The ESDP and integrated coastal zone management: Implications for the integrated management of the Irish Sea

摘要

This paper explores the application of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) and the integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) approach in establishing a framework for the management of transnational maritime areas (regional seas). The paper begins with a summary of the development of ICZM activities in the EU leading to the establishment of the European coastal strategy and the EU Recommendation on ICZM. This is followed by an exploration of the relationships between the European guidance on ICZM and the ESDP and a possible extended spatial management framework for European regional seas. Some suggestions are made as to the potential application of this framework in the policy context of the Irish Sea. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study in relation to the management of the Irish Sea, to ICZM activity in the implementation of the European coastal strategy and for the application of the ESDP itself.