Written by Frederik Scholaert.
On 5 June 2025, the European Commission published the European ocean pact. The world’s seas and oceans are under severe and increasing pressure from pollution, climate change, and overexploitation. The deterioration of the environment, coupled with the growing demand for maritime space and marine resources, has emphasised the necessity of coherent ocean governance — a goal that the ocean pact aims to achieve.
The pact is a non-legislative strategy intended to serve as a unified reference framework for all ocean-related EU policies. It was announced as one of the key deliverables within the Commission’s fisheries and oceans portfolio. Actions and initiatives in this pact are grouped under six priorities: ocean health; a sustainable blue economy; coastal communities and islands; ocean research, skills and literacy; maritime security and defence; and ocean governance. To support implementation, a high-level stakeholder-led ocean board would be established as well as a ‘ocean pact scoreboard’ to monitor achievement of the objectives. Member States will be encouraged to designate and manage marine protected areas in order to meet the 2030 target of protecting 30 % of their seas. In order to achieve all targets set out in the ocean pact, the Commission will table an ocean act in 2027. This legislative act, which has been requested by various stakeholders, will be based on a revision of the maritime spatial planning directive. It would strengthen and modernise maritime planning and bring relevant ocean-related targets together in one place.
Read the complete briefing on ‘The European ocean pact: And an ocean act by 2027‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
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