NEWS

The President of the Region of Basse-Normandie and the CPMR Atlantic Arc Commission, Laurent Beauvais, will host the next AAC Political Bureau on 12 February 2009 in Caen (FR) in the presence of a notable guest, as the European Commissioner for fisheries and maritime affairs, Joe Borg, will attend this meeting. The arrival of Commissioner Borg coincides with what is currently a very busy time for maritime policy issues.

As the Green Paper on the future of the common fisheries policy (CFP) will be published shortly, Commissioner Borg will be invited to outline the paper’s major guidelines. The publication of the Green Paper will represent a starting point for a large public consultation which the Atlantic Arc Commission will participate in.

This meeting will also be an opportunity for the Atlantic Regions to enter into a discussion with the Commissioner on the implementation of the action plan which accompanies the European Maritime Policy Blue Book and especially on the recent roadmap for Maritime Spatial Planning. In addition, the discussions will relate to the implications that the new maritime policy approach by geographical area will have for the Atlantic Arc.

Finally, this meeting will enable the CPMR Atlantic Arc Commission to put forward its contribution to the Green Paper on territorial cohesion. This document is the result of a wide consultation between the Regions, cities, economic and social councils, universities and chambers of agriculture in this area. The Atlantic stakeholders believe that the concept of territorial cohesion should have explicit recognition among the EU priority objectives and be applied to all EU policies including maritime policy.

Fabien Mesclier
fabien.mesclier@crpm.org
Executive Secretary, Atlantic Arc Commission