Connections

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  European Commission
  
  
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  Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries or DG MARE: is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, responsible for the policy area of fisheries, the Law of the Sea and Maritime Affairs of the European Union.
  
  
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  Directorate General for Research and Innovation is responsible for EU policy on research, science and innovation, with a view to help create growth and jobs and tackle the biggest societal challenges.
  
  
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  The European MSP Platform is an information and communication gateway designed to offer support to all EU Member States in their efforts to implement MSP in the years to come. With the adoption of the EU Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning (2014/89/EU), all coastal EU Member States are required to prepare cross-sectoral maritime spatial plans by 2021. Funded by the EU Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), the European MSP Platform acts as the central exchange forum for the rich knowledge generated in past, current and upcoming MSP processes and projects. This will allow officials, planners and other stakeholders interested in MSP to build on what is already available, avoid duplication of efforts, assist in capacity building and foster development of new practices.
  
  
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  Horizon 2020: the biggest EU Innovation and Research Programme, Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness.
  
  
• Facility for Blue Growth in the Black Sea is a two-year technical assistance project set up by the European Commission in October 2017 in order to promote the development of blue growth and blue economy in the Black Sea basin, in the framework of the European Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP).
  
  
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  Programme LIFE (: LIFE is the EU financial instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects throughout the EU. Since 1992, LIFE has co-financed more than 4500 projects. For the 2014-2020 funding period, LIFE will contribute approximately €3.4 billion to the protection of the environment and climate.
  
  
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  CBC Programme “Black Sea Basin 2014-2020”: The Black Sea Basin Programme 2014-2020 is part of European Union’s Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) under its European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI).
  
  
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  Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) came into existence as a unique and promising model of multilateral political and economic initiative with the signing of the Istanbul Summit Declaration and the Bosphorus Statement by the Heads of State and Government of the countries in the region, on 25 June 1992. With the entry into force of its Charter on 1 May 1999, BSEC acquired international legal identity and was transformed into a full-fledged regional economic organization - the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
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  The European Centre for information on Marine Science and Technology (EuroOcean), established in 2002, is an independent scientific non-governmental organisation whose membership comprises leading European marine research, funding and outreach organisations.
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  The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) is a network of organisations supported by the EU’s integrated maritime policy. These organisations work together to observe the sea, process the data according to international standards and make that information freely available as interoperable data layers and data products.