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Food, Farming, Fisheries
Oceans and fisheries

Maritime spatial planning

Maritime spatial planning (MSP) is essential for managing the use of our seas coherently and to ensure that human activities take place in an efficient, safe and sustainable way.

Overview

Many activities take place in Europe’s seas. Fishing, aquaculture, shipping, renewable energy, nature conservation and other uses compete for maritime space. That is why the EU has legislation on maritime spatial planning.

Objectives

  • reducing conflicts and creating synergies between different activities
  • encouraging investment through predictability, transparency and legal certainty
  • increasing cross-border cooperation between EU countries to develop renewable energy, allocate shipping lanes, lay pipelines and submarine cables etc
  • protecting the environment by assigning protected areas, calculating impacts on ecosystems and identifying opportunities for multiple uses of space

Actions

Revision of the MSP Directive

The European Commission plans to introduce an 'Ocean Act' which will update the current MSP Directive. 

Technical support

The European MSP Platform, financed by EU, provides help to EU countries in implementing MSP legislation. The project manages a website featuring information on existing MSP practices, processes and projects, carries out technical studies, and offers a Q&A service. In 2023 the European Blue Forum was launched to develop synergies between maritime activities and to reconcile the various users of the sea. 

Financial support

EU-funded MSP cross-border projects and conferences facilitate cooperation between EU countries in managing maritime space and support the implementation of MSP legislation. The projects website on the European MSP Platform provides full details on the activities that have taken place since 2010.

MSP worldwide

Sustainable management of ocean space is not just a regional issue but a global necessity. The EU collaborates with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission to accelerate MSP processes worldwide through the MSPGlobal project. New international guidelines on transboundary MSP are in development. EU funding also supports regional MSP projects in the West Mediterranean and in the South-East Pacific.

Timeline

Where are we now?

  1. At least every ten years
    EU countries review their maritime spatial plans.
  2. 2030

    Achieving the European Green Deal objectives at sea

  3. 2026

    Publication of Commission 2nd report on MSPD Implementation

  4. 2023

    Launch of the Blue Forum: stakeholder dialogue between users of the sea

  5. 2022

    Report outlining the progress made in implementing Directive 2014/89/EU establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning

  6. 2021
    All coastal EU countries establish maritime spatial plans
  8. 2014
    Adoption of the maritime spatial planning directive

Media

Euronews Ocean: Uncharted waters: how maps can help prevent conflict over marine resources. February 2020.

Euronews Ocean: Uncharted waters: how maps can help prevent conflict over marine resources

Can you build a wind turbine in the same spot as a fish farm, and how do you make sure whale watchers and fishermen don’t clash at sea? It's all about maps.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in a nutshell. 2017.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in a nutshell

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is spreading across the globe as a new way of achieving sustainable development of the world’s seas and oceans.

But what does MSP actually mean? How does it work?

“Marine Spatial Planning – in a nutshell” is a five-minute film that explains MSP simply and dynamically. It is suitable for everyone: from local communities to planners and policy-makers.