“Check against delivery”
Distinguished members of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference,
esteemed colleagues and guests,
It is my honour to address the winter meeting of the Standing Committee of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC), which aims to raise awareness on issues related to the Baltic Sea Region.
In that respect, thank you for the opportunity to speak about the European Commission’s ongoing initiatives in ocean policy, fisheries, and the Ocean Pact, but also on issues of direct relevance to the Baltic Sea. Our oceans are vital – not only to our environment and economy, but also to the communities that depend on their health. And so is our fisheries sector, which together with our blue economy, is the life of our coastal communities.
Today, I’m here to discuss how we’re planning for a sustainable future through strategic policymaking and partnerships. Building a vision for the future requires reflection, dialogue and understanding every aspect of our policy.
Dialogue is crucial in shaping effective policies, which is why I will be hosting Fisheries and Ocean Dialogues, Youth Dialogues and Implementation Dialogues and I will be visiting coastal communities across Europe. These discussions will inform our 2040 vision for a fisheries and aquaculture sector, supported by a wide range of studies and initiatives, and our ongoing evaluation of the CFP Regulation, set to conclude in early 2026.
Recently, we launched a 12-week public consultation, and I invite all stakeholders to contribute. The evaluation will determine if the CFP remains still fit for purpose, with a particular attention to all three pillars of sustainable development – economic, environmental and social sustainability.
The importance of sustainability could not be more evident than in the case of the Baltic Sea.
We are deeply concerned about the state of the Baltic Sea ecosystem and its declining fish stocks, which negatively impact our fishers and local communities. Several stocks have collapsed – such as cod, western herring and many salmon populations – and many others have become very fragile – such as Bothnian and central herring, and sprat.
Without healthy stocks there are no stable and profitable fisheries. I want to be honest with you: scientists indicate that ecosystem recovery will be slow and lengthy, but inaction isn’t an option. Collaboration is crucial. In the meantime, we should safeguard the existing fisheries, as there is a real risk of further decreases in sprat and herring populations. Addressing misreporting, especially between sprat and herring, is also essential to obtaining accurate stock assessments and to ensuring strict adherence to established quotas.
Competent Ministers, Parliamentarians and the Commission must work in concert; as our policy, driven by principles and criteria, allows no compromise when setting annual fishing quotas. In that respect, I have discussed with my colleague Jessica Roswall, European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, to build on the excellent initiative of former Commissioner Sinkevičius for a conference on the Baltic Sea to be organised as soon as possible. Our aim will indeed be to discuss ways to address the worrying decline of its biodiversity.
Another issue very relevant to the Baltic Sea is maritime security, given the threats posed by the Russian shadow fleet and the hybrid attacks on critical marine infrastructure, like undersea cables. These shadow vessels pose grave maritime security and environmental threats, notably oil spills. Through the EU Maritime Security Strategy, we use tools to strengthen surveillance and protection of our infrastructure and of the marine environment. A key initiative is the Common Information Sharing Environment for the maritime domain (CISE), enabling secure, real-time information exchange among EU maritime authorities, both civilian and military ones. In addition, the Commission is addressing the threat of unexploded ordnance – UXO – in the Baltic Sea. Collaborating closely with the Baltic States and relevant international bodies such as HELCOM and the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), we aim to eliminate UXO from the Baltic Sea. At the “Our Baltic” Conference in 2023, Baltic Sea Member States committed to a number of actions to tackle UXO. Supported by over €24 million in funding from Interreg, Horizon, and EMFAF over the past decade, the Commission is currently funding three projects to assess UXO risks and map contaminated areas. An additional €5.6 million project, launching this spring, will develop new technologies to enhance UXO removal from the sea.
Turning now to our ocean agenda, the Commission is strongly committed to pursuing an ambitious ocean agenda through the European Ocean Pact, which will envision a holistic and coherent ocean-policy approach. The pact will pursue five strategic objectives, all equally important:
- ensuring a healthy and productive ocean, by protecting biodiversity;
- boosting the EU’s sustainable blue economy;
- expanding and consolidating the EU’s marine knowledge framework;
- reinforcing international ocean governance; and
- developing resilience and opportunities for coastal communities.
The Pact will also provide a platform for stakeholders to share knowledge, expertise and best practices. Achieving our ambitious ocean objectives will require awareness, commitment and shared responsibility. It will also require an enhanced ocean diplomacy. We are currently consulting stakeholders and hope to present the Pact at the Unite Nations Ocean Conference in Nice. It will not just be a communication, as we intend to implement the initiatives announced in the Pact.
The European Union plays a key role in International Ocean Governance, with the objective to:
- strengthen ocean resilience and conservation,
- promote sustainable blue economies; and
- enhance global ocean policy and governance.
Our main priorities in 2025 are the ratification and entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement, and the further shaping of the Intergovernmental Platform for Ocean Sustainability (IPOS), a proposed solution to reinforce the policy-science interface at the global level. In the Arctic context, my services regularly engage with the representatives from the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) Baltic Sea Commission.
Distinguished members, esteemed colleagues and guests,
Together, through informed policies and cooperative initiatives, we can ensure the health and prosperity of our ocean, supporting communities and the economy in the Baltic Sea region and beyond. I look forward to continuing this vital dialogue, as we work together for a sustainable and thriving future for our oceans and coastal communities.
I would like to thank you for your attention and wish you a fruitful continuation of this very important meeting.
Source – EU Commission