The European Commission introduced the European Ocean Pact, a comprehensive plan to protect EU oceans, promote sustainable industries, and support coastal communities. Environmental NGOs welcomed the initiative but criticized the lack of binding targets and concrete enforcement measures.
On Thursday, the European Commission presented the European Ocean Pact, a new roadmap designed to enhance protection of the ocean, foster a sustainable blue economy, and support the well-being of people living in coastal and island areas. The announcement comes ahead of the United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC) set to take place in Nice, France, next week.
The plan brings together existing EU ocean policies under a single framework to tackle the threats facing the bloc’s marine environments. Key priorities outlined in the pact include protecting and restoring ocean health, boosting the EU’s blue economy, supporting coastal and island communities, advancing ocean research, increasing maritime security and defence, and strengthening ocean diplomacy.
“It will not only benefit the planet, but also the people who call the coast their home, and the generations who will steward our oceans tomorrow,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, described the pact as “a concrete plan for action,” emphasizing its potential for sustainable investments and its importance for security.
Among its headline pledges, the Commission proposes a new European law on the oceans by 2027 and plans to revise two maritime directives to improve biodiversity protection.
However, environmental NGOs have voiced reservations. In a joint statement, BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, Oceana, Seas At Risk, Surfrider Foundation Europe, and the WWF European Policy Office acknowledged the pact as a step in the right direction but warned of “critical gaps” and a lack of urgent action and binding targets.
Vera Coelho, deputy vice-president of Oceana in Europe, called it a “missed opportunity” for the EU to demonstrate leadership at the forthcoming UNOC. She noted that the pact “proposes to continue the same failed, case-by-case approach that has enabled destructive practices like bottom trawling to continue for decades inside the EU’s so-called ‘protected' areas.”
Coelho also remarked that the pact opens the door to revising key EU legislation such as the Common Fisheries Policy, rather than focusing on enforcement and implementation strategies. She asserted that a lack of political will by member states is the root cause of the ocean’s multiple crises.
Juliet Stote, law and policy advisor on marine ecosystems at ClientEarth, commented, “While the Commission promises in the Ocean Pact to work on enforcement, it falls short, offering no concrete plan for how ocean laws, which exist on paper, will actually be implemented at sea.”
Stote highlighted that destructive activities such as bottom trawling continue in Marine Protected Areas and overfishing remains an issue in EU waters.
The NGOs are urging EU institutions and member states to strengthen the Ocean Pact by introducing concrete measures and ensuring that ocean protection is prioritized in EU law.
