Coastal Zone Policy

Overview of the programme

Summary

From 1996 to 1999, the Directorates General for Environment, Fisheries and Regional Policy operated a Demonstration Programme on ICZM designed to:

Provide concrete technical information about the factors and mechanisms, which either encourage or discourage sustainable management of coastal zones.
Stimulate a broad debate and exchange of information among the various actors involved in the planning, management or use of European coastal zones. This debate was intended to lead to a consensus regarding the appropriate measures necessary at the European and other levels of competence in order to stimulate ICZM in Europe.

Experts and scientists of the European Union endeavoured to demonstrate the conditions necessary for successful integrated management in various coastal regions in Europe. The lessons and principles derived from the experiences of the programme were presented in two documents released in April 1999. The main parties and interests involved in the use and management of coastal zones were then invited to examine these documents and to comment on possible future action at European, national, regional and local level.

OBJECTIVES:

In its communication COM95/511 on the integrated management of coastal zones, the European Commission announced a demonstration programme. The other European Institutions - the Council, Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee - supported the Commission's approach, stressing the need to put concrete measures into effect as soon as possible.

The practice of sustainable development requires the full and systematic application of the principles of integration and subsidiarity. This can be achieved only with the active participation of all the players (political authorities, administrations, economic operators, scientists, the general public). Sectoral attitudes have to give way to cooperation. The most appropriate instruments, in particular information and coordination machinery, had to be devised. The objective of the demonstration programme were therefore to show what practical conditions must be met if sustainable development is to be achieved in the European coastal zones in all their diversity. The Programme had a dual function:

to test cooperation models for the integrated management of the coastal zones and to provide the technical results needed to devise the projects to be set up;
to establish structured dialogue between the European institutions and all the players with a stake in the development of the coastal zones.

DEFINITIONS:

Sustainable Development: meeting the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations.

The Subsidiarity Principle states that the Community takes action only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be adequately met at national, regional or local level and be better achieved by the Community. The environment programme links this concept with shared responsibility, complementarity of projects and the need for cooperation between the different levels of authority.

The Principle of Integration is set out in Article 130 R of the Maastricht treaty and stipulates that environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of other Community policies.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is a continuous process with the general aim of implementing sustainable development in coastal zones and maintaining their diversity. To this end, it aims, by more effective management, to establish and maintain optimum (sustainable) levels of use, development and activity in coastal zones, and eventually to improve the state of the coastal environment.

UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES:

The following three key ideas underlay the demonstration programme:

improved cooperation between all concerned is the basis for sustainable development. It helps identify synergies or contradictions between actions resulting from the various policies and facilitates the acceptance of arbitration. In short, it develops a general sense of responsibility;
such cooperation can develop only from full, comprehensible information on the state of the environment, the origin of the changes affecting it, the implications of policies and measures at the various levels, and the options;
cooperation has to be organised and maintained. There is a need for procedures and working methods to ensure dialogue between those involved in the various sectors of activity and at the various levels of territorial authority, and an ongoing exchange of information, from the local level up to Community level and vice versa.

The programme was designed to enable the Commission to identify the necessary actions. It needed to provide arguments to justify these actions and sustain a dialogue with the main parties involved in the development of coastal zones. These conditions were met by the three complementary components of the programme:

a series of demonstration projects representing the experience and practice of development in the various parts of the European Union;
thematic analyses that guarantee strict and systematic use of individual experiences;
a wide-ranging debate on the results of the programme and the conclusions to be drawn from it.

IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME:

The working hypothesis of the demonstration programme was that sustainable development and environmental policies are being implemented too slowly mainly because the processes influencing the development of the coastal zones are insufficiently coordinated. There is a wide variety of these processes, ranging from the formulation of policies and laws to land use and management at local level.

Thirty-five demonstration projects were used to verify this hypothesis. They attempted to identify solutions already implemented, or tested new solutions, for improving coastal management in the specific contexts of the various demonstration projects. So as to be able to exploit systematically the experience and know-how gained from these various projects, a series of thematic analyses analysed the projects from the point of view of six issues crucial to implementing an integrated approach to coastal zone management, namely: the legislative and regulatory systems; information; participation mechanisms and procedures; coherence of plans and programmes in different sectors and at different administrative levels; the role of technology; and the effects of European policies on coastal zones.

Scientific support was provided by the European Environment Agency and the Community Research and Technological Development Programme (Research DG), as well as the Joint Research Centre. This support aimed to improve knowledge of the coastal environment, especially interactions between human activities and this environment.

DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

The participants in the demonstration programme and other interested parties were informed of progress on the work by dissemination of intermediate results, an occasional news bulletin and specific publications. In the last phase of the programme, seminars and workshops, involving the principal partners, were held in various coastal zones of the Union to determine what future action should be taken at European and other levels. This broad consultation process was intended to help prepare proposals for measures to be taken by the European Commission and facilitate their rapid adoption.

TIMETABLE:

The demonstration programme consisted of three main stages:

The preparatory stage, which was practically complete by the end of 1996. Its purpose was to obtain the opinions of the European Institutions, select the demonstration projects and organise the programme.
The operational phase of the programme in 1997 and 1998. This involved collecting the technical results on the conditions for implementing sustainable development in the coastal regions. This stage involved detailed monitoring of the demonstration projects to ensure that they produced the desired results. Thematic analyses identified what lessons can be learnt from the demonstration projects. Early in 1998, the Commission circulated an interim progress report on the programme.
Completion of the programme during 1999. The programme ended with evaluation of the results and the measures required at European and other levels. During this stage there were technical seminars, broad dissemination of information, and discussion with the parties concerned by the development of European coastal zones.

CONCLUDING REMARKS:

The demonstration programme was specifically aimed at applying the principles of subsidiarity and integration, which underlie European environment and regional planning activities. This programme revolved around three key concepts: coordination, cooperation and consultation.

The success of the programme was linked to the degree to which those responsible for the demonstration projects were in a position to ensure good cooperation between the various planning authorities, from local to Community level. It was an exercise in implementing the principle of subsidiarity, since true subsidiarity means not only that everyone takes responsibility at their own level, but also that they systematically examine the consequences of the action they are planning with the other levels.

The demonstration programme was also an opportunity to put the principle of policy integration into practice. From its conception, there was very close cooperation between several European Commission D.G.s: Environment, Regional Policy and Fisheries, with considerable support from Research. It is significant in this respect that the implementation phase drew on various sources of Community funding, in accordance with the Commission's desire to ensure optimum coherence and use of financial instruments.