EMFAF call for proposals to implement Maritime Spatial Planning

A new €4 million call for proposals has been launched under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

The objective of this call for proposals is to facilitate the implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning in the EU, including through the effective application of Directive 2014/89 establishing a framework for MSP. This call is intended to fund projects developing innovative responses to tackle specific challenges that EU Members States might encounter when putting into effect, monitoring and/or revising their maritime spatial plans. Many of these challenges are common to coastal Member States. Therefore, there is a shared interest in developing innovative responses that can apply within a sea basin and/or across sea basins.

This means that projects should bring together participants from different Member States, located in a sea basin, or from different sea basins. To meet these challenges Member States will have to:

• Reflect and align their maritime spatial plans to the ambition of the European Green Deal and the related initiatives in areas such as climate change mitigation and/or adaptation, biodiversity, food, mobility, energy transition, alongside established activities and interests. As a cross-cutting instrument with a legal basis in all these policy areas, MSP can act as a powerful enabler of the EU's "Green Deal". This means that it will be therefore necessary for Member States to reflect in their maritime spatial plans the ambition of the Green Deal’s objectives, and energy and climate plans, alongside established activities and interests.
• Cater for cumulative impacts of ocean stressors: promote the use of an ecosystem-based approach, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), strengthen the process of the Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs), which are an integral part of MSP and promote environmental monitoring to collect data and asses impacts (e.g. on offshore renewable energies).
• Reinforce the sea basin dimension of MSP: meeting the above-mentioned challenges, and integrating the new EU initiatives, will require greater cooperation in planning activities in the different sea basins. A good example of this is the North Sea, where coastal Member States have set up structures to strengthen the coordination when deploying offshore wind energy14 . Moving from a project approach, MSP should become a subject of discussion among Member States in sea basin governance bodies.
• Making MSP digital and pan-European: The aim of this "digitalisation" is to harmonise data and to disseminate the contents of these plans through a common or shared digital platform – the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). This sharing of data will facilitate cross-border consultation and cooperation and allow for a greater participation of stakeholders in the establishment and implementation of maritime spatial plans.

The number of projects expected to be funded: 2 to 3.

Applicants are expected to be informed in May 2024.

Applicants can submit their proposals by 27 February 2024 at 17:00 CET.

For more info and to apply:

• Funding & Tenders portal