The 18th Meeting of the MSEG on MSP took place on Wednesday 13th May 2020. Due to the unprecedented circumstances at present, the meeting was held online.
Updates were provided by all 20 of the Member States represented at the MSEG Meeting regarding the status of their MSP plans and the latest developments at the national level. In several cases, the national consultation process has been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
The Commission (DG MARE) and EASME informed participants about the different activities that they are undertaking to facilitate the implementation of the EU MSP Directive such as studies on subjects such as the application of the Ecosystems Based Approach in MSP or on tools for the assessment, monitoring and revision of Maritime Spatial Plans. The Commission also updated Member States about progress in the preparation for the launch of the Call for Proposals 2020 for EU cross-border cooperation projects in MSP.
The Assistance Mechanism (AM) for MSP presented its updated workplan. Following the receipt of requests for support by eight member states and subsequent analysis, the AM has defined a series of technical studies, knowledge exchange workshops and national technical assistance which it shall seek to undertake in support of Member States.
Updates were also provided by a number of regional organisations and programmes, including the WWF, JPI Oceans, Seas at Risk, Bird Life and The European Environment Agency. In addition, several active cross-border studies presented the state of play of the project, including; Integrating Ecosystem-Based Approach into MSP; MARSPLAN-BS II; SimAtlantic Project; Ocean Metiss and MSP-MED.
Find out more about resources and position papers discussed during this 18th MSEG (online) edition:
- WWF EU position paper on MSP
- 7 Reports and policy briefs of #PHAROS4MPA project
- The Blue Manifesto roadmap, a call for action by civil society across Europe to restore healthy ocean by 2030.