EU Ocean Pact: MEPs want more than a message in a bottle

European Commissioner for Fisheries Costas Kadis received general support from the European Parliament plenary for his efforts to deliver an EU Oceans Pact on Wednesday, but MEPs expressed concerns about the implementation of the initiative.

After the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a "European Oceans Pact" aimed at boosting the blue economy and ensure the oceans' sustainability in her political guidelines, the European Council welcomed the initiative on 20 March.

In Parliament, Kadis emphasised the pact's advantage in strengthening the EU's maritime diplomacy in the run-up to the United Nations Conference on the Oceans in June and the fact that, in addition to the economic and environmental benefits, it "would contribute to maritime security and stability in Europe."

During the debate, most political groups did not discuss the intention, but its implementation.

“The grand declarations of the past have not been followed up by action”, said Christophe Clergeau (S&D). “We support you, Commissioner, but we have doubts about the support you enjoy within the Commission,” added the MEP.

While Renew MEP Stephanie Yon-Courtin said that the pact should not be “a message in a bottle,” Green MEP Isabella Lovin stated that “we cannot achieve our objective without a legally binding governance framework.” 

For Emma Fourreau (The Left), the plan “lacks ambition.”The inclusion of a concrete "implementing mechanism" is still under discussion, Kadis answered. "I am discussing with our services which mechanisms would be more appropriate to secure the implementation of the pact."

However, other MEPs warned against overburdening fishermen. For Gabriel Mato (EPP), the Commission's initiative "must not impose more restrictions on fishermen for the sake of environmental protection," and for Veronika Vrecionova (ECR), the EU must "not repeat the same mistakes as in climate policy" and ensure that stricter standards "apply to imports from third countries."

As for the NGOs, they preferred to focus on the momentum observed in Parliament in favour of ocean protection." 

In turbulent geopolitical times, some consensus on this vision is a turn that must be seized to invest in ocean restoration," Nicolas Fournier, marine protection campaign director at the environmental NGO Oceana in Europe, told Euractiv. "We call on the Commission to strengthen the implementation of EU law."

Alice Bergoënd