The EU is unlikely to meet its 2030 targets for protecting marine biodiversity, with many designated marine protected areas offering little meaningful protection against damaging activities such as commercial fishing, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) warned on Monday.
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Around 14% of EU waters are currently designated as marine protected areas, but less than 1% are under strict protection, exposing a gulf between the bloc’s environmental ambitions and the reality at sea.
The EU aims to protect 30% of its marine waters by 2030, including 10% under strict protection. But auditors warn that simply expanding the network of protected areas will not be enough without tougher restrictions on activities that damage marine ecosystems.
“The EU has made some progress in designating marine protected areas, but our audit shows that the true challenge is turning designation into actual protection,” said Iliana Ivanova, the ECA member in charge of the audit.
Imposing tougher restrictions could, however, prove politically contentious, particularly if fishing communities and other affected industries bear the costs without adequate consultation or support.
While countries such as France and Sweden have made progress through community involvement and new bans on bottom trawling, Ireland has been hampered by major data gaps and legal delays.
Protected on paper but not in practice
A chronic shortage of staff, inadequate funding and lengthy administrative procedures also hamper enforcement. Authorities may identify harmful or illegal activities but lack the resources or legal powers to stop them.
“Turning political ambition into tangible results for marine ecosystems will require faster action, applicable protective measures and a more coherent network across the EU’s seas,” Ivanova added.
Protected status does not necessarily mean that damaging activities are restricted. Fishing restrictions, for example, apply to only a small proportion of designated areas, despite the threat posed by commercial fishing and other activities that damage the seabed.
As a consequence, designating protected areas is politically easier than imposing the restrictions needed to make them effective.
Those restrictions could affect fishing fleets operating across national borders, creating tensions between biodiversity objectives and the economic interests of coastal communities.
The EU auditors are calling for the European Commission and EU countries to move beyond national approaches towards more harmonised and enforceable conservation rules.
“To ensure that marine protected areas function effectively, we need the European Commission and member states to join forces, as well as engagement with local stakeholders,” Ivanova said.
Funding gaps and local opposition hamper protection
Fragmented financing is also a barrier to effective protection, the ECA report warns.
Conservation efforts rely on national budgets and different EU funding instruments, leaving protected areas facing problems with staffing, resources and long-term planning.
Even if stricter rules are imposed, securing support from the communities affected by them can also be a challenge, according to the EU auditors.
“The process for adopting conservation measures affecting fishing fleets of several member states can be complex and lengthy because it may require negotiations between member states that have fishing interests, as well as with various stakeholders. It can take many years, and few conservation measures have been adopted since 2013,” reads the ECA report.
Monica Verbeek, executive director at the NGO Seas At Risk, said Europe does not lack policies, solutions or scientific knowledge.
“Where measures are implemented consistently and at a sufficient scale, nature responds. But recovery at scale is still not happening. We cannot afford another decade of ambitious targets followed by insufficient implementation,” Verbeek said.
