Integraal beleid
Policy coherence
The Dutch North Sea policy sets goals for the future of the area. It guides the social/economic use and management of the Dutch North Sea in an integrated manner in a direction that contributes to the sustainability of society. The starting point for policy and management is that the use of the North Sea goes hand in hand with the strengthening of the marine ecosystem.
Policy that has already been established for various domains partly determines the content of new North Sea policy. After all, this policy is integral.
International
Almost all aspects of the management and use of the North Sea affect cross-border interests. After all: water and nature, but also an important part of the use of the North Sea and its effects, are not bound by borders.
Over the past half century, international treaties have therefore been concluded worldwide, including by the coastal states in the Northeast Atlantic region, to jointly regulate what no country can control alone. See the Global, European, Regional, North Sea and Bilateral pages for this.
International treaties carry more weight than national legislation. This explains why it takes a long time before an agreement is reached, after which a lot of time is often required to incorporate the treaty provisions into national regulations.
As a rule, an international treaty has no higher authority to enforce its observance. Each treaty partner bears co-responsibility for this. Part of a treaty is a system of agreements on good progress reporting.
National
Dutch North Sea policy, including the Dutch elaboration of international policy frameworks, is strongly determined by a vision of the future. Due to the complexity of the many functions and management tasks, specific policy has been laid down for many aspects in separate memoranda or other policy documents. Due to the integral nature of the North Sea policy, continued care is required to seek and maintain coordination throughout this entire system.