Sustainable development and the sea

On Tuesday, when the Cabinet of the new Government is likely to be taking the oath of office, a European Commission expert group on maritime affairs will be meeting in Brussels.

The meeting will be the latest in a long series that began in 2005. It will look ahead towards one of the most significant developments in the Union's history. Whoever wins the general election should, in my view, keep this development in mind when forming the new Cabinet.

The expert group forms part of the Commission maritime taskforce, formed by Commissioner Joe Borg to explore the possibility of a holistic maritime policy for the Union. That is, a policy that will cover the coasts and the depths of the oceans, the economy and the quality of life in coastal regions, traditional industries and the maritime knowledge economy.

The expert group was initially convened to sound out the member states on the idea. Discussions then continued on the preparation and publication of substantial Green and Blue Papers.

The Blue Paper was published in October after the longest consultation process in the Commission's history. The next experts' meeting will be particularly significant because the discussion may include new pilot projects that will involve pan-European co-operation as well as third countries. Which projects go ahead, which European seas are involved, and which member states demonstrate leadership - the testing of the (political) waters will be evident during this meeting.

All this may sound highly technocratic and removed from the hot debates of the general election campaign. Well, yes, but only to a degree. What the Commission is proposing has much to do with the key electoral issues: sustainable development, climate change, the harnessing of renewable energy sources, the creation of jobs, the future of tourism, quality of life...

The economist Gordon Cordina has estimated the contribution of the various sea-related economic activities to our GDP: around 15 per cent. Not bad at all. But almost the entire contribution comes from the 'traditional' maritime economy (like fishing, shipbuilding and ports).

Malta has a huge, largely untapped potential to develop a 'new economy' that combines research with economic services and new products.

A Malta-based firm, in fact, is already exporting such fodder and its sales exceed those of our national potato exports. The University of Malta embraces a centre that already engages in oceanographic research (and international teaching). Lawrence Gonzi has pledged that a PN-led government in the next legislature would build wind-farms in the sea. Both parties of government are committed to major projects that would transform the port areas of the country.

However, the more the sea becomes important to our economic and leisure activities, the more these various activities will need to be co-ordinated, the use of maritime space planned properly, so that any conflicting interests are reconciled. If the planning of such spatial uses is going to be entrusted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (and I should say that Mepa officials have contributed in valuable ways to the management of coastal zones), then there is another electoral issue that touches this subject.

The co-ordination of national maritime activities would not be enough, however. Some of the most valuable resources of the sea do not belong to national jurisdictions in any tidy way. Pollution does not respect national boundaries. And we understand increasingly better how the way we manage the sea will play a major part in the success of international efforts to stem climate change.

So co-operation with other Mediterranean states, both fellow EU members and third countries, is crucial for any strategy of sustainable development for Malta. One reason the recent EU-Arab League meeting in Malta was so valuable was because all the participants, including the oil-rich countries, showed an enthusiastic interest in multilateral co-operation on combating climate change and developing renewable energy sources.

Gonzi's outgoing government has already taken some important initiatives. Under the co-ordination of Competitiveness Minister Censu Galea, an interministerial permanent forum on maritime affairs was created, bringing together all ministries (ranging from tourism to resources) that had some stake in the sea. Last year a national conference brought together all stakeholders, public and private, for the first time. On the pan-European stage, Galea proposed that an EU maritime agency may be needed, given the scale of the challenge.

However, precisely because of the scale of the challenge, and the opportunities, both vividly sketched out in the EC's Blue Paper, it is my personal view that the next prime minister will need to appoint a Minister for Maritime Affairs, widely understood. It is time Cabinet formation recognised the sea is 'seeping' into many of our key concerns: good news, because we have a lot of it.

At long last, we may find we do have rather more living space than we thought we did; significant natural resources to put to sustainable productive use; and a new platform from which to contribute to the European, Mediterranean and global common good.

Ranier Fsadni was a member of the expert group of the EC maritime taskforce from 2005-08; ranierfsadni@europe.com.