Comparative analysis of Maritime Spatial Planning ... - Seanergy 2020

seabed without an EEZ claim being made, so Italy can authorise it; but under what rules of planningpermission and permitting since Italy currently doesn‟t have these as the national report underlines it?Furthermore, the cables pass through the Territorial Seas and can conflict with well established fishinginterests although these, in part, should be subject to permits. What this shows is properly establishedmaritime zones are a prerequisite for best practice in offshore renewable energy and without them MSPitself becomes virtually impossible where it is most needed hence the significance of the underlying legalbasis.There are a number of other areas in the Mediterranean where similar situations could arise and, indeedFrance has a legal basis to introduce temporary concessions in emergencies, outside of the Gulf of Lions. Afew Mediterranean countries have such legislation in place but none have fully claimed an EEZ. France hasmade moves to claim a limited EEZ 16 and may be the first to do this in 2011 (interviews in DG MAREongoing project MARE/2010/05).In those counties that do have EEZs, namely those of the Atlantic and Baltic basins, the number ofdocuments or permits required for an offshore wind farm project can vary from two to five where clearly,according to the above guidelines, the lower the number the better with regard to probable effectivenessand efficiency of the process and of the countries surveyed five required only two, including theNetherlands, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, so this is achievable. These tended to include someform of construction permit, some environmental protection and impact assessment, as well as a licenseto connect to the grid although a concession or domain allowance may also be needed. In some cases,even though a number of permits may be required there may only be one point of application which hasbeen called a „one-stop shop‟ (MRAG 2008).Thus, efficiency is not just a question of the number of documents or permits that are required but also thenumber of agencies they need to be obtained from. For example in Spain, five permits are required but allfrom the same agency. This situation of having only to deal with one point of application could be taken asindicating that coordination is less of a problem, and this one-stop shop referred to above has been foundin several countries such as Netherlands and Scotland. Germany has only one relevant state authority butthere is also the need to go through the regional authorities of the Landers largely in connection with thecabling. The WindBarriers project found that the lowest number of authorities involved were in Denmark,Netherlands, Belgium and Spain as well as Germany, a similar conclusion to the present assessment.With some countries employing up to four institutions to provide permits and licenses, co-ordinationbetween them and the institutions and the applicants is clearly important. Most however have yet to put ina proper co-ordination process, with the exception of Denmark through the Danish Energy Agency, and16 http://www.france24.com/en/20090824-france-exclusive-economic-zone-eez-mediterranean-fishing-environmentprotectionDeliverable 2.322 | P a g e