The Republic will lead talks this week on a significant piece of legislation aimed at strengthening the defence of marine territory, undersea cables, maritime economy and ocean health.
Discussions on the formation of the European Ocean Act will take place against an increasing presence of Russian vessels in Irish waters and growing concerns over the safety of telecommunications cables, electricity interconnectors and subsea pipelines.
A two-day gathering in Wexford, convened under Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, will see officials and experts from member states exchange views on how the law should be worded and implemented.
Draft wording is due from the European Commission later this year, but priority areas have already been signalled.
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They include protecting and restoring ocean health and maritime ecosystems, better management of fishing, merchant shipping and other commercial maritime activities, supporting coastal communities and enhancing defence and security.
Defence and security proposals include greater co-operation between operational coastguard and naval services, increased maritime border security and the development of a pilot European drone fleet for improved surveillance.
Peter Heffernan, former head of the State’s Marine Institute, a member of the commission’s Mission Board on Healthy Oceans and a board member of the Oceano Azul foundation, will be taking part in the Wexford event this week.
He said recent geopolitical developments made the need for new legislation all the more pressing.
“Could you have imagined even 18 months ago an Irish Government inviting the French government and the UK government to assist us with maritime surveillance as is being actioned right now?” he said in reference to security arrangements put in place for the presidency.
“The world is changing ... and we have to respond.”
While security challenges have increased in recent times, much of the impetus for the Ocean Act comes from environmental concerns.
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Europe’s seas are in poor condition, becoming increasingly acidified from absorbing excess carbon dioxide, plagued with algal blooms from agriculture and chemical fertilisers, overfished and heavily polluted with plastic.
Marine life is struggling and the seas are running out of capacity to soak up the excess heat threatening Earth.
Europe’s Copernicus climate change service warned this past week that average sea temperatures had reached a record high for the time of year.
“Mankind will not survive on this planet if we allow ocean degradation to continue,” said Heffernan.
“The severity and the damage associated with climate change, the ocean is our greatest living planetary buffer for those impacts up to now.
“But it’s at a point where we have to wake up to the reality that if we do not look after the ocean, its ability to look after us is at serious risk.”
The Republic, and the EU collectively, have pledged to place protections on 30 per cent of its seas by 2030. But there is no agreed definition of a marine protected area and no clear system of oversight.
That is one of the deficits in existing marine-related regulations that the Ocean Act is expected to address.
Various directives and policies already touch on marine issues, but they have been widely criticised as piecemeal and fragmented.
Regulations on fishing rights are often contentious. And the development of offshore wind networks requires more co-operation.
It is possible that a new EU agency could be set up to administer the act.
But agreeing on a wording that EU ministers and the parliament will pass is expected to take time. Member states are likely to resist any provisions that would lessen their control over their own seas.
A question also arises over how much say landlocked states should have in regulations that disproportionately affect those, such as Ireland, with extensive coastlines and large territorial waters.
