Tag: EU

Local and regional authorities have backed EU plans to improve knowledge and support innovation of Europe’s €500bn maritime and marine sector as part of its efforts to boost growth. The Committee of the Regions (CoR) – the EU’s assembly of local and regional governments – stress, however, there must be a greater focus on supporting public-private partnerships. Its success also hinges on taking a cross-policy approach coordinating research, economic, transport and fisheries policy to create jobs and ensure the launch of a long-term sustainable strategy. The position was outlined in an opinion - adopted by the CoR - reacting to European Commission plans to digitally map Europe’s seabed by 2020, further develop marine knowledge and launch a Blue Economy Business and Science Forum, alongside measures to secure highly skilled workforce. The EU has long acknowledged the economic benefits of the marine and maritime sector, "It represents roughly 5.4 million jobs and generates almost €500 billion a year so the 'blue economy' plays a crucial role in kick-starting Europe’s ailing economy, especially for those coastal regions so reliant on the sector”, remarked Adam Banaszak (PL/ECR), Member of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie, who led the CoRs’ opinion. Mr Banaszak further stressed how “blue growth" ...

Juncker and Timmermans are currently on the look-out for EU legislation to be slimmed down or axed and the Clean Air Package may be one of these pieces of legislation. This is done in an effort to respond to popular demand for a leaner European bureaucracy. This, however, is a seriously misguided way to answer such demands, according to Bellona. “The need for this kind of legislation was just highlighted in the ruling of the European Court of Justice last week, requiring the UK to clean up its illegal levels of air pollution as soon as possible. These kinds of rulings enable Europeans to take action when governments do not. Cutting the environmental protection laws they are based on will certainly not serve the environment” says Helseth. In order to prevent the withdrawal, Bellona together with a number of other member organisations of the European Environmental Bureau, submitted a joint letter addressed to the European Commission. The letter underlines the Clean Air Package as necessary in addressing the environmental and public health crisis of today. Many EU Member States are still failing to meet agreed EU air quality limits and guidelines from the World Health Organisation. 400 000 Europeans die ...

The EU's TEN-T Programme will support the upgrade of the existing sea line between Nantes St-Nazaire and Vigo

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is to play a leading role in the largest marine science project that the European Commission has ever funded. The €20 million AtlantOS project, due to start in January 2015, will bring together a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines from over 60 research organisations across the world in order to enhance the efficiency of ocean observation procedures. By fundamentally restructuring and integrating the existing, loosely-coordinated Atlantic ocean monitoring activities, as well as filling in the gaps, the multi-disciplinary AtlantOS project will result in more efficient, more complete and lower cost information delivery. The result is expected to have benefits ranging from improved safety planning for coastal communities in the event of oil spills, to better implementation of marine policies and more accurate weather forecasting for offshore energy. Dr Doug Connelly from NOC, who played a key role in securing funding for AtlantOS, said: “What is really exciting about this project is that it brings together so many different scientific disciplines in a single project in a way that has never been done before.  With contributions from biogeochemistry, physics, biology, technology, ocean observation and modelling, this will be a truly multi-disciplinary project.” AtlantOS will improve the ...

New software developed by the JRC is being tested to help fight piracy and improve maritime security

European Maritime Industry Launches the European Research Association Vessels for the Future

Kongsberg Maritime Embient, with KONGSBERG partner company Contros Systems and Solutions, has been selected to develop and deliver technologies and strategies for environmental monitoring during Gas Hydrate exploration and production as part of the EU ‘SUGAR' (Submarine Gas Hydrate Reservoirs) project. Germany's Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology started the 3rd phase of the more than €10 million joint project SUGAR at the beginning of October 2014. The project is a ground-breaking initiative in Gas Hydrate exploration, production and monitoring. The third phase will last three years and will lead into a European venture with world-wide impact for Gas Hydrates as a new energy source. Kongsberg Maritime Embient is the main contractor (together with Contros) in sub-project 4 of SUGAR, having been awarded the task of developing solutions for detecting and quantifying gas bubbles in the water column and creating leakage alarms autonomously. As part of this work, Kongsberg Maritime Embient will create a generic algorithm to collect and interpret data from ship-based sonars for easy leakage control of wide areas. In the second step, an autonomous seabed monitoring system (Lander), based on the Kongsberg Maritime developed Modular Subsea Monitoring (MSM) network concept, will be developed in close cooperation with ...

The 11th Implementation Meeting of the China-EU Maritime Transport Agreement, hosted by the Water Transport Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of Transport

The EU's TEN-T Programme will back with over 5.5 million studies on solving the main railway bottlenecks near the Port of Rotterdam in The Netherlands

Bellona Europa has followed the hectic run-up to the Council’s conclusions on the 2030 Climate and Energy Package on which the 28 EU Member State leaders finally reached an agreement this morning. Bellona stated that it finds encouraging that the EU has set itself clear climate goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030. By setting this as a minimum target the EU sends a clear message ahead of the UN climate negotiations that the 28 EU Member States are willing to increase this percentage. This is good news for international climate policy, says Jonas Helseth, Director of Bellona Europa in Brussels. Helseth emphases that these are important signals prior to the Paris negotiations next year, as the EU makes clear that the level of ambition will not be lowered. The EU is making an important step towards achieving the Union’s agreed emission reductions of 80-95% in Europe by 2050, says Helseth. EU reaffirms commitment to CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) When it comes to CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) Bellona is pleased that the EU’s Climate and Energy Package is clear about the need for this climate mitigation technology. The EU’s plan comes with obligations ...