The European Court of Auditors says about 14% of EU waters are designated as protected, but less than 1% is under strict protection, putting the 2030 biodiversity goals at risk.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has warned that the European Union is unlikely to meet its 2030 targets for protecting marine biodiversity, according to an audit presented on Monday. Around 14% of EU waters are currently designated as marine protected areas, yet less than 1% is under strict protection. The bloc's goal is to protect 30% of its marine waters by 2030, including 10% under strict protection.
The auditors argue that the gap lies between designation and real protection. Fishing restrictions, for example, apply to only a small proportion of the designated areas, even though commercial fishing and other activities can damage the seabed. The report points to France and Sweden as countries that have made progress through community involvement and new bans on bottom trawling, while Ireland has been held back by major data gaps and legal delays. Staff shortages, inadequate funding, lengthy administrative procedures and fragmented financing from national budgets and several EU instruments also hamper enforcement, the ECA says, and few conservation measures affecting the fleets of several member states have been adopted since 2013.
The auditors call on the European Commission and national governments to move beyond national approaches towards more harmonised and enforceable rules. "The true challenge is turning designation into actual protection," said Iliana Ivanova, the ECA member in charge of the audit. Stricter restrictions could prove politically contentious if fishing communities bear the costs without adequate consultation or support. Monica Verbeek, executive director of the NGO Seas At Risk, said Europe does not lack policies or scientific knowledge and that nature responds where measures are applied consistently and at sufficient scale, but that recovery at scale is still not happening.
