ODEMM – Work Package 7 - Governance structures (institutional and legal) supporting sustainable and integrated management of the marine ecosystem

Led by Jesper Raakjær

Following the gathering and collation of information relating to the objectives, management schemes, risk analysis and cost-benefit evaluation, the acceptability of the various management options identified were considered by various societal representatives. This ensured that stakeholders were actively involved in and provided influences on the outcomes of the ODEMM project as a whole.

The objectives for Work Package 7 were as follows:

  • Identify stakeholder opinions/attitudes for creating governance institutions directed towards implementation of the ecosystem approach at the regional level between Member States within marine eco-regions.
  • Investigate alternative governance institutional settings and managerial options from diverse stakeholders perspective.
  • Investigate legal constraints and opportunities at the EU level and within member states for improving the implementation of the ecosystems  approach under the Marine Strategy Directive and the Habitats Directive at the regional level.
  • Elaborate different scenarios for changing governance structures and legislation to facilitate a gradual transition from the current fragmented management approach toward fully integrated eco-system management.
  • Assess the acceptability of the management scenarios and governance options among key stakeholder groups, these being politicians and high level civil servants at EU and national level as well as established regional (management/advisory) bodies in the four selected regions e.g. the Commissions such as OSPAR, and the Regional Advisory Councils within the fisheries domain.

The main tasks associated with the work packages are:

  • Task 7.1: Identify key stakeholders.
  • Task 7.2: Development of stakeholder consultation toolkit.
  • Task 7.3: The AHP process and analysis and supplementing qualitative analysis.
  • Task 7.4: Review the Law and Policy Constrains and Opportunities.
  • Task 7.5: SWOT analysis seminar.
  • Task 7.6: Round table discussions.

Outputs

  1. Fishing for opinions: Stakeholder views on MSFD implementation in European Seas.
  2. ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’: Lessons from Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Sea governance.
  3. Regulating Marine Scientific Research in the EU – It takes more than two to tango. 
  4. Stepping over Boundaries to apply new normative tools in EU Law and Policy.
  5. The limits of maritime jurisdiction: Chapter 33: Principles and Normative Trends in EU Governance.
  6. Principles of normative trends in EU ocean governance.
  7. The Inexorable Rise of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Within the European Legal Order.
  8. European Law and Policy Review: Striking a Balance between Ecosystem Considerations and Navigation Rights under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Law of the Sea Convention and the Draft Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning.
  9. Ecosystem-based marine management in European regional seas calls for nested governance structures and coordination—A policy brief.
  10. Regional cooperation for European seas: Governance models in support of the implementation of the MSFD.