Sailing Towards Maritime Security: A Strategy for a New Era?

Image featuring EU flags at the European Commission Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium. Image source: Guillaume Périgois / iStock images

19 December 2023

The European Union’s approach to maritime security is evolving consistently. The recently updated strategy paper and action plan present a dynamic approach to new challenges and threats, international law enforcement, cyber security, and environmental protection. Whether the initiative will be sufficient to counter the multiplicity of contemporary threats remains to be seen.

By Justus Joachim Imkampe, Security Analyst Intern

Over the years, the EU has adjusted its approach to maritime security. Although delayed, it started by recognising the need for a comprehensive strategy from 2007 onwards. The conceptualisation phase from 2010 to 2013 faced initial resistance but was supported by a study highlighting the necessity of a universal strategy.

The European Union Maritime Security Strategy (EUMSS) aims to safeguard international peace, security, and respect for international rules while ensuring sustainability and biodiversity protection, with the objective of protecting EU interests at sea and the marine environment. It prioritises upholding international laws, notably the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), responding effectively to and detecting maritime threats, and providing relevant training while emphasising enhanced surveillance and information sharing. Additionally, it recognises the significance of cybersecurity with an increasing reliance on digital systems in maritime operations and the rising risks of cyber-attacks, advocating for robust cybersecurity measures to protect maritime infrastructure.

The EUMSS was unanimously adopted by EU member states in June 2014, broadly defining maritime security and suggesting areas for EU action. A revised action plan followed this in 2018. To accommodate new challenges, an updated version of EUMSS was published in March 2023 with an emphasis on cooperation, maritime domain awareness, and response capabilities - leading to the approval of a revised strategy and action plan in October 2023. This highlights the EU’s commitment to adapting its maritime security approach, which continuously requires adjustments in response to ever-changing security threats. The EUMSS's progress in recent years was mainly affected by Brexit and questions of coordination, the Nord Stream attack shifting the focus on critical infrastructure protection, and the Ukraine conflict calling for enhanced naval capabilities and NATO cooperation.

While the EUMSS has strengthened cooperation between civilian and military authorities, mainly through information exchange, it has been criticised for its lack of coherence and slow progress. The involvement of various European agencies and their multitude of strategies and priorities further complicates coordination by causing potential conflicts. The EU’s diverse command-and-control structures across operations add to this complexity. The impact of numerous capacity-building initiatives is limited by these coordination issues, short-term focus, and difficulties in achieving sustainable, long-term objectives. The latest EUMSS addresses hybrid threats and climate-related matters; yet some critics are discontented with the lack of attention to environmental security and the protection of critical subsea infrastructures.

It remains to be seen whether the EU will successfully achieve its strategy and ambitious action plans, including protecting shipping lanes, considering recent occurrences in the Red Sea, and the results of enhanced cooperation with organisations like NATO with unresolved questions about their respective roles. The strategy’s effectiveness will be evaluated in three years through a joint progress report, which is compiled by the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

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