Tropicalisation of the Mediterranean

24.4.2014

Question for written answer E-005568-14
to the Commission
Rule 117
Sergio Paolo Francesco Silvestris (PPE)

One of the many initiatives developed for World Water Day was the conference on Sustainable Management for the Mediterranean, an important meeting organised by the Accademia dei Lincei, which took stock of the tropicalisation of the sea.

New tropical species are arriving in our marine ecosystem as a result of unsustainable human activities, linked not only to global warming but, for example, to the constant traffic of large vessels — which bring in tonnes of ballast water together with new species — or to particular fishing practices that impoverish marine biodiversity and leave the way open to invasive species such as jellyfish.

1. Can the Commission provide information on measures that the EU has developed to address this issue?

2. Can it provide data on the changes occurring in marine ecosystems in Europe?

OJ C 456, 18/12/2014