European Ocean Observation Initiative (OceanEye)

Key points

The EESC:

• welcomes OceanEye as a major milestone in implementing the European Ocean Pact, as one of the flagship initiatives supporting the forthcoming European Ocean Act and as a timely and necessary response to the fragmentation of European ocean observation;
• believes that ambition in governance must be matched by continuous funding. Ocean observation is in the general interest and requires sustained public commitment. Recent reductions in observation and research programmes elsewhere show that the continuity of scientific infrastructure cannot be taken for granted;
• emphasises that people and knowledge must be at the core. Fishers, aquaculture producers, coastal communities and citizen scientists are both data providers and end users. The EESC calls for observation priorities and services to be jointly developed with these stakeholders, for fishers’ knowledge to be integrated into data collection and decision-making and for Pillar IV (skills, ocean literacy, engagement) to be treated as integral to the system’s success;
• stresses that no regional sea and no Member State should be left behind, while recognising their distinct environmental, geopolitical, socio-economic and observation needs. A basin-sensitive approach is therefore essential. The Black Sea and the Baltic Sea basins warrant particular attention because Russia’s war and hybrid aggression have directly disrupted their regional cooperation;
• believes that the EU has a window to become the global leader and guarantor of open ocean data. In a context of weakening commitments by some traditional contributors, the EESC calls on the EU, through the proposed International Alliance and its partnership with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), to make concrete, quantified commitments for the continuity of critical global networks such as Argo and the observation of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This is a timely, low-cost, high-leverage opportunity for global leadership;
• considers that the fragmented implementation of EU ocean and water policies calls for stronger operational governance. Rather than creating new structures at a time when resources are scarce, the Committee invites the Commission to assign a clear operational mandate for ocean observation and marine knowledge services to the European Ocean Board and other existing Union bodies.