The EU remains hooked on destructive activities at sea, fails to tackle pollution, is backsliding on nature protection and continues to overlook the ocean’s critical role in regulating our climate.

Brussels, 29th September 2026 – European ocean health is off track. A major progress report published today by the Blue NGO coalition, namely BirdLife Europe & Central Asia, Bloom, Blue Marine Foundation, ClientEarth, Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana,  Seas At Risk, Surfrider Foundation Europe and WWF EU, reveals that Europe is failing to protect its own waters.  

Evaluating progress in 2025 and 2026 against the Blue Manifesto (backed by 150+ civil society groups), the new traffic light assessment warns against the widening gap between the EU’s global commitments, its ambition at EU level and its actual domestic actions since 2024.  

Key Scorecard Findings 

Progress varies considerably between topics. The EU scores relatively strongly on international ocean leadership (7.5/10), reflecting important achievements, such as the landmark ratification of the BBNJ Agreement, and keeping a strong stance against deep-sea mining, despite increasingly difficult circumstances for multilateral cooperation. This contrasts sharply with the EU’s  failures to meaningfully act domestically, which puts its overall credibility on the global stage at risk. Recent moves, including the Environmental Omnibus and the stress-testing of the Birds and Habitats Directives, risk further weakening the environmental protections that Europe’s seas depend upon. The EU continues to struggle to address some of the most damaging pressures on the marine environment, such as destructive fishing practices, including bottom 

trawling in Marine Protected Areas. At the same time, the ocean’s critical role in regulating our climate continues to be overlooked, even though marine ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.  

A worrying picture but a major opportunity to change course 

The results show that the EU is falling significantly short of the action required to achieve a healthy ocean by 2030. 

With ecological pressures accelerating, the coalition points out that the EU should accelerate its action to change course through the urgent enforcement of existing legislation such as the Nature Restoration Law and the Common Fisheries Policy, and by means of upcoming legislative milestones including the European Ocean Act, revisions of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD), and negotiations on the next EU budget.  

The coalition issued the following statement: “At the halfway point of this mandate, the EU is still far from delivering the healthy ocean it needs for food, jobs, climate protection, biodiversity, and to boost the economy. The good news is that many of the tools needed to turn this around are already available. The Ocean Act and key upcoming marine laws can close the remaining gaps, but only if the EU backs them with political will, consistency across its policies and action needed to restore ocean health.” 

EU Ocean Week 2026 – Key media hooks and photo opportunities: 

The 6th edition of EU Ocean Week takes place from 28 September to 4 October 2026, bringing together civil society, policy-makers and other stakeholders around the theme “Delivering ocean health for Europe’s future.” 

  • Blue Manifesto assessment launch and high-level networking reception: The assessment will be published during a networking reception in the European Parliament, hosted by MEP Christophe Clergeau (Chair of the Parliament’s SEArica Intergroup), with interventions from Commissioner Costas Kadis (Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans), Mr Timmy Dooley (Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine), Mr Salvador Malheiro (Portugal’s Secretary of State for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs) and Vera Coelho (Representative of the Blue NGOs at the reception and Executive Director and Vice President Europe, Oceana).  Tuesday 29 September, 17:45-1930
  • We Are The Whale: a life-sized whale installation (visual event) in the esplanade of the European Parliament will be unveiled by Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Teresa Ribera and Princess Marie-Esmeralda of Belgium. Followed by a curated painting session, open to all. Tuesday 29  September, 11:45-14:00. 

Click here for the full assessment

Posted on: 28 September 2026