EU adopts first-ever strategies for islands and coastal communities

PAPHOS, Cyprus — The European Commission on Friday adopted two dedicated strategies, one for EU islands and one for EU coastal communities, marking the first time the bloc has taken a coordinated approach to addressing the unique challenges facing the roughly 17 million people who live on EU islands and the 95 million who live along EU coasts.

The strategies focus on improving transportation links, ending energy isolation, and building more homes, according to EU officials who spoke at a conference on strengthening EU islands and coastal communities in Paphos, Cyprus.

Some 17 million people live on more than 4,000 islands across the EU, including the three island member states of Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus. Another 95 million people live along the coasts of 22 member states, the Commission said.

“Islands have been overlooked in the past, but now that comes to an end,” European Parliament Vice President Younous Omarjee told the conference.

Raffaele Fitto, the European Commission’s executive vice president for cohesion and reforms, said the strategies aim to do away with piecemeal approaches to overcoming the unique challenges that islands and coastal communities face, offering a comprehensive approach instead.

The initiatives represent the first time the EU’s executive arm has produced dedicated policy frameworks for islands and coastal regions as distinct categories. EU officials said the strategies are designed to unlock the long-term potential of both types of territories, which have historically received less targeted attention from Brussels than other regions.

The announcement comes as the EU has been expanding its policy footprint across a range of areas affecting its maritime and coastal zones. MSI previously reported that the EU invested €92 million in June to expand its ocean monitoring network using underwater drones and satellites, an initiative called OceanEye that positions the bloc to take a leading role in global ocean monitoring.

The strategies were adopted by the European Commission on June 26 and were presented at the conference in Paphos, a coastal city on the island of Cyprus.