Maritime Affairs

Integrated maritime policy

Integrated maritime policy

Integrated maritime policy

Definition and scope

Finland © Lionel Flageul

The Integrated Maritime Policy seeks to provide a more coherent approach to maritime issues, with increased coordination between different policy areas. It focuses on:

  • Issues that do not fall under a single sector-based policy e.g. "blue growth" (economic growth based on different maritime sectors).
  • Issues that require the coordination of different sectors and actors e.g. marine knowledge.

Specifically it covers these cross-cutting policies:

It seeks to coordinate, not to replace policies on specific maritime sectors.

Why do we need it?

  • To take account of the inter-connectedness of industries and human activities centred on the sea. Whether the issue is shipping and ports, wind energy, marine research, fishing or tourism, a decision in one area can affect all the others. For instance, an off-shore wind farm may disrupt shipping, which in turn will affect ports.
  • To save time and money by encouraging authorities to share data across policy fields and to cooperate rather than working separately on different aspects of the same problem.
  • To build up close cooperation between decision-makers in the different sectors at all levels of government – national maritime authorities, regional and local authorities, and international authorities, both inside and outside Europe. Many countries are recognising this need and move towards more structured and systematic collaboration.

Marine and maritime agenda - The Limassol Declaration

A Marine and Maritime Agenda for Growth and Jobs was adopted on 8 October 2012 by European Ministers for maritime policy and the European Commission, represented by President Jose Manuel Barroso (speech) and Commissioner Maria Damanaki (speech), at a conference in Limassol organised by the Cypriot Presidency. Five years after the launch of the EU Integrated Maritime Policy, the Member States and the Commission reaffirmed that a dynamic and coordinated approach to maritime affairs enhances the development of the EU's 'Blue Economy' while ensuring the health of seas and oceans.

Funding opportunities

The EU provides funding for the political priorities for the Integrated Maritime Policy expressed by the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament under Regulation 508/2014. The funding is implemented through:

In addition, maritime policy is implemented through

Official documents

Integrated Maritime Policy in general

Integrated Maritime Policy at national and international level

More info

Maritime Forum

Maritime affairs