Governance of marine protected areas in the EU - Policy Brief

Designation and management of marine protected areas (MPAs) affects stakeholders, therefore it is important that they can participate in the governance process. The rights of the public (individuals and their associations) are established in the Aarhus Convention (UNECE, 1998). The EU and its member states are parties to this Convention and are required to ensure that public authorities (at national, regional or local level) safeguard these rights. This is achieved by guaranteeing: (1) Access to Information, (2) Public Participation in Decision Making and (3) Access to Justice. Dissemination of information and public participation are expensive processes (time, costs, and human resources); in this perspective, the use of modern information technology, such as web services, more and more play a crucial role in raising public awareness and fostering civil society involvement in governance of MPAs. The UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) has set a target of 10% global marine protected areas by 2020. The EU has signed up to this target and in 2019 they reported that 11 % of EU coastal and marine waters are now covered by MPAs. Therefore the EU has already surpassed its commitment to protect at least 10% of its coastal and marine waters.