During the Green Week 2017, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries is organising an event focusing on the current and future workforce needs in the blue economy.
EU Maritime Ministers will sign today a Declaration on Blue Growth, reaffirming their political commitment to further grow EU's sustainable blue economy.
Q&A on the EU initiative for the sustainable development of the blue economy in the western Mediterranean
Today the European Commission launches a new initiative for the sustainable development of the blue economy in the Western Mediterranean region.
In the 60-year-old history of European integration the Blue Growth policy is relatively young – it's been around for just 5 years. But even in its infancy it has produced several initiatives to drive the blue economy forward and make Europe's oceans, seas and coasts both healthy and productive.
European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, and Administrator Hong Wang of the Chinese State Oceanic Administration took part in the third EU-China High Level Dialogue on Ocean Affairs today.
After the United States of America and Chile, the European Union is proud to host the 4th edition of the "Our Ocean" conference, at the initiative of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella.
Commissioner Karmenu Vella, responsible for fisheries and maritime affairs, is attending the World Ocean Summit in Bali, Indonesia this week. Organised by The Economist, this year's edition addresses the vital issue of how to finance a sustainable ocean economy.
The European Commission has selected three new projects for funding under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
On 26 January 2017 the European Commission published a call for proposals to implement the first phase of the Blueprint for sectorial cooperation on skills: €4 million to produce, over 4 years, a European strategy on skills.
On 30 January 2017 the Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, met on the invitation of the Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas Intergroup with eleven Members of the European Parliament and more than twenty maritime stakeholders at the European Parliament to discuss the Joint Communication on International Ocean Governance, launched in November 2016, and the upcoming report of the European Parliament.
How can the blue economy drive sustainable development in the western Mediterranean? More than 200 participants and 70 panellists from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania will meet in Barcelona, Spain on 2 February 2017 to discuss the challenges and emerging opportunities for sustainable investment and job creation in the region's blue economy.
Ten blue growth projects are to receive grants under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) as part of the 'Blue Careers' and 'Blue Labs' calls for proposals. In total, 125 proposals were evaluated by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) which manages the projects.
A sustainable future for the world's oceans will require the full backing of the business community. This was the main message shared by João Aguiar Machado, Director-General of the European Commission's department for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, at the Sustainable Ocean Summit in Rotterdam.
The European Commission is making available €1.5 million to create nautical routes linking up maritime sites across Europe. The announcement was made by Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, when opening the European Tourism Day conference in Brussels today.
The global ocean economy is estimated at €1.3 trillion. Climate change, poverty and food security are some of the global challenges that can be effectively addressed, if oceans are better protected and sustainably managed. The Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy adopted today a Joint Communication, proposing actions for safe, secure, clean and sustainably managed oceans. As a strong global actor, the European Union sets out an agenda for better ocean governance based on a cross-sectoral, rules-based international approach.
Tomorrow the Ocean Energy Forum will release a report that charts a path to 10% of Europe's energy needs being met by tidal and wave energy.
The Baltic Sea is a hotbed for maritime innovation and activities. It provides a huge potential for enhancing the blue economy and boosting the region’s competitiveness. Cooperation at sea-basin level has an essential role to play in building on this potential.
Encouraged by the European Commission's strategy for growth and jobs in coastal and maritime tourism, the stakeholders representing cruise lines, ports and destinations of the Baltic are engaging to shape the future for cruise tourism in the Baltic sea basin. They are meeting today in the first Regional Dialogue for sustainable jobs and growth in the Baltic Sea basin.
