The European Commission revamps its focus on renewable energy, coastal resilience and relevant skills while supporting the socio-economic recovery.
The revamped Atlantic Action Plan of the European Commission (EC) will give fresh impetus to the Atlantic maritime strategy and will contribute to the European Green Deal, while safeguarding marine and coastal environments and securing a healthy ocean. It also seeks to contribute to the recovery from the socio-economic crisis triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The plan proposes concrete actions for the development of the blue economy in the Atlantic. It focuses on four priorities: developing Atlantic ports as gateways and blue economy hubs, blue skills and ocean literacy, marine renewable energy as part of the EU Green Deal, and coastal resilience and healthy oceans.
The EC adopted the Atlantic maritime strategy in 2011 in response to calls for more ambitious cooperation in the Atlantic Ocean area. In 2013, the EC introduced an Atlantic action plan to implement the strategy. The original action plan showed tangible results through 1’200 new maritime projects representing investments of nearly €6 billion. The newly updated action plan has been prepared based on a broad consultation and a mid-term review published in 2018.
No funding has been earmarked in the EU budget for the Atlantic action plan. The main sources of funding will be European Structural and Investment Funds, including the future territorial cooperation programme in the Atlantic area and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). In addition to the national and regional funding, the action plan will also rely on sources such as Horizon Europe, Connecting Europe Facility, LIFE programme and innovative financial instruments managed by the European Investment Bank, such as the InvestEU programme for decarbonisation and the circular economy.