The European Commission has opened a public consultation on a planned European Ocean Act, with the legislation due to be adopted later this year.
The Commission described the Ocean Act as a legal framework for EU “ocean governance”, covering how sea areas are managed and used across different policy areas, including the economy, climate and environmental protection.
The proposal sits under the European Ocean Pact, which the Commission adopted in June 2025, the EU executive noted in a release on Thursday.
The consultation is open until 16 July 2026 and asks for views through a structured questionnaire, according to information published online by the Commission.
Stakeholders including public authorities, experts, citizens and coastal communities are invited to take part.
How the Ocean Act links to existing EU rules
The Commission said the Ocean Act would take a coordinated approach by aligning work on two existing pieces of EU legislation currently being revised — the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, which sets requirements for planning activities at sea, and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which sets an EU-wide approach to protecting the marine environment.
