The implementation of the marine strategy framework directive in Belgium: towards a new approach of the protection of the marine environment in the Belgian Coastal Waters?

In Belgium the question arises whether the implementation of the European Marine Strategy Directive will cause new challenges with regard to the protection of the marine environment. Before being able to answer this question, the concept of ‘marine protected areas’, the international and European legal obligations of Belgium (i.e. the Ramsar-Convention, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the OSPAR-Convention and the Habitats and Birds Directive) and the Belgian legal framework (the Federal Act of 20 January 1999 on the protection of the marine environment) need to be examined. Looking at the results of this study, and taking into account the content of the European Marine Strategy Directive, it appears that the marine protected areas will remain the cornerstone of a successful policy for the marine environment, which means that Belgium needs to focus more on (an effective management of) these areas. Choices will have to be made with regard to (among other things) the (non-) binding force of the environmental targets (i.e. the ecological quality standards for the marine environment) and the framework for spatial planning in sea use management.’