IS1105 - Network of experts on the legal aspects of maritime safety and security (MARSAFENET)

Maritime safety and security have become matter of  concern for many States and for the international community as a whole. However, the existing international legal framework does not yet recognize maritime safety and security as specific and autonomous legal regimes, and the practice also mirrors the weakness and the fragmentation existing in the field. This Cost Action will take an in-depth look at current urgent maritime matters focusing on four main issues: i.e., shipping and marine environmental protection, new developments of economic activities at sea, maritime international security and border surveillance and, finally, protection of fragile and semi-enclosed seas. The Action aims to bring together experts in international law of the sea in order to increase the knowledge on these topics and to develop a common conceptual and methodological framework with the goal of contributing to filling the above-mentioned gaps and of transforming scientific results into feasible solutions for ensuring safety and security at sea. The Action is intended to foster the identification and exploitation of synergies between EU policies on maritime safety and security. From this point of view, the Action is complementary to the existing European cross-sectorial initiatives in this area, and finds added value from its implementation within the COST framework and through its allowing the existing knowledge to be shared and enhanced within a structured comparative framework, with a view to a) disseminating findings at national and international level; b) identifying inputs for supporting the decision-making process in the field.