European marine policy

Integrated Maritime
Policy for the European Union (Blue Book)

The European Commission published An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union (the Blue Book) and an action plan in 2007.

• Blue Book
• Action Plan

In the Action Plan, the EU commits itself to action in a range of sectors including maritime transport, marine research, surveillance and member states’ marine spatial planning.

The ‘environmental pillar’ of European marine policy is the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), which entered into force in July 2008.

• European Marine Strategy Framework Directive