At the Environment Council on Tuesday 17 March, France wishes to draw the attention of its European partners to the need to transform Mercator Ocean International into an intergovernmental organisation.
This appeal comes at a time when the European Commission is developing the ‘European Digital Twin Ocean’, a strategic project that will rely heavily on Mercator’s capabilities, according to a note sent by France ahead of the European ministers’ meeting (see EUROPE 13819/11).
At the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (Nice, June 2025), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed this tool’s importance for improving marine environment knowledge, management and protection.
Mercator Ocean is currently a not-for-profit organisation mandated by the Commission to become the first international organisation entirely dedicated to digital ocean systems, combining advanced modelling, digital twins and artificial intelligence.
The convention creating this organisation was adopted in April 2025, signed by France and Norway, and ratified by Oslo in January 2026. Several other countries have since expressed their intention to join.
Paris is highlighting the issues of European sovereignty linked to ocean data and digital infrastructures, at a time when operational oceanography’s civil, economic and security uses are becoming increasingly important. The future organisation’s preparatory phase is due to begin in mid-2026, with the aim of putting in place governance led by the Member States and preparing for its integration into the European Union’s next Multiannual Financial Framework.
Link to the note: https://aeur.eu/f/l5v (in French) (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)