The European Oceans Pact was announced in July 2024 as part of political guidelines for the new European Commission (2024-2029). The Pact will set a vision for a holistic approach to ocean governance by focusing on several key areas:
Bringing coherence across all EU policy areas linked to oceans
Integrating environmental, economic and social dimensions to make the oceans healthy and resilient, boost the blue economy, and allow coastal communities to thrive
Ensuring that all stakeholders, including citizens, authorities, industries and NGOs, are engaged in the governance process
The Pact's adoption is expected in the second quarter of 2025, following a public consultation which closed on 17 February 2025. PERMAGOV along with sister projects CrossGov and BlueGreen Governance responded to the consultation with a joint policy brief.
The projects argue that the Oceans Pact can only be successful if it actively focuses on changing ocean governance arrangements. The Pact should not only set clear policy objectives, but also contain effective mechanisms for more integrated and coherent ocean governance. More precisely, the Oceans Pact should provide a clear and coordinated way to transform ocean governance arrangements so that policies and legislation are well-designed, effectively implemented, and fit-for-purpose to tackle the triple crises of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity decline.
Achieving this transformation requires
Identifying the main barriers and enablers for transforming ocean governance, and
Developing pathways for change by improving policy coherence and integration, governance capabilities, collaboration, shared motivation and trust, and access to and sharing of knowledge
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