European obligations and partnerships
Various (mandatory) directives apply to the EU member states in respect of the protection of the North Sea system. The most important of these are the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Birds Directive (BD), the Habitats Directive (HD), the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSP directive) and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
The MSFD demands a good environmental status in each nationally-managed sea; the WFD sets requirements for ecological status and the chemical status of all surface waters, plus the coastal waters (up to 1 nautical mile from the coastline).
Natural values on and in the North Sea are protected by the BD and the HD.
The MSP directive promotes the harmonisation and mutual coordination of the use of space on the North Sea.
The CFP regulates the pressure on fisheries. In the context of the sustainability targets and the necessary energy transition, European strategies are important to:
- a sustainable blue economy
- expansion of energy generation in off-shore wind farms
- closing up substances chains in a circular economy, in particular for plastics.
The European target for reduction of CO2 emissions strongly impacts the use of the North Sea in terms of the generation of green energy.