Celebrating and reflecting on a decade of the Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning.

On 23 July 2024, VASAB – the intergovernmental multilateral co-operation of the Baltic Sea Region in spatial planning and development – together with EU Member states and other international organisations celebrate successful implementation of the EU MSP Directive and mark it`s 10 years anniversary.  

Already in 2001, VASAB Wismar Ministerial Conference passed “VASAB 2010 PLUS Spatial Development Action Programme” where the sustainable development of coastal zones and islands was one of the six key themes for transnational spatial planning cooperation extending spatial planning also to offshore side.  

The 7th VASAB Ministerial Conference in Vilnius in October 2009 in its Declaration stated that a common Baltic approach for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) should be discussed, and tools and methods of such planning developed. The ministers underlined that a close co-operation with the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) regarding environmental aspects and with other relevant actors is essential. 

VASAB Committee on Spatial Planning and Development of the Baltic Sea Regio in 2010 decided to re-establish the VASAB MSP Working Group. The first meeting of the Working Group took place in March 2010 in Riga and it suggested close cooperation with HELCOM.  Also, the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in 2010 agreed to establish a joint co-chaired HELCOM-VASAB MSP Working Group and first meeting took place in October 2010 in Helsinki. The Working Group ensures cooperation among the Baltic Sea Region countries for coherent regional MSP processes in the Baltic Sea. The Working Group is co-chaired by HELCOM and VASAB-nominated co-chairs and vice-chairs. Additionally this Working Group is methodologically supported by Data Expert Sub-Group to facilitate the data exchange throughout the Baltic Sea.

Another platform to ensure regular cooperation of EU Member states in the Baltic Sea Region on MSP is VASAB and HELCOM cooperation by ensuring a coordination role of Policy area ‘Spatial Planning’ of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. This support ensures that MSP practitioners have an opportunity regularly discuss, share experiences how to cope with emerging challenges and learn from each other.   

Several EU co-funded projects with active VASAB involvement have contributed to enhance comprehensive MSP in the Baltic Sea and Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU- e.g. (BaltSeaPlan, PartiSEApate, Baltic LINes, Baltic SCOPE, Pan Baltic Scope, Capacity4MSP project platform, eMSP NBSR, MSP-GREEN, Baltic Sea2Land, HASPS and PASPS etc.). Projects greatly advance cross-border cooperation and continuous dialogue of MSP practitioners and stakeholders to deal with transnational coherence of MSP, emerging challenges, like evolving needs for renewable energy and cope with new sea uses. Projects greatly advance continuous dialogue for MSP practitioners and stakeholders to deal with transnational coherence of MSP, emerging challenges, like evolving needs for renewable energy and cope with new sea uses. Furthermore, VASAB facilitates MSP Planners’ forum and periodically organises Baltic MSP Forums – events which contribute to constant knowledge exchange among professionals and across levels and borders to ensure common understanding and appeal for timely and knowledge based decisions upon development related to fragile marine ecosystem of the Baltic Sea.

Status of the MSP process in the Baltic Sea. Information updated in April 2024

Thanks to the deep roots of collaboration of the Baltic Sea Region countries, established networks, and cooperation platforms as well as numerous successful projects, Baltic Sea Region is being considered as a frontrunner in MSP at the European scale. And nowadays close cooperation between various sea basins develop as a natural next steps, for example, between the Baltic and North seas which was evident in the Emerging ecosystem-based Maritime Spatial Planning topics in North and Baltic Sea Regions (eMSP NBSR) project. 

VASAB proudly contributes to the Integrated Maritime Policy for the EU to support the sustainable development of seas and oceans and to develop coordinated, coherent and transparent decision-making in relation to the EU sectoral policies affecting the oceans, seas, islands, coastal regions and maritime sectors, whilst achieving good environmental status.  

And finally to be emphasised that VASAB Ministers who met at their latest Ministerial Conference in Wismar in June 2023, welcomed the well-established co-operation between VASAB and the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) and macro-regional policy framework on coherent Maritime Spatial Planning in the Baltic Sea and endorsed the Baltic Regional Maritime Spatial Planning Roadmap 2021-2030 as a guiding document for the continuation of these joint efforts.