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

6 SECTOR CONFLICT MANAGEMENT6.1 Why is sector conflict management important to Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP)?Sector conflict management is one of the overall aims of an integrated approach to MSP. The objective isto make best possible economic and societal use of the maritime space, reconcile different interests andclaims on the space and streamline developments. Managing potential sector conflicts early on preventsobjections from being raised later in the process and avoids objections reaching the courts which can belengthy, expensive and may lead to cancellation of the project. Sector conflict management is also acoordination issue and facilitates development by ensuring that government departments are inagreement and do not give conflicting advice.6.2 Progress per sea basinIn the North Sea one of the main mechanisms for managing sector conflicts has been through zoningexercises. In some countries such as Germany and Belgium zoning has been adopted as part of an overallmaritime spatial plan, whereas in other countries such as the Netherlands and the UK zoning has beendone on a sectoral basis and is non-binding. Another method has been the development of sectoralguidelines to help minimise conflicts, for example practical solutions such as recommended buffer zonesand noise/glare reductions methods. Consultations are a major method of managing conflicts and as seenunder the Consultation Criterion this is well developed for the North Sea countries.In the Baltic Sea there have been a number of pilot maritime spatial plans developed as part of the EUfundedBaltSeaPlan project. However, these plans are for the most part voluntary and have not yet beenintegrated into national level policies. In many cases conflicts are managed through consultations as partof Environmental Impact Assessment of individual projects. Sweden has a well developed consultationprocess which goes a long way to resolve conflicts, but it is not clear whether there are binding rules onprioritising sectors.Within the Atlantic a number of countries (e.g. UK, France, Portugal, Ireland) have undertaken sectoralplans (e.g. for offshore renewables) that have identified opportunity zones where there are minimalconflicts and areas with a high level of potential conflicts. These exercises have often been accompaniedby Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) which have provided stakeholders an opportunity tohighlight issues or win-win solutions.In the Mediterranean area there have also been some sectoral zoning exercises and related SEAs, but thesuccess of these in managing conflicts is often related to the quality of stakeholder consultation (which islower for Italy and Greece than for France and Spain).Deliverable 2.335 | P a g e