The non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Seas at Risk and Oceana announced today that from seven Member States analysed – Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden – only four presented to the European Commission the commitments made in relation to marine environment protection goals.

An assessment of the commitments made by Member States regarding marine environment protection goals shows that, in addition to the delay in identifying Marine Protected Areas, Portugal and Ireland also did not provide any information on whether new zones or marine territories will be added with stricter protection, which should reach 10% in 2030.

Of the member states evaluated, Germany, Denmark, Spain and Sweden have already submitted national proposals for commitments, but only Denmark and Sweden have released them publicly.

Germany and the Netherlands have already reached the target of 30% of marine areas classified as protected, despite not having sent their plans to the community executive.

The two NGOs call on the European Commission to make the targets in question binding in the next legislature and on the Member States to reinforce the political will to comply with these environmental standards.