Von der Leyen opens second term with pledge for European ‘Oceans Pact’

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen pledged to create a “European Oceans Pact” as she won re-election for a new term.

But her road map for the next five years provides little detail on the ocean governance initiative.

“A European Oceans Pact will focus on boosting the blue economy and ensuring the good governance and sustainability of our oceans in all of their dimensions,” she said in the political guidelines.

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Von der Leyen wrote that she will also appoint a fisheries and oceans commissioner “tasked with ensuring the sector remains sustainable, competitive and resilient, and with upholding a level playing field”.

The announcement was part of proceedings in Strasbourg at the European Parliament. The parliament re-elected the commission president by a comfortable margin, but it followed elections in which opponents of the European Green Deal — the package of climate initiatives that included high-profile regulations on shipping — gained ground.

Von der Leyen, of the centre-right European People’s Party, won 401 votes, with 284 in opposition, 15 abstentions and seven invalid votes.

Seas at Risk, an environmental group, welcomed the oceans pact announcement.

It said the initiative follows “clear demand” from European Union heads of state to protect marine ecosystems and represents an opportunity to strive for healthy oceans.

Remi Cossetti, a marine policy officer for the group, said the oceans pact announcement is a “promising” step forward, but called for concrete action.

“We urge the EC to ensure the pact includes concrete and transformative measures to achieve the EU’s goals of climate neutrality, zero pollution, and protection and restoration of marine life, while guaranteeing a just and socially fair transition to environmentally friendly practices,” he said.

“To be impactful, it is crucial that the pact embraces a holistic approach, ensuring coherence across marine sectors.”

Von der Leyen’s re-election will keep alive the European Green Deal that she spearheaded.

In her address to lawmakers, she said: “This is the vision I have set out in my political guidelines: a vision of a stronger Europe that delivers prosperity, that protects people and that defends democracy, a stronger Europe that delivers social fairness and supports people, a stronger Europe that implements what it agrees in a fair way, and that sticks to the targets of the European Green Deal with pragmatism, technology, neutrality and innovation.”

But environmental groups raised concerns about weaker ambition in her messaging, including industry-friendly proposals in her political road map.

Ester Asin, WWF’s director of European policy, said: “The signs of environmental collapse are all around us: extreme weather events, loss of biodiversity and deteriorating ecosystems.

“These are not abstract future scenarios; they are happening now. The dialogue between stakeholders emphasised by President von der Leyen should result in swift and meaningful action; otherwise, this will only perpetuate the status quo, further increasing the costs of inaction on climate and nature.”