Coastal conflicts such as that involving the Corrib gas project in north Mayo could be avoided if member states took a more "holistic" approach to major projects on European seaboards, according to EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs Joe Borg.
Governments have tended to look at situations in a "very compartmentalised way", whereas a more integrated approach to maritime affairs, affording more time for consultation and participation, would allow for more straightforward implementation of decisions, he said.
The conflicts of competing space and the impact of projects such as Shell/Corrib on other marine stakeholders such as fishing communities were not particular to Ireland, Mr Borg said. He hoped that Europe's new maritime policy would help to nurture such an approach by member governments.
Mr Borg outlined some of his own priorities on the emerging new policy at a Stakeholder Conference in Dublin this week organised by the Marine Institute and the Department of the Marine.
Prof Frank Convery, Heritage Trust professor of environmental policy at UCD, criticised the EU's green paper for a dearth of specific information, and for its failure to address key reasons for policy failure.
There was evidence that those maritime countries such as Norway and Iceland which were not in the EU had better and more effectively implemented maritime policies in place than EU member states, he noted.
A "bleak and worrying picture" in relation to climate change and sea-level rises in Europe was presented by Prof Robert Devoy of UCC, who is a contributor to the latest Intergovernmental Report on Climate Change.
He noted there was no EU directive for coastal management.
Yet the development of new laws and institutions for managing coastal land was a key element of coastal adaptation strategies - required in turn to deal with the threats posed by climate change, he said.
Mr Borg said he believed Europe's first maritime policy should take account of European expertise in pollution control and clean engineering, renewable marine resources, sustainable offshore exploitation of hydrocarbons and coastal engineering.
