Analysis of Member States progress reports on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)

Description

In 2011, the European Commission launched a review of the EU ICZM Recommendation, with a view to a follow-up proposal. An impact assessment was conducted to explore needs and options for future EU action on ICZM and to assess potential social, economic and environmental consequences that new initiatives proposed by the European Commission may have. In the framework of the studies promoted by DG Environment to underpin the impact assessment a specific activity was foreseen to provide an updated analysis of the results and progresses in ICZM implementation across the EU Member States. The Commission invited Member States to submit reports on progress in the implementation of the EU ICZM Recommendation since 2006, by the end of 2010, this documentation constitutes a relevant base of information for the analysis. In addition, from missing information or even absence of response it cannot be concluded that no progress in ICZM in a single coastal state has been achieved. Strong attention was therefore paid to complete the missing information. Furthermore, as ICZM is a complex steadily evolving process, the overview provides a ‘snapshot’ at a particular moment in time of an on-going process. In order to provide such an overview, specific project objectives were: a) to analyse reports from Coastal Member States on progress in the implementation of the EU ICZM Recommendation (2002/413/EC); b) to complement the national reports (where needed) with additional information on the implementation of ICZM; c) to provide an overview of the main activities undertaken in and by EU coastal Member States, progress achieved and needs as regards further ICZM implementation; d) to organize stakeholders input to discuss and validate the study’s findings; e) to report on project results.
The main result was to provide an accurate analysis of the progress reports submitted by the coastal Member States and an overview of the results achieved across Europe over the 2006-2010 period. The main specific expected outputs included:
- a comprehensive and validated review of the progress towards ICZM implementation at the European, regional and national levels;
- comparative analysis of ICZM progresses among Members States leading to an assessment of the extent to which ICZM is being implemented across coastal European countries;
- an accurate picture of the main activities undertaken, including the identification of main gaps, constraints and opportunities related to the development of ICZM in Europe and in member states;
- an outlook on expected progress towards further implementation of ICZM in Europe in the next years.
The overview of Member State progresses analysed major issues with an impact on coast management, such as climate change and sustainable development highlighting cases were Member States developed specific legislation and planning tools.

Reference information