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After recognizing the importance of marine and coastal resources and the use of marine space for economic growth, the European Union (EU) created and implemented a long-term Blue Economy (BE) strategy that supports the development of traditional and emerging marine and maritime sectors, aiming at the enhancement of Blue Growth (BG). However, despite the existence of a robust policy framework that supports the expansion of BE sectors at both an EU Sea Basin and state level, scholars have been sceptical as to whether the pursuit of BG adequately addresses the challenges that usually come with economic development, including those of climate change and marine biodiversity loss. Various frameworks for integrating sectoral goals with each other and with environmental goals that could facilitate the transition towards Sustainable Blue Growth (SBG) already exist and have been suggested and promoted by the European Commission, such as Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). They require the consideration of marine ecosystems and biodiversity and their protection as one of the BE sectors to be integrated via planning and management, which in turn requires the estimation of the value of ecosystem services and the spatial implications thereof. Nonetheless, there is little evidence or real-world examples on whether and how ecosystems, and within them coastal and marine biodiversity, are actually integrated (i.e., mainstreamed) when developing sectoral policies and planning and implementing economic activities at sea at various scales, i.e., local, national, and regional, and what the necessary steps and actions are that would facilitate such mainstreaming. By seeking evidence in EU and Atlantic Arc (AA) member states’ sectoral policies on marine tourism, ports and shipping, marine renewable energy, and fisheries and aquaculture (as promoted by the Atlantic Maritime Strategy and its corresponding action plans) and in the outcomes of the Interreg Atlan

The “French Marine Economic Data” report is periodically published by Ifremer since 1997. It presents an economic assessment of France’s maritime activities, their significance in the domestic economy, their competitiveness at world scale, as well as the economic significance of non market public services. Private maritime businesses are assessed using a standard metrics to facilitate the periodical update of the report: turnover, gross value added, employment, number of enterprises, exports. The public sector is described on the basis of annual budgets, number of staff and personnel costs, broken down into different functions of public services. If relevant and available, regional economic indicators are presented on maritime activities. In addition, the report takes into account the European dimension of maritime activities., Les « Données économiques maritimes françaises », publiées périodiquement par l’Ifremer depuis 1997, évaluent le poids économique des activités maritimes françaises, leur rôle dans l’économie nationale, leur place dans la concurrence internationale, ainsi que l’importance des services publics non marchands. La description des secteurs maritimes est effectuée à l’échelle nationale. Les activités maritimes du secteur industriel sont évaluées à l’aide d’indicateurs standard pour faciliter la mise à jour périodique du rapport : chiffre d’affaires, valeur ajoutée, emploi, nombre d’entreprises, exportations. Le secteur public est décrit par les budgets, les effectifs et les coûts de personnels dévolus aux différentes missions. Des indicateurs régionaux sont donnés sur les secteurs pour lesquels ils sont pertinents et disponibles. Par ailleurs le rapport prend en compte la dimension européenne des activités maritimes

he sustainable management of Blue Growth is an urgent issue for coastal states. Marine industries have rapidly expanded over the last two decades and this is projected to continue with the European Green Deal and post-COVID economic recovery policies. The intensification of Blue Growth could have adverse socio-ecological implications and must, therefore, be managed in terms of sustainability, natural resource boundaries, and coastal community well-being. Managing Blue Growth in a sustainable manner however, is challenging due to the longstanding inefficiencies and inertia of existing marine governance regimes. Adopting a transitions approach has been advanced as a way of steering regime change so that it is not inhibited by these persistent problems. This paper reports on four case studies that adopt transitions thinking and use the multi-level perspective as a broad analytical framework through which to understand institutional dynamics, drivers and responses within core marine sectors. Our case studies analysis reveals several significant pressures for regime change within key marine sectors. These pressures need to be addressed through the adoption of a transition management approach. By adopting this approach and engaging key stakeholders, national and EU marine governance authorities can develop sustainable Blue Growth pathways that minimize the impact of continued growth on communities and the marine environment, maximizing the implementation of sustainable practices and addressing issues such as biodiversity loss and climate change.

The EU Atlantic Action Plan (AAP) has recently been updated and revised to support ‘blue growth’ along Europe’s western coastal regions. The revisions reflect recent challenges facing the Atlantic Arc maritime economies including the Covid-19 crisis, Brexit and the new requirements of the European Green Deal. This new revision, termed AAP 2.0, also addresses some of the weaknesses highlighted in the original Atlantic Action Plan particularly regarding identifying indicators that may be used to measure progress in the achievement of the Plan’s objectives. Using a database with comparable marine socio-economic data across the Atlantic regions, a number of indicators are identified that may be used to monitor progress of the AAP 2.0. Recent trends and spatial distributions across the Atlantic Arc region are shown for these indicators. The challenges in measuring progress are also highlighted, including where some AAP objectives and associated indicators may conflict with other EU policy aims and where the current monitoring framework can be bolstered with the inclusion of new indicators.

The data generated by environmental research infrastructures (ENV RIs) are key to analysing the quality of general living standards and the conditions of development of environmentally sensitive economic activities: monitoring the atmosphere and ocean is increasingly and critically important in a context marked by the risks caused by global warming. Given the cost of ENV RIs, their benefits to society, in terms of economic impacts, must be assessed and demonstrated. The primary objective of this article is to review the main tools used to assess the economic impacts of ENV RIs and to propose a methodological framework. The latter classifies the impacts into three categories: (1) upstream impacts on equipment suppliers; (2) downstream impacts on the performance and quality of observational data, monitoring services and forecasts; and (3) feedback impacts in terms of improved knowledge about the environment to the benefit of economic activities. In this framework, the entire data and service supply chain is considered for the assessment of impacts. An ocean-related case study serves as a practical example: Argo, a global in situ ocean observing system, provides an understanding of the supply chain from upstream suppliers of ENV RIs to primary and processed ocean data providers. It highlights the methodological issues involved in assessing the different categories of impacts. The article gives precedence to tried and tested methods. It concludes that further work and more data are needed to improve assessment methods.

The European Commission's effort to define the scope and components of the maritime economy was initially motivated by the "Integrated Maritime Policy" (2007). This policy package, principally based on coastal environment protection, maritime safety and security, and the European marine observation and data network, also included the development of an EU-wide economic and social database on maritime activities. The IMP database (2009) used experience from EU member states in terms of maritime database development, and conversely was an opportunity to update national contributions. Later, two other packages contributed to broadening EC's approach. 1) The "Marine Strategy Framework Directive" (2008) was a legislation on marine environment protection. Among other things, it required from member states an economic assessment of marine water uses. 2) The "Blue Growth Strategy" (2012) was launched to analyse and stimulate the potential for growth and job creation in maritime sectors, in line with EU's strategy for 2020. The preparation phase included studies assessing the economic significance of blue sectors. These studies were an opportunity to consider the growth potential of maritime sectors and raise the question of how to describe this in the framework of a database. On the basis of national experiences and of the main steps of EC's policy, the present article will address in turn: - The development of maritime databases in member states and at the EC, and their definition of the maritime economy; - Methodological issues concerning the sectoral and geographical approach to an EU maritime database, including the problem of partially maritime sectors, data quality issues, and options for coping with limited information; - The analysis of blue sectors with high growth potential, the methodology used for such analysis based on present and expected growth rates and job creation, and the issues limiting the applicability of this methodology.

The maritime economy includes the activities linked to the sea, namely: - Marine resource extraction: living resources and marine minerals, - Exploitation of marine space and of physical properties of marine waters (energy plants - using marine water as a heat sink, marine renewable energies, submarine cable laying, - maritime and coastal construction and public works, maritime transport, Navy), - Exploitation of seascapes (tourism, leisure, boating), - Resource processing (of living resources and oil & gas) - Manufacturing and service industries supplying the above exploitation activities: shipbuilding, ship repair and boat building and their suppliers, oil and gas services, financial services, - Public services: defence; State intervention at sea and public services to maritime activities and to seafarers; public and private activities contributing to the protection of marine and coastal environment; and public research. Since 1997, the French Marine Economic Data report, published by Ifremer, includes a set of key sectoral indicators used to value the economic significance of the French marine-related activities in terms of production and jobs, their role in the national economy, their weight in international competition and the importance of non-market public services. The analysis of the marine sectors is carried out mainly at national scale but regional indicators are also presented when they are available. The European dimension of the activities is also taken into account.

Ifremer launched the publication “French Marine-Related Economic Data” ten years ago. Since the first issue, we have tried to reconcile two objectives: to maintain the overall design of the report and its structure, for legibility purposes, and to progress in terms of quality and completeness of data. We wanted the 2007 issue to meet this dual requirement. Whilst conserving the same subdivision between the industrial sector and public sector, we have concentrated on the strategic sectors of the French maritime economy and on key indicators such as value added, employment and exports, and pursued our efforts to improve our methodology. This effort concerns three essential aspects.

The document, fifth edition of a collection which has started in 1997, presents a survey of marine-related activities in France. The commercial sector includes exploitation and extraction of marine resources , manufacturing industry, private services. In this new edition, a special effort is devoted to the analysis of maritime ports related industries. The non-commercial sector includes public services, among which the Navy, state services, education, safety, marine and coastal environment protection, marine sciences. Each activity of the commercial sector is described by key figures (turnover, value added, employment). The non-commercial sector includes data on running costs, in particular personnel costs. In addition to indicators, qualitative information is provided on the recent developments and future prospects of industries, Le document, cinquième édition d'une série lancée en 1997, présente un panorama des activités liées à la mer en France. Le secteur marchand comprend l'exploitation et l'extraction des ressources marines, l'industrie manufacturière, les services privés. Dans cette nouvelle édition, un effort particulier est consacré à l'analyse de l'activité portuaire. Le secteur non marchand est constitué des services publics, dont la Marine nationale, les services de l'État, l'enseignement, la sécurité, la protection de l'environnement littoral et marin, la recherche scientifique. Chaque activité du secteur marchand est décrite par des chiffres-clés (chiffre d'affaires, valeur ajoutée, emploi). Sur le secteur non marchand sont fournies des données de coûts, dont les coûts de personnel. Tous ces indicateurs sont accompagnés d'informations qualitatives sur l'évolution récente et les perspectives des branches d'activité.

This document presents a survey of the marine-related activities in France, i.e. those of the commercial sector (exploitation of mineral and living resources, manufacturing industries, services) and those of the public sector (Navy, State services, education, safety, marine research). A chapter is devoted to the protection of the coastal and marine environment, and the chapter on tourism gives quantitative data on the impacts of the pollution caused by the Erika oil-tanker. Each activity of the commercial sector is described by key-figures (turnover, value added, employment). The description of the non-commercial public sector includes data on costs, including personnel costs. In addition to these figures, qualitative information is given on the recent development, present situation and outlook for each activity., Ce document présente un panorama des activités liées à Ia mer en France, c'est-a-dire du secteur industriel (exploitation des ressources minérales et vivantes, industrie manufacturière, services) et celles du secteur public non marchand (Marine nationale, services de I'Etat, enseignement, sécurité, recherche marine). Un chapitre est consacre a Ia protection de l'environnement littoral et marin, et le chapitre sur le tourisme donne des indications quantitatives sur les impacts de Ia pollution causée par le navire pétrolier Erika. Chaque activité du secteur industriel est décrite par des chiffres-clés (chiffre d'affaires, valeur ajoutée, emploi). Pour le secteur public non marchand, sont fournies des donnees sur les coûts, notamment les coûts de personnel. Ces indicateurs sont accompagnes d'informations qualitatives sur l'évolution récente, Ia situation actuelle et les perspectives de chaque activité.

This document presents a survey of the sea-related activities in France, i.e. those of the commercial sector (exploitation of mineral and living resources, manufacturing industries, services) and those of the non-commercial public sector (Navy, State services, education, safety, marine research). A chapter is devoted to the protection of the coastal and marine environment. Each activity of the commercial sector is described by key-figures (turnover, value added, employment); the description of the non-commercial public sector includes data on costs, including personnel costs. In addition to these figures, qualitative information is given on the recent development, present situation and future prospect of each activity. This set of data and information makes it possible for the reader to assess the significance of the sea-related economy and the relative weights of its various components., Ce document présente un panorama des activités liées à la mer en France, c'est-à-dire celles du secteur marchand (exploitation des ressources minérales et vivantes, industrie manufacturière, services) et celles du secteur public non marchand (Marine nationale, services de l'État, enseignement, sécurité, recherche marine). Un chapitre est consacré à la protection de l'environnement littoral et marin. Chaque activité du secteur marchand est décrite par des chiffres-clés (chiffre d'affaires, valeur ajoutée, emploi); pour le secteur public non marchand, sont fournies des données sur les coûts, notamment les coûts de personnel. Ces indicateurs sont accompagnés d'informations qualitatives sur l'évolution récente, la situation actuelle et les perspectives de chaque activité. Cet ensemble de données permet au lecteur d'apprécier l'importance de l'économie maritime et le poids relatif de ses différentes composantes.