Building a sustainable maritime strategy in Black Sea

Developing the blue economy in the Black Sea was the theme of a conference held on 15 September in Batumi, Georgia. The conference concluded that a regional maritime strategy can succeed, if it results from a bottom-up process involving coastal communities and maritime stakeholders.

To support this process, the Commission has launched a EUR 1 million technical assistance project, called Facility for Blue Economy Development in Black Sea.

Under the title “Connecting the region through marine and maritime cooperation”, this 4th annual stakeholder event was co-organised by the European Commission, the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Georgian Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection.

Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, informed:

    “As a follow-up of the conference, the European Commission will set in motion a project of technical support, a Facility for Blue Economy Development, which will be open particularly to the non-EU country Black Sea countries interested in integrated maritime policy. The project will help these countries to discover how to better reap the economic benefits of our seas in a sustainable manner and also how to develop a common maritime agenda for Black Sea”.

The conference brought together public authorities, business, financial institutions and the research community from the Black Sea countries, including Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.