Implementation of institutional and technical instruments for the protection of the Adriatic and the Baltic marine environment: a comparison

Abstract

        The paper studies the vulnerability and protection of marine environments of two semi-closed seas, the Baltic and the Adriatic, in terms of physical and socio-economic factors. Institutional and technical instruments and policies of protection, at global, pan-European, EU and regional levels, are reviewed. The pioneering role (for Baltic) of the Helsinki Convention, signed in 1974 by the Baltic coastal states, is highlighted, whereby all sources of pollution were made subject to one single instrument. There is no similar comprehensive agreement yet on the semi-closed Adriatic Sea, but protection of the Adriatic Sea is included in the Barcelona Convention signed in 1976 by 16 states and the European Union (presently there are 22 parties to the convention) which was a follow up of the pioneering (for Adriatic) Mediterranean Action Plan signed by contracting parties in 1975.
         The Baltic region, with 90 million people in its catchment area, is economically well developed; out of nine of its coastal states, eight are EU members. The catchment area of the Adriatic, home to about 15 million people, is characterised by even larger socio-economic contrasts, with Italy as the dominating player as for population size and the economy.
          The marine and coastal environmental burdens of both the Baltic and the Adriatic are mainly due to agriculture, industry, shipping, fisheries, and tourism, not to forget the legacies of unsustainable past. The Adriatic, a busy transportation route for oil vessels, is one of the most vulnerable areas in the Mediterranean.