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In its European Security Strategy, the EU states that the primary objectives is to craft a ring of well‐governed countries around its borders. This ‘ring of friends’ is fundamentally forged through the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Eastern Partnership and the Union for the Mediterranean, and apply not only to land areas but also to the large enclosed or semi‐enclosed water bodies which are the Baltic Sea towards the North‐East, the Mediterranean Sea towards the South, and the Black and Caspian Seas towards the East. Because they are surrounded by land, the efficiency of an integrated maritime policy in these “inland seas” will strongly depend on the environmental state of surrounding lands and coasts, i.e. the capacity of maintaining or improving it through a coherent use of a number of EU policies. Amongst them, the Trans‐European Networks, the Structural Funds, the Common Agriculture Policy, the Environment Policies, and the Research Framework Programme are more particularly scrutinized for putting them into synergy, while possible partners and existing cooperation mechanisms are identified for a coordinated implementation hence enhancement of the EU strategy in each of the four seas. From the previous argumentation, a set of recommendations are made for the EU’ political strategy towards these regions to reinforce the multilateral cooperation in those issues where it can be an effective complement of the already existing EU policies.

In its European Security Strategy, the EU states that the primary objectives is to craft a ring of well‐governed countries around its borders. This ‘ring of friends’ is fundamentally forged through the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Eastern Partnership and the Union for the Mediterranean, and apply not only to land areas but also to the large enclosed or semi‐enclosed water bodies which are the Baltic Sea towards the North‐East, the Mediterranean Sea towards the South, and the Black and Caspian Seas towards the East. Because they are surrounded by land, the efficiency of an integrated maritime policy in these “inland seas” will strongly depend on the environmental state of surrounding lands and coasts, i.e. the capacity of maintaining or improving it through a coherent use of a number of EU policies. Amongst them, the Trans‐European Networks, the Structural Funds, the Common Agriculture Policy, the Environment Policies, and the Research Framework Programme are more particularly scrutinized for putting them into synergy, while possible partners and existing cooperation mechanisms are identified for a coordinated implementation hence enhancement of the EU strategy in each of the four seas. From the previous argumentation, a set of recommendations are made for the EU’ political strategy towards these regions to reinforce the multilateral cooperation in those issues where it can be an effective complement of the already existing EU policies.

In its European Security Strategy, the EU states that the primary objectives is to craft a ring of well‐governed countries around its borders. This ‘ring of friends’ is fundamentally forged through the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Eastern Partnership and the Union for the Mediterranean, and apply not only to land areas but also to the large enclosed or semi‐enclosed water bodies which are the Baltic Sea towards the North‐East, the Mediterranean Sea towards the South, and the Black and Caspian Seas towards the East. Because they are surrounded by land, the efficiency of an integrated maritime policy in these “inland seas” will strongly depend on the environmental state of surrounding lands and coasts, i.e. the capacity of maintaining or improving it through a coherent use of a number of EU policies. Amongst them, the Trans‐European Networks, the Structural Funds, the Common Agriculture Policy, the Environment Policies, and the Research Framework Programme are more particularly scrutinized for putting them into synergy, while possible partners and existing cooperation mechanisms are identified for a coordinated implementation hence enhancement of the EU strategy in each of the four seas. From the previous argumentation, a set of recommendations are made for the EU’ political strategy towards these regions to reinforce the multilateral cooperation in those issues where it can be an effective complement of the already existing EU policies.

In its European Security Strategy, the EU states that the primary objectives is to craft a ring of well‐governed countries around its borders. This ‘ring of friends’ is fundamentally forged through the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Eastern Partnership and the Union for the Mediterranean, and apply not only to land areas but also to the large enclosed or semi‐enclosed water bodies which are the Baltic Sea towards the North‐East, the Mediterranean Sea towards the South, and the Black and Caspian Seas towards the East. Because they are surrounded by land, the efficiency of an integrated maritime policy in these “inland seas” will strongly depend on the environmental state of surrounding lands and coasts, i.e. the capacity of maintaining or improving it through a coherent use of a number of EU policies. Amongst them, the Trans‐European Networks, the Structural Funds, the Common Agriculture Policy, the Environment Policies, and the Research Framework Programme are more particularly scrutinized for putting them into synergy, while possible partners and existing cooperation mechanisms are identified for a coordinated implementation hence enhancement of the EU strategy in each of the four seas. From the previous argumentation, a set of recommendations are made for the EU’ political strategy towards these regions to reinforce the multilateral cooperation in those issues where it can be an effective complement of the already existing EU policies.