18
May
2026
Watch
The impact of the implementation of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive 2014/89/EU on fisheries in selected fishing areas and sea basins (debate)
Mr President, the sea is a particularly coveted area. Many activities co-exist there: fisheries and aquaculture, trade in goods, ferries, national navies. Activities that must coexist with marine protected areas, submarine cables, wind farms offshore or extraction areas. Let us take a single example, witnessing this multiplicity of use, a regular source of conflict: the English Channel, the ChannelThis concerns France in particular, but also the post-Brexit United Kingdom. Conflicts of use. Given the artificialisation of the sea by industrial projects or the designation of more or less protected areas, the Normandy Regional Fisheries Committee, dear to our rapporteur, maintains a map of overlapping uses. A particularly explicit card that I will give you, Commissioner. So how can we reconcile economic activities, a guarantee of sovereignty, the preservation of the environment, a factor of resilience and access to waters that respect the law? This is the answer to this own-initiative report on maritime planning in Europe, which is governed by a directive that dates back more than ten years. It calls for better cross-border cooperation, more consistent implementation of rules, enhanced data sharing and the development of digital tools. The European scale certainly seems relevant for a reasonable and reasoned management of maritime space by basin and without forgetting the overseas territories. In addition, this approach can be fully implemented in the context of theOcean Act. It will just be necessary to ensure that all stakeholders are involved, starting with the fishermen themselves. I have seen you very attentive, Commissioner. We want to trust you and I will give you the map of uses.