EU Ocean Pact: MEPs want more than a message in a bottle – the European Parliament discussed the Ocean Pact

European Commissioner for Fisheries Costas Kadis received general support from the European Parliament plenary for his efforts to deliver an EU Oceans Pact on Wednesday, but MEPs expressed concerns about the implementation of the initiative.
After the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a “European Oceans Pact” aimed at boosting the blue economy and ensure the oceans’ sustainability in her political guidelines, the European Council welcomed the initiative on 20 March.
In Parliament, Kadis emphasised the pact’s advantage in strengthening the EU’s maritime diplomacy in the run-up to the United Nations Conference on the Oceans in June and the fact that, in addition to the economic and environmental benefits, it “would contribute to maritime security and stability in Europe.”
During the debate, most political groups did not discuss the intention, but its implementation. MEPs warned against turning the Pact into a “message in a bottle” and said that objectives cannot be achieved without a legally binding governance framework. Some pointed out that the Pact lacks ambition. Kadis replied that he is discussing with the Commission’s services which mechanisms would be more appropriate to secure the implementation of the Pact. Other MEPs warned against overburdening fishers. They said that the Commission’s initiative “must not impose more restrictions on fishers for the sake of environmental protection,” and must “not repeat the same mistakes as in climate policy” and ensure that stricter standards “apply to imports from third countries.”
As for the NGOs, they preferred to focus on the momentum observed in Parliament in favour of ocean protection and called for strengthening the implementation of EU law.
Verbatim report of proceedings – European oceans pact (debate) – Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Date Posted: May 7, 2025