Coastal regions are tremendously important for Europe's economy. Approximately 40% of the EU's population lives within 50 km of the sea. Almost 40% of the EU's GDP is generated in these maritime regions, and a staggering 75% of the volume of the EU's foreign trade is conducted by sea.
But this important role played by our coasts has come at a cost to the environment. Activities such as shipping, resource extraction, tourism, renewable energy and fishing are all putting pressure on marine and coastal areas. These pressures have been felt across most of Europe's coastal regions and have resulted in habitat loss, pollution and accelerated coastal erosion. Climate change is likely to make these regions and the societies that live in them, more vulnerable. This deterioration threatens the continued health of our coastal areas and therefore the management of them must be conducted balancing the competing interests of human development with the need to ensure healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems.
The European Commission in 2013 issued a proposal for a new directive. This directive would establish a framework for integrated coastal management and for 'maritime spatial planning' (public policy that deals exclusively with managing maritime space but not land space). Following the debates in the EU institutions, the proposal was modified and adopted as Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning. The directive highlighted the need to integrate in a coherent way all of the EU policies that touch on maritime and coastal issues (such as the Habitats Directive, the Water Framework Directive, Marine Strategy Framework Directive etc.). It sets up the legal framework providing guidance for how to better manage the competing claims of economic sectors on space and resources in marine areas..