- The text completes the marine environment planning process for the period 2018-2024, in accordance with the Marine Environment Protection Act
The Council of Ministers has given the green light this Tuesday, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), to the Royal Decree approving the second cycle marine strategies. This complies with the legal mandate established in Law 41/2010, on the protection of the marine environment, and in Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, which establishes a framework for Community action in the field of marine environment policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive).
Marine strategies are the essential planning tool to ensure the protection, conservation and restoration of the marine environment and are articulated in six-year cycles. This approval marks the end of the second planning cycle (2018–2024), which has involved the comprehensive updating of the five marine demarcations under Spanish jurisdiction: North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Canary Islands, Levantine-Balearic and Strait and Alboran.
This second cycle has followed all the phases established in current legislation:
1. Initial assessment of the marine environment, including analysis of the environmental status, existing pressures and a socio-economic study.
2. Determination of good environmental status, which defines the desirable conditions of the marine ecosystem.
3. Formulation of environmental objectives, aimed at achieving and maintaining this good condition.
4. Monitoring programmes, which allow the evolution of the marine environment to be continuously assessed.
5. Programmes of measures, a set of actions aimed at correcting deviations and achieving the established objectives.
The approval of the Royal Decree is preceded by the corresponding public information procedure, as well as the favourable report of the ministries involved, the coastal autonomous communities affected and the Advisory Council for the Environment, in addition to the debate within the Sectoral Conference on the Environment, in accordance with the provisions of article 15 of the Law on the protection of the marine environment.
With this step, Spain is making decisive progress in fulfilling the commitments made to the European Union and reaffirms its commitment to the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, in particular SDG 14.
For more information, you can consult the MITECO portal on marine strategies, which includes the regulatory framework, technical documents and the evolution of the different planning cycles. In addition, a specific section on the second cycle of marine strategies is available, as well as informative materials that explain the objectives, phases and measures adopted in a way that is accessible to all citizens.
