EU Strategy on coastal communities

Practical information

1. Composition of the study group
2. Administrators / Assistant in charge: Arturo Iniguez; Alejandra Molina Saavedra / Isabel Antunes
3. Contact
    

Background

As many EU policies and funding instruments affect coastal areas, a coherent approach to their development and implementation can maximise synergies across maritime, climate, cohesion, social, research and innovation, energy and environmental policies.

The EU Strategy on Resilient, Prosperous and Liveable Coastal Communities builds on the objectives of the European Ocean Pact, providing, for the first time, a coherent framework to address the challenges and opportunities facing Europe's coastal communities. Built around the objectives of prosperity, resilience and liveability, the Strategy brings together actions across a range of policy areas to support a sustainable and competitive blue economy, strengthen climate resilience and environmental protection, improve quality of life, and promote coordinated governance, investment and cooperation. The Strategy also provides a policy framework for future EU action on coastal communities and will be complemented by forthcoming initiatives, including the European Ocean Act.

EU cohesion policy, the CAP and maritime policies support sustainable development across coastal regions, complemented by capacity-building initiatives, such as TAIEX-REGIO Peer2Peer and FAMENET for Local Action Groups. Through the BlueInvest Platform, the EU supports start-ups and SMEs to develop and scale innovative ocean technologies and services by providing coaching, investor matchmaking and fundraising support. The blue economy investment instrument - backed by EMFAF and InvestEU and implemented by the European Investment Fund (EIF) - aims to mobilise private investment in the sustainable blue economy.

The EU has established territorial cooperation structures and dialogue platforms linking coastal communities with regional and national authorities, ports, industry, academia and civil society, such as the EU Sea Basin Strategies and the EU Macro Regional Strategies. By 2027, the Commission and Atlantic Member States will work on updating the Atlantic Maritime strategy, including the possible development of a new macroregional framework for the Atlantic region. In parallel, the Commission will present, together with the Union for the Mediterranean and Eastern Mediterranean partners, a new Eastern Mediterranean sea-basin strategy to support a sustainable, competitive blue economy.