2.5: Maritime
To enhance cooperation and support the activities relating to information and data in the EU's maritime and marine policy
arena that will enable us to identify, exploit and review economic data on maritime activities, undertake assessments of marine
spatial planning and cooperate with source organisations to integrate environmental information of relevance.
Other Information:
Analysis - The EU Maritime policy and its environmental pillar, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, place an ecosystem-based
approach at the centre of an integrated policy response to oceans, seas and coastal issues. This approach takes into account
the high environmental potential of European seas and coastal systems in the delivery of vital ecological services in the
face of increasing pressures from climate change and the intensification of diverse and competing economic activities (inter
alia shipping, fishing, energy, resource exploitation) throughout the European maritime area. New and more extensive monitoring
and analytical methods are now needed for integrated assessments. These will build on the developments in technology and information
systems that are already underway, such as the EU Atlas of the seas, and the specific support to the European Marine Observation
and Data network (EMODNET) with its links to WISE-marine and SEIS. These will help connect source organisations and provide
online and shared access to the necessary data, to support marine spatial planning and state of the environment reporting.
Action - We will achieve our objective by: • establishing a common methodology for multi‑dimensional (e.g. benthic marine
landscape) and functional (e.g. energy potential, refuge zones) mapping of European seas, so as to contribute to the European
Atlas of the seas, provide spatially relevant assessments and input to the marine module of the Water Information System for
Europe (WISE); • harmonising the characterisation of seabed and habitat mapping in line with EUNIS compatible broad scale
mapping and classification; • undertaking analyses on marine ecosystems accounting in relation to maritime socio‑economic
activities; • contributing to the spatial information platform in WISE, for data discovery, viewing and discussion that connects
to the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNET); • providing the maritime part and support the integrated approach
in the annotated outline for Marine/Maritime issues in SOER 2010, with a focus on evaluation of effectiveness of marine spatial
planning policies and practices; • contributing to assess the relevant maritime policy as input to related issues (e.g. tourism,
transport) as well as other regional aspects for the biennial synthesis progress report Horizon 2020, the Baltic Sea Region
Strategy under the Swedish Presidency in 2009 and the Spanish Presidency in 2010; and • creating user-friendly access to reports,
data, indicators and other information through the EEA Water Data Centre, with related analytical tools.
Indicator(s):
|
