EU allocates €106 million for water protection and depollution projects

Alina Oprea

2 July, 2023 at 3:00 PM

The European Commission announced 18 new projects which will receive over €106 million to contribute to the EU Mission ”Restore our Ocean and Waters”. The projects gather over 370 beneficiaries from 36 countries, including Romania, SMEs, research institutions, local authorities, schools, and businesses. They will play a key role in achieving climate neutrality and restoring nature by protecting and restoring biodiversity in waters, cutting pollution, supporting a sustainable blue economy, and developing the European Digital Twin of the Ocean. All EU Member States are involved in the projects, with actions from the Baltic and North Sea, through the Danube River, the Mediterranean Sea, and across to the Atlantic.

”These 18 new projects aim to protect and restore the health of our ocean and waters in the areas of biodiversity, freshwater ecosystems, pollution, blue economy, and decarbonization. More than 370 beneficiaries - SMEs, research institutions, local authorities, schools, and businesses - are mobilized to bring solutions that can turn green challenges into innovation opportunities”, says Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for Europe Fit for the Digital Age.

The projects will deliver a wide variety of benefits to the ocean and waters, such as:

- Protection and restoration solutions for degraded coastal and marine habitats
- Protection and restoration of wetlands, flood plains, coastal wetlands, and salt marshes in the Danube
- Actions to Prevent, minimize, and remediate chemical pollution in the Mediterranean Sea
- Bringing sustainable algae-based products and solutions to the market in the Baltic and the North Sea
- Preventing and eliminating litter, plastics, and microplastics – innovative solutions for waste-free European rivers
- Reducing marine litter and pollution by using smart and low environmental impact fishing gears
- Integration of biodiversity monitoring data into the Digital Twin Ocean
- Creation of an e-library of marine and freshwater species
- Developing local community-driven business models for ocean farming.

”These new projects represent a further push towards achieving the objectives of the Mission. I am eagerly awaiting the tides of transformation these projects will bring, and invite all to join us on this journey to save the ocean and our rivers”, says Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.

Established under the Horizon Europe program for the years 2021-2027, EU Missions are a new way to bring solutions to some of society's greatest challenges. They have ambitious goals and will deliver tangible results by 2030.

Launched in September 2021, the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters' aims to protect and restore the health of our ocean and waters by 2030 through research and innovation, citizen engagement, and investments in the blue economy. The Mission addresses the ocean and waters as one and plays a key role in achieving climate neutrality and restoring nature.

The Mission supports regional engagement and cooperation through area-based ‘Lighthouses' in major sea and river basins: Atlantic-Arctic, Mediterranean Sea, Baltic-North Sea, and Danube-Black Sea. Mission lighthouses are sites to pilot, demonstrate, develop, and deploy Mission activities across EU seas and river basins.

The projects were selected following a call for proposals launched in 2022, including a peer evaluation by independent experts. The projects will be managed by CINEA (European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency).

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