social terms, hamper and erode the effectiveness of the regional institutions, including the European Union itself and its various policies in some cases.
Despite the existence of some specific cooperation initiatives on the sub-regional
scale, the most representative example of which is, perhaps, the Adriatic Sea/Ionian
Sea macro-region, for which the EU launched a Strategy in 2014, this is not the case
in the Alboran Sea, which lacks the institutions required to apply any such initiative
on the sub-basin level.
2.4.1 Background
There is a history of cooperative actions on the regional level going back to at least
the beginning of the twentieth century. The regional marine concept arose early with
the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean
Sea (CIESM) being set up in 1908. Other regional initiatives include the Treaty of
Montreux (1936), the Nyon Arrangement (1937) on the freedom and security of
navigation, and the General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (1948 and
called the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean since the end of
the 1990s onwards) set up by FAO. In more recent times was the so-called 1975
Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) although there had been a number of interesting
endeavours in the field of environmental protection in the Mediterranean, such as the
so-called Euro-Mediterranean Charter (1973) and the Inter-parliamentary Conference of Coastal States on the Control of Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, the
Mediterranean Action Plan (1975) was undoubtedly the first major milestone among
all the regional actions for protecting the sea. The Mediterranean Action Plan laid
down a complex network of policies, arrangements, programmes, institutions and
activities for the protection of the marine environment, and which aims in the long
term to achieve the necessary understanding that could serve as a basis for broader
cooperation agreements (Chircop 1989). Apart from its legal and technical apparatus, MAP also includes research and pollution monitoring—the MEDPOL
programme—and other integrated planning- and development-linked aspects—set
out in the Blue Plan.
This Action Plan has evolved (Table 2.3), having been reviewed and given a
change of direction in the 1990s (MAP-Phase II). The new Action Plan and the new
Barcelona Convention lay more emphasis on sustainable development, integrated
management and regional cooperation as key elements (Pavasovic 1996). The 2008
formulation of a protocol on integrated coastal management (in force since March
2011) was one of the most recent milestones in the evolution of Mediterranean
marine governance.
24
J. L. Suárez-de Vivero et al.
Despite the existence of some specific cooperation initiatives on the sub-regional
scale, the most representative example of which is, perhaps, the Adriatic Sea/Ionian
Sea macro-region, for which the EU launched a Strategy in 2014, this is not the case
in the Alboran Sea, which lacks the institutions required to apply any such initiative
on the sub-basin level.
2.4.1 Background
There is a history of cooperative actions on the regional level going back to at least
the beginning of the twentieth century. The regional marine concept arose early with
the International Commission for the Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean
Sea (CIESM) being set up in 1908. Other regional initiatives include the Treaty of
Montreux (1936), the Nyon Arrangement (1937) on the freedom and security of
navigation, and the General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (1948 and
called the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean since the end of
the 1990s onwards) set up by FAO. In more recent times was the so-called 1975
Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) although there had been a number of interesting
endeavours in the field of environmental protection in the Mediterranean, such as the
so-called Euro-Mediterranean Charter (1973) and the Inter-parliamentary Conference of Coastal States on the Control of Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, the
Mediterranean Action Plan (1975) was undoubtedly the first major milestone among
all the regional actions for protecting the sea. The Mediterranean Action Plan laid
down a complex network of policies, arrangements, programmes, institutions and
activities for the protection of the marine environment, and which aims in the long
term to achieve the necessary understanding that could serve as a basis for broader
cooperation agreements (Chircop 1989). Apart from its legal and technical apparatus, MAP also includes research and pollution monitoring—the MEDPOL
programme—and other integrated planning- and development-linked aspects—set
out in the Blue Plan.
This Action Plan has evolved (Table 2.3), having been reviewed and given a
change of direction in the 1990s (MAP-Phase II). The new Action Plan and the new
Barcelona Convention lay more emphasis on sustainable development, integrated
management and regional cooperation as key elements (Pavasovic 1996). The 2008
formulation of a protocol on integrated coastal management (in force since March
2011) was one of the most recent milestones in the evolution of Mediterranean
marine governance.
24
J. L. Suárez-de Vivero et al.