The Maritime Spatial Planning directive

ISBN 978-92-79-45029-7. doi 10.2771/693891. European Union, 2014

Abstract: Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is about planning when and where human uses take place at sea to ensure these are as efficient, safe and sustainable as possible. MSP works across borders and sectors to take into account all activities at sea and their impact on the environment. This reflects the fact that marine ecosystems, fishing grounds, and sea-based infrastructures, such as cables, pipelines, shipping lanes, oil, gas and wind installations, do not fit tidily within national borders. Stakeholders are at the heart of MSP and their expertise and knowledge is crucial to identifying the current and future trends of a specific area and contributing to its development. The marine environment and human activities are constantly evolving. That's why MSP is a continuous process which has to adapt to new information or to changes in the initial assessment of an area and of the different patterns of use.