Our Ocean Conference Commitments

• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced that ten percent of all European Union marine waters will be covered by marine protected areas by 2020.  To achieve this, the European Union's Member States will designate significant additional marine protected areas, as well as promote their effective management through necessary fisheries measures.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced that European Union Member States will adopt innovative maritime spatial plans for all European Union marine waters by 2021.  Based on the ecosystem approach, these plans will ensure conservation and sustainable use of European Union marine waters, taking into account land-sea interactions and relying on processes like integrated coastal zone management.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced the European Union’s plan for all of its maritime waters to achieve “Good Environmental Status” by 2020, ensuring healthy seas and oceans for future generations and guaranteeing their role in the production of food and other resources.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced that the European Union is ready to commit EUR 675 million covering the period 2016-2020 to enter into Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements with coastal States.  These Agreements will assist countries in the development of sustainable fisheries, the effective management of monitoring and control systems, and the fight against IUU fishing.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced a major political initiative on Ocean Governance, which will set out concrete ideas on how the international governance of oceans could be strengthened in order to ensure a sustainable use of ocean resources.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced a proposal that would require all European Union vessels over 15 meters fishing outside European Union waters to have an IMO number by 2016.  Making this unique vessel identifier mandatory will enhance traceability of vessels, thus enhancing efforts to combat IUU fishing.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced that the European Union will release a proposal to better and more sustainably manage its external fishing fleet by the end of 2015.  The proposal will allow the European Union to better monitor and control its fleet and efficiently address the problems of reflagging and chartering, thus enhancing efforts to combat IUU fishing.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced the European Union’s intention to host an international conference on the fight against IUU fishing.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced that the European Union will release an ambitious strategy by the end of 2015 to achieve a circular economy, including a new legislative proposal on waste targets to address also the issue of marine litter from upstream sources.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced that the European Union will adopt a major quantitative reduction headline target for marine litter.  Achievement of this target will be facilitated by the adoption of marine strategies under the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced that the European Union will cut by one half the number of single-use plastic bags in the EU by 2019, helping to address the large accumulation of plastic bag litter in the ocean.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced that the European Union will dedicate EUR100 million for marine research each year until 2020, advancing research in many maritime areas, including renewable energy, transport, maritime security, climate change, environment, fisheries, and aquaculture.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced the creation of an unprecedented multi-resolution map of the European seabed by 2020.  The map will be publicly available and will have far-reaching benefits across the wider marine and maritime community.
• (2015) The European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Environment announced his intention to host the 2017 Our Ocean Conference in Europe.