Whilst this proposed approach will largely focus on helping communities living and working on the Atlantic coast deal with new economic realities, it also recognises that the EU shares responsibility for stewardship of the world's oceans. Broadly speaking the strategy will cover the coasts, territorial and jurisdictional waters of the five EU Member States with an Atlantic coastline – France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom as well as international waters reaching westward to the Americas, eastward to Africa and the Indian Ocean, southward to the Southern Ocean and northward to the Arctic Ocean. In addition to actions concerning the five EU Member States, both at a national and local level, engagement is also sought with other EU states that use this space and with international partners whose waters touch it. The implications of Iceland joining the EU need to be considered.
All the proposed actions are to be financed within existing programmes and will not create any additional impact on the EU budget
COM(2011) 782 final. COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area.
