The EU Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) Week marked a decade of EU support to cross-border cooperation on maritime spatial planning. Last month, the European Maritime Spatial Planning Week brought the MSP community together in Marseille (France) to reflect on the achievements made across European seas, discuss current policies, and plan for the next steps to tackle new challenges for maritime spatial planning in the EU.
Since the establishment of the MSP Directive in 2014, a lot has happened in the European sea-basins. 20 EU coastal Member States have developed MSP plans, 2 others are working hard to get there.
Having a plan and make it future proof is essential, as there is a high and rapidly increasing demand for maritime space for different purposes, such as installations to produce energy from renewable sources; shipping and fishing activities; ecosystem and biodiversity conservation (i.e. marine protected areas); tourism; aquaculture installations and underwater cultural heritage. This requires an integrated planning management approach.
The MSP week kicked-off with the 27th Member States Experts Group (MSEG) meeting on maritime spatial planning, where CINEA Project Advisor Gema San Bruno gave an update on the current EMAF support to MSP implementation and development. She announced the positive outcome of the last MSP calls (2023-2024), and the preparation of two new MSP projects to be kicked off soon for the Mediterranean and the North Seas. She also confirmed the continuous support to the Member States under the MSP Assistance Mechanism.
At the centre of the MSP week was the Stakeholder Conference to celebrate the ‘decade of MSP’, since the adoption of the MSP Directive in 2014. The event highlighted how stakeholder engagement has influenced decision-making processes and shaped future EU policies in response to pressing issues such as climate-change and multi-use strategies.
Two key questions emerged from the discussions. The first concerns the need to shift from a national approach to transboundary cooperation. The second highlights the importance of involving coastal communities in the planning process.