European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis on Friday unveiled the European Union’s first-ever strategy dedicated to coastal communities, describing it as a landmark initiative designed to strengthen the prosperity, resilience and liveability of regions that are home to almost 95 million Europeans.
Speaking at the high-level conference on islands and coastal communities in Paphos, Kadis said the strategy represented a major shift in European policymaking by bringing together, for the first time, existing and future EU policies affecting coastal regions under a single framework.
“This is the first European strategy dedicated to coastal communities,” Kadis said. “It brings together existing and future actions of the European Commission addressing both the challenges and the opportunities of Europe’s coastal areas.”
The strategy stems from a commitment made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and builds on the European Ocean Pact adopted in June 2025, which identified support for coastal and island communities as one of its six strategic priorities.
Kadis stressed that the preparation of the strategy, much like the new strategy for islands, had been based on extensive consultation with governments, citizens, experts and stakeholders.
“This process has allowed us to develop a strategy centred around the realities of coastal communities and the people who live there,” he said.
According to Kadis, around 95 million people live in coastal regions across 22 EU member states, spanning approximately 70,000 kilometres of coastline.
He highlighted the crucial role coastal communities play in sectors ranging from renewable energy, blue biotechnology and European security and defence to more traditional sectors such as fisheries, aquaculture, maritime transport and tourism.
“These sectors contribute around €265 billion annually to the European economy and support millions of jobs,” he said.
At the same time, Kadis warned that coastal communities face growing challenges linked to climate change, environmental degradation, demographic pressures, limited access to services, housing shortages, unbalanced tourism development and overdependence on a small number of economic sectors.
He said that existing EU policies affecting coastal areas remained fragmented across different policy frameworks, making it difficult for member states to develop coherent national approaches.
“Our strategy seeks to address this gap,” he said.
The strategy introduces 13 targeted actions organised around three pillars: prosperity, resilience and liveability.
The first pillar seeks to unlock the economic potential of coastal regions by supporting the diversification of the blue economy and reducing dependence on individual sectors.
As part of this effort, Kadis announced the implementation of “OceanEye”, a new marine observation and data collection initiative announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this year and recently approved by the Commission.
The programme, supported initially by €50 million in funding, will develop European and international partnerships to collect and analyse marine data aimed at supporting economic development, climate resilience and environmental protection.
The strategy also includes plans to develop certification methodologies for so-called “blue carbon credits”, allowing carbon captured and stored by marine and coastal ecosystems to be certified and monetised, creating new economic opportunities for coastal communities.
Additional initiatives include support for blue bioeconomy clusters, local value chains and pilot projects involving dual-use maritime technologies for sectors such as fisheries and tourism.
The second pillar focuses on resilience and aims to strengthen preparedness against climate change, environmental degradation and socio-economic pressures.
Kadis said the strategy foresees cooperation with the European Investment Bank to support coastal adaptation projects and promotes co-management systems for marine protected areas involving fishermen, scientists and local authorities.
“We have seen in several European countries that co-management works very well,” he said. “When stakeholders themselves participate in the management of protected areas, protection becomes more effective and more sustainable.”
The strategy also promotes the use of advanced digital tools for real-time monitoring, forecasting, simulation exercises and scenario planning to improve preparedness for extreme weather events.
The third pillar focuses on ensuring coastal communities remain places where people want to live and work.
Kadis said the strategy places particular emphasis on education, training and skills development to help younger generations access quality employment, create businesses and remain connected to the economic and social life of their communities.
The strategy also addresses access to essential services, affordable housing and connectivity.
“Housing has become a pressing issue in many coastal communities, including in Cyprus,” Kadis said, adding that forthcoming EU legislation on affordable housing would take account of the specific needs of coastal regions.
He also highlighted the role of the new European Bauhaus Facility and a forthcoming best practices laboratory for coastal and historic communities in improving living conditions.
Turning specifically to Cyprus, Kadis outlined three areas where the island could benefit directly from the strategy.
First, he said research institutions such as the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence, the KIOS Research and Innovation Centre and the Oceanography Centre of the University of Cyprus would be able to participate in the OceanEye initiative.
The resulting data, he said, would support the sustainable management of Cyprus’ marine environment, improve preparedness for extreme weather events, support businesses operating in the blue economy and contribute to the protection of critical underwater infrastructure.
Secondly, Kadis highlighted fisheries tourism as an area with significant growth potential, capable of generating supplementary income for fishermen while enhancing Cyprus’ tourism offering.
Thirdly, he said Cyprus could benefit from future blue carbon certification schemes, allowing local authorities and organised groups to develop coastal and marine restoration projects that would generate certified carbon credits and economic benefits for local communities.
Kadis stressed that the success of the strategy would depend on better coordination between European funding instruments, including the European Investment Bank, national development banks and other financial institutions, with priorities expected to be reflected in future EU financial programmes.
“The objective is to make European support more targeted, more effective and better adapted to local needs,” he said.
The commissioner added that implementation of the strategy would begin immediately and progress would be monitored through the digital implementation dashboard established under the European Ocean Pact.
Concluding his remarks, Kadis thanked Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto for his cooperation and praised the Cyprus presidency of the Council of the EU for its work over the past six months.
“As a European commissioner, but also as a Cypriot citizen, I feel particularly proud of the exemplary effort made by the government of the Republic of Cyprus,” he said.
