Speech eurocommissaris Borg: 'Denk aan de toekomst van de wereldzeeën' (en) - Hoofdinhoud

Joe Borg

Member of the European Commission

Responsible for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs

Imagine what our maritime world will look like in a decade.

Figures and graphics available in PDF and WORD PROCESSED

A ward of the Elisabeth Mann Borgese Prize

Kiel, 6 October 2009

Prime Minister,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me, for a while, to enter the realm of the imagination.

To think, for a while, what our maritime world will look like in a decade.

To dream, for a while, what we will be handing down to future generations.

I hope to live in a world:

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  where the oceans are a perfectly sustainable source of food and energy;
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  where coastal areas are at the forefront of sustainable development and innovation;
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  where cleaner sea transport takes place between efficient ports, interacting in harmony with their sensitive ecologic surroundings;
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  where our citizens can look forward to a healthy and prosperous life in our coastal zones, unhindered by fears of coastal erosion and pollution;
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  where coastal communities can be confident about their future;
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  where fish stocks are managed sustainably; and
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  where sea mammals, blue fin tuna and sharks roam and reproduce freely and are not only illustrations in the story books that we pass on to our children.

Because today we are already risking that our children will not be able to share in our fascination with the marine environment. In many ways, we are staring at the danger of handing down to them a downward-spiralling situation which is irreversible.

It is only if the maritime dimension of Europe becomes ever more apparent to citizens and policy-makers alike that the wish I have just expressed stands a chance of becoming a reality.

That is why we need to act.

That is why, during the past few years, the European Commission has been working for a sustainable maritime Europe.

We owe it to ourselves and we certainly owe it to future generations.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Around fifty percent of our population live within 50 kilometres of Europe's very extensive coastline and 5 million jobs in Europe are connected with the traditional maritime industries in some way or another. Close to fifty percent of Europe's internal trade is seaborne. We have the world's biggest merchant fleet, the largest ports network, a well-developed and diversified coastal tourism sector and the most technologically advanced shipbuilding and marine equipment industries in the world.

And yet, still, after all these years and with so much at stake, it is ironic how much of our thinking ignores our maritime future. It is regrettable how much of our view of Europe is essentially terrestrial.

It is therefore more and more clear to me that, in order to make of the above vision a reality, we need to have the right framework, structures and institutions in place.

Starting from the Commission, which should continue to lead the way in integrated decision making, we must redouble our efforts to design a renewed and shared agenda for maritime affairs. The Council of Ministers has a crucial role to play in its coordination of maritime affairs through an appropriate forum, maybe even a council formation that looks at maritime affairs in its own right. The European Parliament is also pivotal. Should the European Parliament not have its own Committee for Maritime Affairs some time in the near future, for example?

Member States and their coastal regions too, must firmly embed integrated maritime thinking into their political agendas. Step one in this process is to have in place the institutional capacity-building at a national and regional level which will allow for joined-up thinking in the management of all sectors that in one way or another impact, or are impacted by, our oceans and seas.

I would like to underline that one of the greatest merits of the Integrated Maritime Policy has been its ability to show and to prove to all just how important Europe's maritime and coastal areas really are for the whole European project. Key partners, such as Schleswig-Holstein, have already taken this on board in their own actions and demonstrated how this can be done in a tangible manner.

So to receive the Meerespreis from a Land which has already done so much to spearhead joined-up thinking on maritime issues makes it all the more gratifying.

In striving to make a maritime policy for the Union a reality, we are following in the footsteps of many distinguished figures.

Foremost among them, of course, is the lady in whose memory this award is bestowed – Elisabeth Mann Borgese. Her tireless efforts to protect the world's oceans and seas as our common heritage continue to serve as an inspiration to us all. Her legacy has stood the test of time and lives on in many ways: not least through her writings and through the International Ocean Institute. This institute, with its headquarters in my home country of Malta, has grown to become a leading international network devoted to the sustainable development of the oceans.

The greatest tribute that we can pay Elisabeth Mann Borgese is to carry on her lifelong work.

To make my own small contribution to this, I have decided, in consultation with the government of Schleswig-Holstein, to use the monies that are attached to this prize to offer scholarships to young people to pursue a short period of study and observation at Europe's leading marine and maritime research institutes as from next year. In so doing, I hope to nurture in youths, who are between 15 and 17 years of age, a love and understanding of the oceans and seas that will influence their choice of career in the future.

To that effect, I shall be seeking the assistance of the International Ocean Institute and will rely on the support of the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, IFREMER in Brest and IFM-GEOMAR here in Kiel who have already been kind enough to indicate their willingness to extend a helping hand.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Much work remains to be done to ensure that Elisabeth Mann Borgese's vision becomes a living reality. For its part, the European Union will pursue its efforts to secure a sustainable future for our oceans and seas, both through the fledgling Integrated Maritime Policy and through a reform of the Common Fisheries Policy scheduled for the near future. For it is only with a healthy and vibrant marine environment that our coastal and fishing communities can hope to build a real and viable future of their own.

Ultimately, we have n o choice but to heed Elisabeth Mann Borgese's warning that "we must save the oceans if we want to save ourselves".

In conclusion, allow me to thank you for choosing me as this year's recipient of the Meerespreis – a tremendous accolade which I am truly honoured to accept. I would also like to thank you for your very kind words.

Allow me also to congratulate my co-recipients of this prize, Mr. Schätzing and Professor Hass, on the immense contribution they have made in bringing a deeper understanding of maritime and marine issues to the wider public.

These are not simple platitudes. Both men, albeit in very different ways, have contributed enormously to making the ocean depths more real and tangible to us all. A better understanding of the maritime dimension of Europe is fundamental if the objectives embodied within the Integrated Maritime Policy are to come to fruition.

At the start of my intervention, I dared to dream for a short while. But tomorrow we will all wake up to another day and life will go on, unless……..

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The oceans were, at the beginning of time, the womb of our planet, let us not permit them to become its graveyard.