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Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� researchers Prof. Seline Trevisanut, Dr. Frank Groothuijse and Dr. Nikolaos Giannopoulos (all three affiliated with Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law) are to participate in a project to evaluate the existing European ocean-related legislation and policies. They are also to propose ways to make legislation and policies more consistent, in order to deliver the goals of the EU Green Deal for European seas. Their attention focuses specifically on the Dutch North Sea, an area subject to often competing claims and goals (e.g. transport, fisheries, renewable and fossil energy). The researchers form part of an interdisciplinary consortium of research institutions and universities, led by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA).

The project builds upon the premise that, over the years, the EU has developed regulations and complex management systems to ensure that Europe's sea and coastal areas sustain a good environmental status. At the same time, there are often other policies that affect the sea, which do not sufficiently contribute to solving the problems that arise at sea but may - instead - be the root of challenges for marine related policies. This applies, for example, to agricultural, energy or fisheries policies, but may also be related to various environmental regulations, which are not specifically designed to protect the marine environment.

Another challenge is that the relevant rules, delivery mechanisms and relevant actors are playing on several governance levels, from the international to the domestic, and they are divided in different sectors. This multisectoral and multilevel ocean governance system contains multiple overlapping (and sometimes conflicting requirements) and may pose significant challenges for the implementation of the EU Green Deal.

Towards a roadmap

The CrossGov project purports to advance knowledge on how the coherence and cross-compliance between overlapping EU marine related policies and legislation (or the lack thereof) can affect the achievement of EU’s ambitious goals towards climate neutrality, zero pollution and marine biodiversity protection and conservation and to co-develop proposals alongside an inclusive Stakeholder Forum for more consistent and efficient ocean governance. The project aspires to develop roadmaps that can lead to better compliance with EU’s ambitious environmental, climate and economic goals as well as its relevant international commitments.

A case study on sustainable renewable energy in the North Sea

In addition to examining the European laws and regulations on paper, CrossGov will also explore the challenges and opportunities of implementing the law in practice. To that end, a number of crucial case studies have been chosen spanning across various European Seas. The UU team will be actively involved in several working packages and will lead a case study on sustainable renewable energy development in the North Sea, with a focus on the Dutch part of this area. 

This case study is particularly important considering that the Dutch part of the North Sea is among the busiest marine areas surrounding the EU (see picture below). In implementation of a series of EU legal and policy instruments, the Dutch government is planning the development of large-scale offshore wind farms and other forms of marine renewable energy generation installations. At the same time, the Netherlands must comply with its marine biodiversity conservation duties stemming from international and EU law and seeks to promote sustainable seafood production. Against that background and in the context of increased scientific and technological uncertainty, the overarching challenge is to strike a balance between these objectives and competing interests of various economic sectors, environmental NGOs and local communities to reach a sustainable solution.