They also reaffirm the political commitment to boost EU's sustainable blue economy by endorsing the Valletta Declaration signed by the European maritime ministers in Malta on 20 April 2017. The conclusions set new direction of the Blue Growth Initiative and highlight the importance of research and innovation, funding and investment, cross-sectoral synergies and sustainability, while recognising the need for a stable regulatory framework. 

The Council Conclusions welcome the European Commission's recently  adopted Staff Working Documents on Blue Growth and Nautical Tourism, endorse the Initiative for the western  Mediterranean  and comes a few months before the EU-hosted 2017 Our Ocean conference (Malta, 5-6 October).

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Council conclusions on Blue Growth