Marine And Maritime Research, The EU Strategy
There is a difference between marine research and maritime research. The marine research is concerned with the earth science which studies the oceans and seas including their flora and fauna and its interaction with the areas around the coast and the atmosphere. It also deals with scientific knowledge and phantasm such as marine organisms, ocean currents, tectonics plates and geology. These topics require a deep understanding on varied subjects. One of the major tasks of the marine research is to preserve the marine ecosystem.
Maritime research, on the other hand, deals with technology to come up with innovative solutions which will help to explore the seas and oceans better. These include design building and operation of vessels, harbours, oil platforms and other marine related activities.
For the EU Member States the importance of maritime economy is as follows:
*90% of external and 40% of internal trade is dependent on the sea; more than 1200 ports in Europe cater to 3,5 billion tons and 350 million passengers per year
*Shipyards and marine equipment suppliers provide 0.8 million direct and indirect skilled jobs and have a total turnover of €90 billion. Europe is the world leader in the production of sophisticated ships like ferries and cruise ships
*Seas and oceans are a major source of alternative sources of energy such as tidal and waver power and offshore wind farms which totaled €121 millions in 2005
*Fisheries account for 0.5 million jobs; 0.3% of EU GDP which is approximately €20 billion per year; aquaculture accounts for 19% of the EUs total fishery
*Maritime tourism accounts for approximately 3 million jobs with a turnover of €72 billion in 2005
*New resources and blue biotechnology which are an emerging sectors account for 10% per year growth and a global market of €2.4 billion).
The following are the reasons why the Commission is defining a European Strategy for marine and maritime research:
*With regard to global economic growth, due to human activities there is a lot of pressure on seas and oceans. This is threatening the marine ecology. Therefore, it becomes imperative to conciliate economic growth with that of preservation of the environment
*Appointment of stakeholders in the marine and maritime sectors leading to the adoption by the Commission of the "Integrated Maritime Policy” for the EU in October 2007 has encouraged marine and maritime communities to work together. Many ad hoc partnerships have developed like the ‘Aberdeen Declaration’. Therefore, in June 2007 a more direct action to promote greater integration among stakeholders and to properly allocate the available resources has been undertaken
*The new initiatives started from the Green Paper on the European Research Area (ERA). ERA act as a major guiding principle for an improved European research system. This is totally aligned with the ERA principles and is one of the first efforts to establish ERA within a particular research division.
The Commission, having taken into account the above mentioned points is planning to recommend and act as a go between in the establishment of a marine and maritime research strategy for Europe with and objective of creating a better integration between marine and maritime research. At the same time admit the importance of the ongoing efforts within the different divisions of the two research departments. The Commission’s primary aim is to improve joint work rather than address a specific sector.
The Commission has come up with a few proposals. These are:
*Development of Capacity-building deals with specialised pan-European research infrastructure, new educational initiatives and address the interdisciplinary nature of the research
*Enhancing Integration across established marine and maritime research disciplines deals with integration of knowledge in science
Some of the topics that require a cross-thematic approach as identified by the Commission are:
* Change in the climate and oceans
*The impact that human activities is having on the marine ecosystems
*Ecosystem approach to resource management and spatial planning
*Biodiversity and biotechnology of the marine
*Deep sea and continental margins
*Oceanography and marine technology that is in operation
*Exploring the marine for renewable sources of energy
*Have a better support system between Member States. Therefore, it is important that the Member States use the European Community instruments like the Research Framework Programme, the Cohesion Policy Fund and the Competitive and Innovation Framework Programme to strengthen public and private investments.
The question arises who will implement the strategy. The Commission has proposed setting up of a forum that will create a long-term partnership with all the stakeholders from both public and private sectors (this to include third world countries) and agree on common research topics. Member States, regions, maritime industries and research centres all have an important role to play.
The benefits of the strategy are many such as progress in marine and maritime research and to improve the preservation of biodiversity. Beside this it will also provide support to the Lisbon Agenda because of the development of knowledge-based skills, new jobs and markets.
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