3rd Black Sea Stakeholder Conference

Conference on the blue economy of the Black Sea

Towards better integration

Cooperation in maritime affairs and the potential of the blue economy in the Black Sea have gained visibility and attention in the recent years. Government representatives and private stakeholders operating marine and maritime business endeavours, and coming from all coastal countries met in Bucharest (2014) and Sofia (2015) to identify areas of economic potential and mutual interest, and discuss avenues for cooperation. As a result, emerging areas such as maritime spatial planning found implementation through concrete cross-border cooperation projects, more funding for sustainable blue growth actions is made available through national operational programmes and cross-border cooperation programmes, while the public authorities acknowledge the need to adapt their policies and capacities to help the blue economy thrive.

Building on the success of the two previous Stakeholder conferences, the European Commission in cooperation with Ukraine staged a forum for blue growth in Odessa. The two-day event focused on the added value of the blue economy in the Black Sea region and brought together successful entrepreneurs and policy makers on the table to debate on:

• how to bring destinations closer to tourists,
• how coastal and maritime tourism can help blue economies thrive,
• how to chart the sea bed with the help of the research community,
• how to fund maritime business endeavours and where to find partners,
• what skills and competences are needed to enable the marine/maritime workforce to apply new technologies,
• how to use the sea in a sustainable manner.

Working languages of the conference were English, Russian and Ukrainian.

The conference proceedings can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/events/2016/06/events_20160614_01_en.htm

For further information about DG MARE action, please consult EU Maritime Affairs.