« Marine Spatial Planning » (MSP) : aid instrument for the concrete implementation of EU ICZM Recommendations and the EU Marine and Maritime policies.

Michael Assouline, Universite IUAV di Venezia, Facolte e Dipartimento di Pianificazione del Territorio, michael_assouline@yahoo.fr 

On 17 June 2008, Directive 2008/56/EC establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (the Marine Strategy Framework Directive) of the European Parliament and Council came into force. This Directive, legally binding Member States, established a framework for the development of national strategies for the protection of the marine environment. It was designed to improve the environmental status of marine environments (by 2020), to ensure their continued protection and preservation and to protect those environments against deterioration. Each Member State, in close cooperation with other interested Member States and third party countries present within a particular Marine Region, was asked to develop strategies for protecting their marine waters. The Marine Strategy Directive proposes a regulatory framework aimed at safeguarding the marine environment and reinforcing EU policies and regulations in force applicable also to land in coastal areas and thus serves as an important tool for the implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) policies.