Press release

European Court of Auditors slams EU policymakers for marine protection failures

26.10.26

A damning new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) shows a raft of failures to protect the EU’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - what should be the jewel in the crown of Europe’s oceans. Finding that just 1% of EU marine waters were under strict protection, the report launches in the midst of COP17, the “biodiversity COP”, where EU leaders are emphasising the urgency of advancing 30x30, the ambition to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.

Environmental groups are calling out the irony that, whilst advocating for more protection on the global stage, the EU remains alarmingly far from taking adequate action at home. 

The MPA Legal Coalition, is an alliance of environmental groups behind a suite of legal actions to defend Marine Protected Areas. The group includes ClientEarth, Blue Marine Foundation, Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana and Seas At Risk. Together, they warn that Europe’s global credibility is at stake:

“Our oceans are in a terrifying state of decline. We can have all the pledges in the world to protect and restore them, but they mean nothing if those protections exist only on paper. Despite a suite of commitments from EU leaders in recent years, the ECA’s report shows the ever-widening gulf between rhetoric, and the reality in the sea. In Europe, the solution is clear, we need to apply and enforce the laws we have already.”

The ECA is the independent external auditor and financial watchdog of the European Union. Key findings from their report show that:

  • As of 2023, only 13.7% of EU waters were designated with any level of protection, with  only 1% strictly protected. The 30x30 targets aim for 30% under protection, and 10% under strict protection, and are unlikely to be met.

  • Fishing, in particular bottom-trawling, remains the main threat to protected areas, with fishing activity on average 72% higher inside marine Natura 2000 protected areas than outside them.

  • Funding is fragmented and insufficient for long-term management, monitoring and enforcement.

The report comes just after the implementation dialogue with Jessika Roswall on 23rd October, concerning the Commission’s ongoing 2026 ‘stress test’ of the Birds and Habitat Directives. The stress test process has sparked concerns of a weakening of the crucial laws that protect seas, forests, rivers and other ecosystems in the EU, with over 1.25 million people across the EU calling on the EU to defend nature laws in a petition that was handed in on 23 October. The ECA’s report makes clear that the Directives are the ‘cornerstone’ of EU nature laws and that Member States should focus on implementing and enforcing the existing laws.   

Despite their protected status, many marine protected areas (MPAs) across Europe remain open to destructive fishing practices like bottom trawling. The Coalition aims to close the ocean ‘enforcement gap’ through strategic litigation across Europe. In May 2026, the District Court of The Hague ruled that Dutch bottom trawlers could not fish in the Dogger Bank Natura 2000 site without a permit and an environmental assessment. In June, France’s Administrative Court of Rouen ordered stronger protection for seabed habitats within the three-nautical-mile coastal zone of the Bancs des Flandres Natura 2000 site. In Spain, Coalition members are also challenging the continued issuing of bottom-trawling licences in MPAs without prior environmental assessments. 

The MPA Legal Coalition is calling on the Commission to launch infringement proceedings against EU Countries that continue to allow destructive activities in Natura 2000 MPAs, and for the next EU budget to ringfence adequate funding for the EU’s marine Natura 2000 network.  The Commission should also use the upcoming European Ocean Act to establish clear responsibilities, enforceable obligations and robust monitoring and accountability for delivering the EU’s marine protection commitments, including protecting 30% of EU seas by 2030, and strengthening delivery of good environmental status under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

  • COP17: The EU’s confirmed negotiating position for the CBD COP17 (and the forthcoming COP31 climate COP) is described by the Council: “The EU’s focus… is on translating commitments into concrete actions… the EU will reaffirm the urgent need for accelerated implementation of the Paris Agreement and of the global biodiversity framework.”

  • Birds and Habitats Directive Stress Test: The Commission has stated that the stress test aims to ‘reduce administrative burdens’, sparking fears from environmental NGOs that the EU’s nature protection laws will fall victim to the EU's wider push for competitiveness and 'simplification'. 

  • 30x30: The 30x30 goal falls under Target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted by governments at COP15 in 2022. The framework sets a global strategy for conserving and sustainably drawing on the world’s biological diversity, to restore habitats, reduce pollution, and protect wildlife.

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