• Home
• Conference programme
• Speakers
• Presentations
• Pictures
• Contact
• Imprint

Regard

by Dr Joe Borg, Member of the European Commission,
responsible for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs

The oceans are one of the foundations of life on our planet. Healthy oceans are an important source of food, wealth and jobs. They are also vital for the climate and provide an important habitat for flora and fauna. The sea plays an important role for economic, social and cultural cooperation between people, regions and nations.

To be able to make the most of the economic potential and at the same time conserve the natural value of the oceans and seas, it is time to reconcile the competing uses made of them and examine in a systematic manner how sectoral policies could be better coordinated to reinforce one another. Globalisation and increasing international interdependence also require a more holistic view of the oceans.

It is for these reasons that the European Commission has taken the initiative of a Green Paper aimed at launching a broad discussion in Europe about an integrative European Maritime Policy.

This integrated approach will contribute to the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy. It will help to strike a balance in a sustainable manner between conflicting interests. It will ensure that the different EU-sectoral policies are better coordinated and contribute to economic, social and environmental renewal in coastal regions.

I welcome the efforts of the Land Schleswig-Holstein for a future European Maritime Policy and I am very glad that Land Schleswig-Holstein is organizing this conference of the Baltic Sea area in close cooperation with the Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The conference is an important part of the consultation process on the Green Paper and will strongly contribute to the discussion. It should provide us with a representative view on the Green Paper from a Baltic Sea perspective. The area is characterized by a very well developed transnational and interregional cooperation including local stakeholders and actors with many projects and activities covering a broad range of maritime activities.

I wish all participants in the maritime conference in Kiel a fruitful and successful discussion. The European Commission will study with great interest the opinion of the Baltic Sea conference and will take it into account when drawing up a future European perspective on maritime affairs.