To fully consider the impact and implications of the proposed Directive for local and regional authorities;
To assess the proposed Directive for its compliance with the subsidiarity and proportionality principles;
To highlight areas where the proposed Directive may undermine existing competences and functions of local/regional authorities, especially in the field of planning policy, and to make recommendations, as appropriate;
To highlight aspects of the proposed Directive that may present problems in terms of transposition and implementation and may also lead to increased burdens in terms of compliance at local and regional level;
To consult with stakeholders to hear their views and help find broad consensus to reflect the views/concerns of EU local and regional authorities.
Final act published in Official Journal on 28 August 2014.
CoR amendments (partially) taken up:
Recital 3:
Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union (IMP) "identifies maritime spatial planning as a cross-cutting policy tool enabling public authorities and stake-holders to apply a coordinated, integrated and trans-boundary approach".
CoR amended with cross-border, the EP with trans-boundary approach.
Recital 11
It is appropriate for the Union to provide a framework for maritime spatial planning. The CoR and EP amended the text in a similar way. It was taken up by the Council.
Article 6(3)
The Directive stipulates as amended by the EP that "Maritime spatial plans shall be reviewed by Member States" whereas CoR indicates "in accordance with national plan review cycles". The Directive also sets a deadline for the review.
Furthermore, "enhanced cross-border cooperation" was added in the Article 1 (2) as amended but the EP.
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- highlights that the proposed Directive is made in the context of a number of Member States already having MSP and ICM policies, to which local and regional authorities are key players; furthermore, would wish the proposal not to affect the competences that exist with and within Member States in the field of spatial planning;
- considers that the question of whether the EU should legislate remains open and that the question of how it should legislate also needs to be addressed; suggests in this regard, that the proposal as currently worded breaches the proportionality principle;
- suggests that the proposed Directive provides insufficient flexibility for implementation as: (a) it cuts across well-established informal processes for ICM, in some of the Member States; and (b) the proposals on ICM, in particular, impinge directly on existing competences for spatial planning policy and practice held at regional and/or local level;
- underlines that a framework Directive must not establish the content of maritime spatial plans;
- believes that a framework Directive should set common principles and facilitate cross-border cooperation and cooperation between national authorities which have competence for their shorelines and leave the definition of "coastal zones" to Member State authorities;
- highlights that the proposed Directive, as currently worded, will have negative consequences for local/regional planning policy and procedures, as the proposal will subject spatial plans with a coastal dimension to minimum sector-specific content requirements, which considerably undermine the autonomy of planning authorities to balance the needs of all appropriate uses.