On 12 November, the CEI-Executive Secretariat (CEI-ES) attended the meeting of the EUSAIR Pillar 3 Thematic Steering Group on Environmental Quality, in order to present the results achieved so far with the NAMIRS and the newly approved ASAP project.
Thanks especially to the cooperation with the EUSAIR Coordinators for Pillar 3, and with the Facility point at the Municipality of Izola (Slovenia), the CEI-ES managed to have these two projects approved, contributing to the implementation of the EUSAIR Flagship project ASOSCOP as well as to the new ADRIATIC Contingency Plan, drafted by six Adriatic Countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia), with the support of the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC).
The Adriatic sea - a long, narrow, and semi-closed basin - should be valorised as a resource rather than considered a limit by the Countries sharing its surface; yet, it can represent a resource for blue growth only if it is protected from pollution, being it accidental or caused by the exploitation from different economic activities. Its specific morphology makes the Adriatic Sea significantly exposed to environmental risks, while its geographical position increases the risk every disaster quickly affects different countries. Therefore, sub-regional coordination is crucial, to guarantee quick and effective reactions and limitation of damages in case of accidents.
The NAMIRS project, in the past years, and ASAP now, share the same approach combining training, common procedures, exercises, inventory of resources, mapping of sensitive areas, and risk assessment, to establish a prompt and permanent mechanism of fast response at sea for safeguarding the Adriatic.
For more info: marconato@cei.int