial declaration: https://bit.ly/2S62TAN (Original version in English by Lionel Changeur)