(1)

In line with the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 10 October 2007 on an Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union (‘the Commission Communication’), the primary objective of the Union's Integrated Maritime Policy (‘IMP’) is to develop and implement integrated, coordinated, coherent, transparent and sustainable decision-making in relation to the oceans, seas, coastal, insular and outermost regions and in the maritime sectors.

(2)

The Action Plan accompanying the Commission Communication sets out a number of actions that the Commission proposes to take as a first step in implementing a new IMP for the Union.

(3)

The Commission's Progress Report on the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy of 15 October 2009 sums up the main achievements of the IMP up to that date, and charts the course for its next implementation phase.

(4)

In its conclusions of 16 November 2009 on Integrated Maritime Policy, the Council highlighted the importance of funding for the further development and implementation of the IMP by inviting the Commission to present the necessary proposals for the financing of integrated maritime policy actions within the existing Financial Perspective, with a view to entry into force by 2011.

(5)

In its resolution of 21 October 2010 on Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) – Evaluation of progress made and new challenges, the European Parliament expressly supported the Commission's stated intention ‘to finance the IMP with EUR 50 million over the next 2 years in order to build upon previous projects in the areas of policy, governance, sustainability and surveillance’.

(6)

The financial envelope for the IMP set out in this Regulation takes into account both the current economic downturn and the fact that this is the first operational programme specifically dedicated to the implementation of the IMP.

(7)

Continued Union funding is needed to enable the Union to implement and further develop the IMP in line with the European Parliament resolution of 20 May 2008 on an integrated maritime policy for the European Union (4) and to pursue its overarching objectives as set out in the Commission Communication, and as confirmed in the Progress Report of October 2009 and endorsed by the Council in its conclusions of 16 November 2009.

(8)

As not all IMP priorities and goals are covered by existing Union instruments, such as the Cohesion Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, the European Fisheries Fund, the Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, it is therefore necessary to establish a Programme to support the further development of the IMP (‘the Programme’).

(9)

Without prejudice to the forthcoming negotiations on the post-2013 multiannual financial framework, sufficient resources will need to be available to ensure that the objectives of the IMP can be developed and achieved, without undermining the resources earmarked for other policies, whilst boosting the sustainable development of the Union's maritime regions, including islands, and the outermost regions. To this end it is considered essential to include the IMP in the post-2013 multiannual financial framework. In addition, if appropriate, a proposal should be drawn up to provide for the extension of the Programme beyond 2013, together with a proposal laying down an appropriate financial envelope.

(10)

The development of maritime affairs through financial support for IMP measures will have a significant impact in terms of economic, social, and territorial cohesion.

(11)

Union funding should be designed to support exploratory work on actions which aim to promote the strategic objectives of the IMP, paying due attention to their cumulative impacts, on the basis of the ecosystem approach, to sustainable ‘blue’ economic growth, employment, innovation and competitiveness in coastal, insular and outermost regions, and to the promotion of the international dimension of the IMP.

(12)

The strategic objectives of the IMP include integrated maritime governance at all levels; the further development and implementation of integrated sea-basin strategies tailored to the specific needs of Europe's different sea basins; the further development of cross-cutting tools for integrated policy-making aiming to improve synergies and coordination between existing policies and instruments, including through maritime-related data and knowledge sharing; the closer involvement of stakeholders in integrated maritime governance schemes; the protection and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources; and the definition of the boundaries of the sustainability of human activities and the protection of the marine and coastal environment and biodiversity in the framework of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (5), which constitutes the environmental pillar of the IMP, as well as the Water Framework Directive (6).

(13)

It is important for the Programme to tie in with other Union policies that may encompass a maritime dimension, in particular the structural funds, the trans-European transport network, the common fisheries policy, tourism, environment and climate change, the framework programme for research and development and energy policy.

(14)

In order to ensure coherence between the different aspects of the Programme, its general objectives should be set out. For every general objective, more detailed operational objectives should be established. The distribution of funds among the general objectives, for the period 2011-13, is indicated in the Annex. This distribution provides flexibility to increase/decrease the general financial allocation per objective without exceeding the overall financial envelope.

(15)

Union funding should enable support for the development of the integration of maritime surveillance in line with the European Parliament resolution of 21 October 2010 and the Council conclusions of 17 November 2009 on Integration of Maritime Surveillance, taking into account the roadmap towards establishing the Common Information Sharing Environment for the EU maritime domain (CISE). This dedicated funding should therefore be limited to the development of a decentralised information exchange system, namely measures including software, to enhance interface between surveillance systems. The Programme should take into account the results from other projects regarding the decentralised maritime surveillance system.

(16)

Implementation of the Programme in third countries should contribute to the development objectives of the beneficiary country and be consistent with other cooperation instruments of the Union, including the objectives and priorities of the relevant Union policies and Union acquis, and the relevant international conventions.

(17)

The Programme should be complementary to, and coherent with, existing and future financial instruments made available by the Union and the Member States, at national and sub-national level, for promoting the protection and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and coasts, helping to foster more effective cooperation between the Member States and their coastal, insular and outermost regions, and taking into account the prioritisation and progress of national and local projects.

(18)

The actions foreseen in the Programme should be complementary to other Union actions, in order to ensure the coherent implementation of the legal acts of the Union concerning the relevant sectoral policies, while avoiding duplication.

(19)

It is also necessary to lay down rules governing the programming of the measures, the eligibility of expenditure, the level of Union financial assistance, the main conditions on which it should be made available and the overall budget for the Programme.

(20)

The Programme should be implemented in accordance with Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (7) (‘the Financial Regulation’) and Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (8).

(21)

This Regulation lays down the multiannual programme's financial envelope, which constitutes for the budgetary authority, during the annual budgetary procedure, the prime reference within the meaning of point 37 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (9).

(22)

In order to help the Commission monitor the implementation of this Regulation, it should be possible to finance expenditure relating to monitoring, checks and evaluation.

(23)

The annual work programmes to be established for the implementation of the Programme should be adopted by the Commission in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (10).

(24)

In relation to the actions financed under this Regulation, it is necessary to ensure the protection of Union financial interests by the application of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests (11), Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (12), and Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) (13).

(25)

In order to ensure the effectiveness of Union financing, actions funded under this Regulation should be regularly evaluated.

(26)

It is understood that none of the actions foreseen in the context of the Programme would require recourse to an additional legal basis.

(27)

Since the objectives of this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States acting alone, and can therefore, by reason of the scale and effects of the actions to be financed under the Programme, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives,

(a)

to foster the development and implementation of integrated governance of maritime and coastal affairs;

(b)

to contribute to the development of cross-sectoral tools, namely Maritime Spatial Planning, the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE) and marine knowledge on the oceans, seas and coastal regions within and bordering the Union, in order to develop synergies and to support sea or coast-related policies, particularly in the fields of economic development, employment, environmental protection, research, maritime safety, energy and the development of green maritime technologies, taking into account and building upon existing tools and initiatives;

(c)

to promote the protection of the marine environment, in particular its biodiversity, and the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources and to further define the boundaries of the sustainability of human activities that have an impact on the marine environment, in particular in the framework of Directive 2008/56/EC (the Marine Strategy Framework Directive);

(d)

to support the development and implementation of sea-basin strategies;

(e)

to improve and enhance external cooperation and coordination in relation to the objectives of the IMP, on the basis of advancing debate within international forums; in this respect, third countries shall be urged to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS);

(f)

to support sustainable economic growth, employment, innovation and new technologies in maritime sectors and in coastal, insular and outermost regions in the Union.

(a)

projects, including test projects; studies; research and operational cooperative programmes, including education, professional training and retraining programmes;

(b)

public information and sharing best practice, awareness raising and associated communication and dissemination activities, including publicity campaigns and events, and the development and maintenance of websites and relevant social networks and databases;

(c)

conferences, seminars, workshops, and stakeholders fora;

(d)

pooling, monitoring and visualisation of, and ensuring public access to, a significant amount of data, best practices and databases on Union-funded regional projects, including where appropriate through a secretariat established for one or more of these purposes which will facilitate the adoption of common uniform standards for data collection and processing;

(e)

actions relating to cross-cutting tools, including test projects.