The growing number of activities at sea can be damaging to safety, security, the economy and the environment. Ongoing surveillance is consequently a vital necessity. At the same time, the proliferation of objectives, competent bodies and instruments undermines the effectiveness of European maritime surveillance, which is managed individually by member states. Integrating the different operations, ensuring dialogue and the interoperability of instruments and coordinating operations are key objectives for the European Union as part of its Integrated Maritime Policy.

The current practice in member states is for each sector-level authority in charge of monitoring maritime activities to collect operational data for its own use without notifying fellow authorities. Data sharing would increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of surveillance activities. However, data sharing and surveillance system interoperability present certain technical problems (diversity of users and technologies), as well as legal and security issues (cross-border threats). In the communication published on 15 October 2009, ‘Towards the integration of maritime surveillance: A common information-sharing environment for the EU maritime domain’ ⁽¹⁾, the European Commission identifies these problems and defines guiding principles to help member states establish a common information-sharing environment.

The basic principle is that optimal use of existing systems should give users from different domains access to as much information on the maritime situation as possible and thereby improve their operating effectiveness. It is therefore a priority to improve coordination of activities and the interoperability of tools among member states, among the EU agencies concerned – European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), EU Border Control Agency (Frontex) and European Defence Agency (EDA) – and between member states and these agencies. It is also a technical and political challenge: caution is needed when dealing with technical compatibility, confidentiality of data and national sovereignty. The Commission has proposed to move forward by stages, starting with pilot projects to test the integration of maritime surveillance in practical terms. Two are already under way: the first concerns the Mediterranean and near Atlantic and the second the North Sea.