EU's marine biodiversity plans face challenges

The prospect of potential disputes between European Union member states over fishing rights has been highlighted as a challenge to the bloc's efforts to meet its marine biodiversity protection targets, a report from the European Court of Auditors, or ECA, has warned.

Although 14 percent of EU waters have been designated as protected areas, just 1 percent is subject to strict protection, meaning others are still open to exploitation, with fishing practices a major concern.

The target is that by 2030, 30 percent of waters should be protected, with 10 percent subject to stricter rules, but the report said there was a gap between words and actions, and meaningful progress could take many years, with conflicting member state interests likely to be a challenge.

"The process for adopting conservation measures affecting fishing fleets of several member states can be complex and lengthy because it may require negotiations between member states that have fishing interests, as well as with various stakeholders," the report said.

The ECA report's title, "Marine protected areas — Designation alone is insufficient for meaningful protection", made its findings clear from the start, and to underline its point, highlighted details such as the fact that since 2013, the European Commission has published just 10 legal acts restricting fishing in around 40 protected areas, out of a total of 6,000 sites that make up the marine protected areas network.

In the sample auditors reviewed, 86 percent of protected areas had conservation objectives, but only 23 percent had achieved them.

"To ensure that marine protected areas function effectively," said Iliana Ivanova, the ECA member in charge of the audit, "we need the European Commission and member states to join forces, as well as engage with local stakeholders", adding that more coherent thinking and faster action were needed.

Jacob Armstrong, manager for oceans policy at the World Wildlife Fund European Policy Office, said the audit highlighted how supposedly protected areas were "protected in name only. Fishing pressure is 70 percent higher inside them than in surrounding waters", and drew the comparison "you would not declare a forest protected while allowing more logging inside than outside".

According to Monica Verbeek, executive director of Brussels-based NGO Seas At Risk, Europe does have the knowledge and the methods to take the necessary steps, but precious time is passing with no progress being made.