BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsmeddelelsen, engelsk utgave)

Sustainable development lies at the heart of the EU policy agenda. The Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) has a central role to play in achieving this objective. Europe is a maritime continent. Our various oceans and seas and extensive coastline have long been the scene of substantial maritime activities, which continue to make a major contribution – economically, environmentally and socially. The aim of the IMP is to promote the sustainable growth of both the maritime economy in particular, and the coastal regions more generally, by improving coordination between the different sectoral policies and by developing cross-cutting tools. In this way, we will be able to develop integrated responses to maritime challenges.

If the IMP is to succeed, however, it cannot be just a European policy. Marine ecosystems and maritime economies transcend national boundaries. The IMP cannot afford to ignore what is going on beyond Europe's borders. Indeed, many of the most urgent challenges which demand an integrated approach cannot be effectively addressed without robust international cooperation. This is true both of those challenges which are explicitly global, like climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainable use of marine resources, fair competition in shipping and shipbuilding, and promotion of decent working conditions in those sectors, and of those issues which are more closely circumscribed at regional level - think, for instance, of the need to protect the environment against the impacts of certain maritime activities in the Mediterranean or the Baltic Sea. In both cases, it is clear that the EU has to tackle these issues in international partnerships. Indeed, we have a clear-cut responsibility as both a global player and a regional partner to do our part, and even lead the way on maritime challenges. Where the challenges facing the regional seas adjacent to the EU are concerned, the Commission has already, or will shortly, set out its vision of the steps required in specific Communications. This regional approach follows on directly from the request made by the European Council that the Commission take close account of regional specificities as it continues to develop the IMP agenda.

The present Communication complements this regional approach by exploring how the IMP should be extended into the wider international arena. It envisages the creation of an EU framework for a global integrated approach to maritime affairs. It outlines ways in which the EU's authority, as an international maritime power, should be strengthened at the multilateral level. This would also facilitate regional cooperation with maritime neighbours with whom the EU shares sea-basins, as well as helping develop closer bilateral relations with key partners. Efforts promoted in the framework of the international dimension of the EU IMP will be coherent with the EU's overarching external relations policy and the development policy.