In 2006, the European Commission published the following overview on „Maritime facts and figures“ (1):

• From the earliest times, the oceans and seas have played a leading role in the development of European culture, economy, identity and history.
• The continent of Europe is surrounded by four seas: the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the North Sea and the Black Sea; and by two oceans: the Atlantic and the Arctic.
• The maritime surface areas under the jurisdiction of the Member States are larger than the total land area of the European Union.
• The European Union has a coastline of 68 000 km – that is over 3 times longer than that of the US and almost 2 times that of Russia.
• No European resident lives more than 700 km away from the coast.
• Almost half of the Union's population lives less than 50 km from the sea, although the population is concentrated in urban areas along the coast.

The importance of the European coastal regions for the population is visible from the following facts:

• Maritime Regions account for over 40 % of Europe’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• Europe has an estimated 8-10 million anglers fishing for sport or pleasure at sea with a related industry of 8-10 billion Euros.
• The sea is Europe’s most popular holiday destination: among European holiday makers, 63 % choose the sea as their holiday destination.
• Europe has clean beaches: of the 14 000 coastal bathing areas monitored by the EU, 96.7 % comply with the mandatory values set out in the European Directive on bathing water.
• There are an estimated 3 000 coastal marinas in the EU with an associated 1 000 000 berths.
• EU public expenditure dedicated to coastline protection against the risk of erosion and flooding will average €5.4 billion a year for the period 1990-2020.
• Between 3 and 5 % of Europe’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to be generated from sea-related industries and services, without including the value of raw materials, such as oil, fish or gas.
• Almost 90 % of the EU’s external trade and over 40 % of its internal trade are transported by sea.
• 5 billion tonnes of cargo per year and 350 million passengers pass through the 1 200 European seaports.