Commissioner Vella stressed that better planning was not only needed to manage different maritime economic activities and ensure sustainable blue growth, but also to successfully tackle global challenges like climate change and keep international waters and ecosystems healthy.

"If we want healthy, productive oceans, if we want to address the impacts of climate change, we need to step up our game. The European Union and its Member States are already major players in every relevant international organisation affecting oceans and seas. I want us to use this role as a force for good: to ensure stable, transparent and, above all, effective international rules. And, just as importantly, to ensure that those rules are followed," he said.

Today's conference is the final in a series of events organised by the European Commission to discuss specific maritime planning challenges. The EU has recently taken several steps to better manage its seas and oceans, including the adoption of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive. As these instruments are in the course of being implemented, today's event aims at looking beyond the European experience to learn from maritime planning elsewhere in the world.

In addition to attending the conference, the Commissioner will attend a working session of the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions, and meet local stakeholders as well as members of the Azores' research community at the Azores University's Department of Oceanography and Fisheries. The two-day visit will also include field visits to a fish auction house, a fish canning company, and the Rabo de Peixe fishing port.

Commissioner Vella's speech