Brussels, July 6 – The European Union has some of the world’s most ambitious nature protection laws. Yet they too often remain unapplied: many protected marine areas continue to allow particularly destructive fishing practices. A new coalition of environmental organizations is now being launched to ensure that these laws are finally respected.
This initiative comes one year after environmental organizations filed historic complaints against six European Union Member States for allowing destructive fishing practices in marine protected areas, complaints on which the European Commission has not yet taken a decision.
Bringing together eleven organisations, the Coalition will ask the European Commission to initiate infringement proceedings against several Member States that currently do not comply with their legal obligations to protect marine ecosystems. It will also support legal actions initiated at the national level.
« While the European Commission pursues its objective of reducing administrative burdens, the prohibition of destructive fishing practices, such as bottom trawling in EU marine protected areas, would be a simple, clear and uniform rule for all European fishermen. Such a measure would significantly simplify control and reduce implementation costs, » said the MPA Legal Coalition.
The launch of this coalition comes at a pivotal moment for European ocean policy. While the European Commission is currently evaluating the Birds and Habitats Directives, the Coalition stresses that their effective implementation and application will be decisive in ensuring true protection of the oceans. After the recent victories obtained concerning the marine protected area of the Dogger Bank in the Netherlands and the site of the Banks of Flanders in France, all eyes are now turning to European decision-makers so that they draw the consequences of these court decisions.
A year ago, members of the Coalition filed coordinated complaints (1, 2) with the European Commission against Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain for systematically allowing bottom-based trawling and other destructive fishing practices in Natura 2000 marine sites. Twelve months later, these marine areas of major ecological importance, supposed to be « protected » marine areas, remain largely exposed to destructive activities that they were precisely intended to prevent.
The MPA Legal Coalition is now joining forces to change this situation. By coordinating legal actions at the European level, sharing scientific knowledge and supporting strategic litigation at national and European level, the Coalition intends to strengthen the accountability of States and accelerate the implementation of existing environmental law. Its action will aim in particular to ensure that governments comply with their obligations under the « Habitats » Directive and more broadly from European biodiversity law.
« By linking national legal actions within a coordinated European strategy, the Coalition builds a dynamic of responsibility that no government can ignore, » said the MPA Legal Coalition. « Our goal is simple: to ensure that European MPUs are truly protected, and not just on paper. «
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Notes to the editors
The MPA Legal Coalition brings together environmental organizations working to improve the implementation and strengthen the application of marine conservation law across Europe. During its first year of activity, it will focus its efforts on the advancement of ongoing legal proceedings, contributing to the evaluation (« stress-test ») of the « Birds » and « Habitats » guidelines, as well as the strengthening of cooperation between lawyers, scientists and civil society organizations to better protect marine ecosystems. Its members are: Blue Marine Foundation, BUND, ClientEarth, Danmarks Naturfredningsforening, Défense des Milieus Aquatics, Doggerland, DUH, Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Manche Nature, Oceana, and Seas At Risk.
The European Union is committed to protecting at least 30% of its marine areas by 2030 within the framework of the European Biodiversity Strategy and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. However, about 93% of European marine ecosystems are subject to multiple pressures of human origin, and the good ecological state of marine waters has still not been achieved. Deep-based trawling remains one of the main pressures exerted on European marine habitats and continues to be practiced in many areas designated for conservation within the Natura 2000 network. According to official data from the European Commission, 79% of Europe’s coastal seabeds are considered physically disturbed, mainly due to bottom-to-bottom trawling.
Please visit the mpa-legal-coalition.org coalition page.
Blue Marine Foundation is a British ocean conservation charity whose goal is to restore marine life by securing marine protected areas and fighting overfishing. Blue Marine’s mission is to ensure the effective protection of at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, as well as the sustainable management of the entire ocean. Blue Marine is currently active in 29 countries around the world, with more than 200 partners.
Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND)
Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland is the German member of the Friends of the Earth network and an independent non-governmental organization that has been working for the protection of nature and the environment since the mid-1970s. With more than 670,000 members and supporters, 16 regional federations (Landesverbände) and 2,300 local and regional groups, BUND is today one of the largest environmental protection organizations in Germany.
ClientEarth works in more than 60 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe. The organization shapes, implements and enforces the law in order to build a future where people and nature can thrive. Alongside partners and citizens from all over the world, ClientEarth acts against climate change, protects nature and fights against pollution. It calls companies and governments to account, and defends the right of everyone to live in a healthy environment.
Defence of Aquatic Environments (ADM) acts primarily before administrative courts to reduce pressure on aquatic environments. We fight in particular against the overexploitation of these environments, for example about migratory fish (salmon, alose, lamprey, eels), bottom trawls, diversion of rivers or migratory birds. Thus, DMA obtained the reduction of the bottom trawl fishing period in the three thousand of Arcachon from 12 to 5 months, then the exclusion of this fishing technique outside the protected marine areas of this coast. It is necessary to amplify this dynamic to all marine protected areas, but also to benefit the entire marine strip of the first three miles. Our main project is to free this area from all non-selective fishing gear, i.e. all nets without distinction. This is the « Golden Miles » project, a reality that has already been validated for decades in the USA and other countries.
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DHU) is an independent non-profit association founded in 1975, which has the power to take legal action and conduct advocacy campaigns primarily at national and European level. It works for sustainable lifestyles and economic models, respectful of planetary boundaries. The organization also works for the preservation of biodiversity, the protection of natural resources and the fight against climate change. His team dedicated to the oceans works for the protection of the marine environment by fighting against overfishing, promoting the development of offshore wind energy with respect for nature and by encouraging sustainable maritime space planning. It acts for healthy seas in Germany, in close collaboration with its European partners.
Doggerland Foundation fights against violations of marine nature conservation law through strategic legal actions. It also responds to the lack of ambition in nature restoration by leading ecological restoration projects and working to better take the sea and its interests into account in decision-making processes.
The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) works internationally to educate policy development and bring about systemic and sustainable reforms to protect our environment and defend human rights. We investigate abuse and expose it to the open, and support environmental advocates, indigenous peoples, communities and independent journalists on the front line of environmental injustices. Our campaigns aim to ensure a peaceful, equitable and sustainable future. Our investigators, researchers, videographers and activists work with local partners and environmentalists around the world. Our action for environmental justice aims to protect the climate, oceans, forests and wildlife of the planet, as well as to defend fundamental rights.
Manche-Nature, created in 1988, is strong with its 400 members and 15 local associations that fight with it for the preservation of the environment. Naturalist association, its team of volunteers inventory from year to year the evolution of the fauna and flora of our department. She publishes a quarterly magazine « L’Argiope » and thematic files. Citizen association, it participates in public debates on environmental issues: « consultations », public surveys, etc. Approved association, it sits on many commissions. A popular education association, it organizes, at the request of prosecutors, environmental protection awareness courses. It regularly offers conferences-debates and nature outings. A responsible and representative association, it does not hesitate to be in court when the facts are proven and the State, local authorities, companies or individuals have not heard its warnings. Independent association, it does not receive any subsidies. She lives from memberships and donations that she regularly penalizes.
Oceana is the largest international organization dedicated exclusively to the protection of the oceans. Its mission is to restore abundant and rich oceans in biodiversity by obtaining the adoption of policies based on scientific knowledge to end overfishing, protect endangered habitats and species, combat oil and plastic pollution, and increase the transparency of sea activities. With more than 350 victories to its credit, Oceana’s campaigns produce concrete results for the oceans, coastal communities and the planet. A restored ocean would allow one billion people to benefit every day, sustainably, from healthy food from seafood. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world.
Seas At Risk (SAR) is a Brussels-based network that brings together 41 environmental organizations in 19 European countries, collectively representing millions of citizens. The organization is working towards the adoption of ambitious European policies to protect marine environments and resilient coastal communities. With more than 30 years of experience alongside civil society organizations across Europe, Seas At Risk relies on a solid network that allows it to coordinate advocacy actions at different levels of governance. By linking national campaigns and European and international decision-making processes, the organization ensures that the realities of the field feed political debates at European level. Through its established relationships with European institutions and decision-makers, as well as the expertise and local anchorage of its members, Seas At Risk contributes effectively to the development and implementation of policies for the protection of the oceans.
source : EJF
