EU breakthrough for marine research

The EU Commission is lending its support to the JPI Oceans marine research programme initiated by Norway. This means that the EU Commission has now joined a total of 17 countries that wish to be part of this initiative to develop a joint platform for the sustainable use of marine resources and technological development, while showing due consideration for the preservation of the marine environment.

“This brings us a big step forward in our efforts to highlight the importance of greater knowledge of the world’s oceans and resolve important global challenges such as environmental preservation, ensuring a sufficiency of healthy food and renewable energy,” says Norway’s Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Lisbeth Berg-Hansen.

In 2010, Norway - represented by the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs and the Research Council of Norway - took the initiative to establish a joint programme for marine research, a so-called Joint Programming Initiative. The purpose of the joint programme is to bring together the research activities being carried out at national level so as to better utilise Europe’s overall research funding to provide enhanced responses to the major societal challenges facing us all.

The Commission will give the final green light for the programme, expected to be in the third quarter of this year. “Increased collaboration in European marine research is of great strategic importance to Norway,” adds Norway’s Minister ofResearch and Higher Education Tora Aasland. “The EU Commission’s support for the programme is important in order to achieve impact – also within the Competitiveness Council.” Together with Belgium and Spain, Norway has spearheaded the work of developing JPI Oceans. A secretariat under Norwegian leadership has ensured the participation of many countries and explained what the programme sets out to achieve and how it shall be managed.

Homepage: JPI-Oceans EU

Contact person: Deputy Director General Jartrud Steinsli, tel.: +47 22 24 64 55