Intervention by Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, at the Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER) conference in Anchorage, USA

EU Commissioner Karmenu Vella, responsible for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, has travelled to Alaska this week, highlighting the strategic importance of the Arctic region as the Arctic Ocean becomes increasingly "ice-free" and accessible.

The European Commission has adopted on 17 August a key investment package for the Lithuanian fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Covering the period 2014-2020, the operational programme (OP) under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) is worth almost €82 million, including €63 million of EU investments. Investments will be targeted at enhancing the competitiveness, sustainability and viability of Lithuanian fisheries and aquaculture businesses.

The European Commission has adopted investment packages for the maritime, fisheries and aquaculture sectors of Denmark (€267.6m, including €208.4 m of EU funds), Estonia (€129.6m, including €101m of EU funds), Germany (€284.6 m, including €219.6 m of EU funds) and Sweden (€172.9m, including €120.2 of EU funds). The investment is available for the period 2014-2020.

Every Directorate-general and Service of the European Commission has a management plan for the year to come. Its purpose is twofold: it translates the priority initiatives and the strategic objectives of the Commission into concrete operations.

The European Commission has adopted a key investment package for the Slovenian maritime, fisheries and aquaculture sectors worth €32.6m, including almost €25m of EU funds, for the period 2014-2020.