EC MOVES TO REVAMP THE ATLANTIC ACTION PLAN

The European Commission EC moves to revamp the Atlantic Action Plan by organising a series of workshops on the future of the Atlantic maritime strategy. The workshops are set up in cooperation with the five Atlantic Member States: France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the UK.

The first workshop, focusing on marine renewable energies, was held on 12 September in Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), in co-operation with the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands (CMC).

The Atlantic action plan (2013) spells out how regions, port cities and the private sector can work together across borders to develop the Atlantic region’s sustainable blue economy by 2020.

Half way through, the Commission has taken stock of its implementation and identified over 1200 projects, worth nearly EUR 6 billion investment, that supported the action plan. The plan still has potential to grow, and with the review as a basis, workshops will now further improve the plan and build its future beyond 2020.

As was the case in Las Palmas, the other workshops will cover themes identified as highly relevant for the Atlantic blue economy, namely

• Ports as blue economy hubs
• Connectivity
• Blue bioeconomy
• Blue skills

Next stop will be Viana do Castelo in Portugal, on 28 September, followed by the workshops in Ireland (Dublin), UK (Liverpool) and France.

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