Europe’s seas are under mounting pressure. From intense fishing and shipping traffic to expanding offshore renewable energy and the urgent need to protect marine ecosystems –– demands on the ocean are growing fast. But, under current governance structures, policies and protections are managed in silos, lacking coherent coordination across competing priorities. This is resulting in cumulative impacts that current systems are ill-equipped to address.In response, the European Commission launched the EU Ocean Pact last year to create a more unified and strategic approach to governing the national waters of the 22 EU member states with a coastline. As part of this effort, the Commission proposed the EU Ocean Act — a new legal framework intended to help manage Europe’s seas.The EU Ocean Act offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve how Europe’s seas are governed, looking to improve coherence across marine policies within the regions waters. To do this, the EU created an Ocean Board — of which WRI is a member with other NGOs, trade and business associations, think tanks and academic institutions — to advise on relevant issues and foster dialogue. And the EU has set clear directives around ocean observation and data sharing, marine protected areas (MPAs) and fisheries investments, among others. However, effectively delivering on these goals will require stronger coordination across sectors, policies and member states.One way to achieve this would be to require all EU countries to develop and implement Sustainable Ocean Plans (SOPs), which bring together maritime spatial planning, fisheries, conservation, shipping, offshore energy and ocean data into a single umbrella framework ensuring 100% sustainable ocean management within a country’s national waters. Planning for SuccessPioneered by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel) and created by its secretariat hosted at WRI, SOPs have already been adopted by 29 countries accounting for over 1.5 million square kilometers (about 580,000 square miles) of ocean. SOPs are supported by practical guidance, including a practitioners’ handbook as well as groups like Ocean Action 2030 that provide the technical and financial assistance for countries to create SOPs.These plans have also been recognized more widely by key institutions like the Commonwealth’s Ocean Declaration as well as the Political Declaration at the 2025 UN Ocean Conference. In parallel, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission launched its first strategy on sustainable ocean planning, embedding the approach in the international scientific community.Currently two EU members — France and Portugal — are developing or have already published SOPs as part of their commitment as members of the Ocean Panel. As SOPs are already tested and supported internationally, integrating them into the EU Ocean Act would reduce implementation risks while providing a ready-made framework supported by existing guidance, training and national experience.Examples already exist in-situ where SOPs could clearly help alleviate strains on projects across various EU countries. For example, in the North Sea, countries working through the North Sea Energy Cooperation aim to deploy 300 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2050, yet delivery risks are falling short without stronger cross-border coordination of spatial planning, grid infrastructure and environmental safeguards. At the same time, persistent overfishing in European waters shows how fragmented governance can undermine sustainability despite frameworks like the Common Fisheries Policy.The Ocean Act could therefore include an SOP-style overarching requirement that would help EU countries across four key objectives:Governance and Conflict Resolution: SOPs help governments to communicate clearer long-term governance strategies and identify opportunities for cross-border collaboration. A key issue within EU waters is rising competition for space and resources, and insufficient tools to anticipate and resolve them. In sectors like fishing, shipping and tourism, SOPs can help strengthen governance across the ocean economy by reducing fragmented coordination between sectors and integrating existing management tools such as marine spatial plans and MPAs. Climate and Biodiversity Objectives: SOPs could also help EU countries better align ocean governance with their international commitments, such as the Paris Agreement and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. By embedding these climate and biodiversity objectives directly into marine planning processes, SOPs would enable EU countries to make more climate and biodiversity-smart decisions about how ocean space is used. For example, by identifying suitable areas for offshore renewable energy while safeguarding vital carbon-storing habitats, such as seagrass meadows and salt marshes.Noting that the ocean is one interconnected system, SOPs would also support the strategic expansion and effective management of MPAs, strengthen ecosystem restoration efforts and help safeguard biodiversity hotspots across Europe’s seas. In doing so, they would ensure that the growth of Europe’s blue economy contributes to climate mitigation, resilience and restoration efforts, rather than placing additional pressure on already vulnerable marine ecosystems. Sea-Basin Coordination: Europe’s marine ecosystems and ocean industries span across several sea basins, including with non-EU members, making regional cooperation essential. By embedding SOPs within the EU Ocean Act, member states would increase their ability to coordinate ocean management across shared sea basins such as the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Sea.This would support more coherent decision-making on issues such as fisheries management, shipping routes, offshore energy development and marine conservation. By strengthening collaboration at the sea-basin level, SOPs would help ensure that actions taken by one country complement sustainability efforts across the wider region. Ocean Observations: Managing the ocean sustainably requires reliable data to monitor changes to the ocean ecosystem over time. Implementing SOPs would strengthen the role of ocean observations in EU governance –– increasing capacity to collect data needed to understand the state of the ocean, predict and mitigate the impacts of climate change, enhance the competitiveness of economic activities at sea and contribute to maritime security, by standardizing data collection procedures, monitoring and reporting systems into marine planning and management processes. A more coordinated approach to ocean data would help reduce fragmentation between national monitoring efforts and sectoral datasets, improving the consistency and accessibility of information used for decision-making. This approach aligns with the EU’s recently announced Ocean Eye initiative, which aims to enhance and integrate ocean observation systems across Europe through improved coordination of satellite data, in-situ monitoring platforms and ocean modelling. SOPs could help further this effort through embedding data baselines, and implementing the monitoring and reporting architecture needed for standardization.A useful model for how this kind of coordination can work is emerging through the Pacific-led Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity (UBPP) initiative. Bringing together more than 20 Pacific Island countries and territories, UBPP applies a shared regional approach to 100% sustainable ocean management that mirrors the principles SOPs. By aligning national priorities, strengthening regional data systems and fostering collaboration across borders, the initiative is helping the Pacific Islands to manage transboundary challenges such as fisheries, climate impacts and marine conservation more effectively.This approach highlights how the EU could similarly benefit from embedding SOPs within a regional framework, enabling member states to move beyond fragmented and siloed governance toward a more integrated, cooperative model that delivers stronger environmental outcomes and greater economic resilience.This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink how Europe governs its seas will be crucial to secure the long-term resilience of Europe’s coastal communities, food systems, and clean energy future, while safeguarding the marine ecosystems that provide essential environmental and economic benefits.Now, the EU must seize this opportunity to position Europe as a global leader in sustainable ocean governance and demonstrate how ambitious ocean policy can deliver for people, nature and the climate.