Atlantic News

On 19 March, more than 1000 people gathered in Brussels for this year’s largest EU event on oceans. Organised by MEP Gesine Meissner and European Commissioner Karmenu Vella, the event hosted our continent’s most influential advocates for healthy, safe and sustainable oceans. And with a large delegation of students and youth organisations in the room, the conference was more than an interesting recap of today’s status quo.

Ahead of the 21-22 March European Council discussion on innovation, industry, and competitiveness, the Commission takes decisive steps to set up a European Innovation Council (EIC)

Global competition is intensifying and Europe needs to deepen its innovation and risk-taking capability to compete on a market increasingly defined by new technologies.

The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) contributes to the EU's integrated maritime policy.  It was set up as a flagship project to prepare a seamless multi-resolution digital seabed map of European waters by 2020.

UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the European Commission will launch, MSPglobal, a new global project on maritime spatial planning, on 11 and 12 February at UNESCO Headquarters. The project aims to promote better maritime spatial planning with a view to avoiding conflicts and improving the governance of human activities at sea such as aquaculture, tourism, marine energy, and exploitation of the seabed.