Competition for maritime space – for renewable energy plants, aquaculture and other uses – has highlighted the need for managing our waters more coherently. Maritime spatial planning (MSP) works across borders and sectors to ensure human activities at sea take place in a more efficient, safe and sustainable way. That is why the European Parliament and the Council have adopted ‘legislation to create a common framework for maritime spatial planning in Europe’ (MSP-Directive) (1).

Maritime spatial planning means a process by which the relevant Member State’s authorities analyse and organise human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives (2). Outside of Europe, it is often referred to as marine, instead of maritime, spatial planning. The term ‘marine’ reduces the emphasis on development and stresses nature and environmental protection.

Benefits of MSP are to (1):

• reduce conflicts between sectors and create synergies between different activities;
• encourage investment – by creating predictability, transparency and clearer rules;
• increase cross-border cooperation – between EU countries to develop energy grids, shipping lanes, pipelines, submarine cables and other activities, but also to develop coherent networks of protected areas;
• protect the environment – through early identification of impact and opportunities for multiple use of space;

The MSP Directive lists several minimum requirements that should be taken into account in maritime spatial plans, such as:

• land-sea interactions;
• the ecosystem-based approach;
• coherence between MSP and other processes such as integrated coastal management;
• the involvement of stakeholders;
• the use of best available data;
• transboundary cooperation between Member States;
• and cooperation with third countries.

In Europe, the 23 coastal Member States are obliged to develop a national maritime spatial plan at the latest by 2021. They are free to design and determine the format and content of their maritime spatial plans, including the institutional arrangements and the allocation of maritime activities.

The EU MSP Platform is an online service to share relevant knowledge and experiences, designed to offer support with the implementation of MSP (3).