European Maritime Day: The Stakeholders' Conference in Rome

Each year, throughout Europe the Maritime Day is being celebrated to show the importance of the seas and oceans in everyday life of coastal communities and inland, and especially for economic growth. It highlights the opportunities and challenges that maritime regions and sectors face. The central event of 2009 was organised in Rome on 18-20 June. One of the major events was the Stakeholders' Conference which brought together several hundred decision-makers and practitioners from all of Europe and the neighbouring regions.

The conference was opened on 19 June by M. Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, in the presence of Mr. Altero Matteoli, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Italy, Mr. Joe Borg, Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and other high ranking representatives from a number of European and Mediterranean countries. In their speeches they all stressed the importance of the sea for the economic development, but also the need for its protection and rational management.

The conference was carried out through 15 thematic workshops covering a large variety of issues. Mr. Ivica Trumbic, Director of PAP/RAC, who was representing the Mediterranean Action Plan at the event, was a speaker in the workshop on optimising the sustainable use of sea space through maritime spatial planning. His presentation, entitled "Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Zone Management: The Mediterranean Experience", aimed at presenting the opportunities that the recently adopted Mediterranean ICZM Protocol offers towards the introduction of maritime spatial planning in the Mediterranean countries.