WP7: Legislative frameworks

Marine protection does not take place in a vacuum. It depends on how international, EU, and national laws interact—and sometimes conflict. 

Co-led by Henrik Ringbom of Åbo Akademi University and Estefania Cortez of Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB), Work Package 7 is working to untangle this complex legal web. 

By identifying barriers and opportunities in existing frameworks, the project aims to make it easier for countries around the Baltic Sea to designate, manage, and enforce MPAs. 

Other partners involved: EMOC, VSTT.

Laws on paper can look very different in practice. That is why Work Package 7 is also developing country profiles for each Baltic EU member state, documenting how international and EU legal frameworks are applied nationally. 

These profiles will highlight strengths and gaps, showcase best practices, and explore legal solutions that can enhance the effectiveness of MPAs. 

Input from national experts ensures that the profiles reflect real-world governance challenges and opportunities. 

True progress requires dialogue. And the work being done is fostering collaboration between universities, NGOs, national authorities, and HELCOM groups, as well as linking with other regional projects such as MSP4BIO. 

Workshops, interviews, and consultations allow legal perspectives to be shared across borders, encouraging a common understanding of both challenges and solutions.

By the end of its work, we will have provided the Baltic Sea region with a clear, accessible overview of how laws can be used more effectively to protect nature at sea. It will show where reforms may be needed, but also how existing frameworks can be applied more boldly. 

In this way, the project helps build the legal backbone of the Baltic MPA network—transforming scattered legal tools into a coherent system of protection.