A coalition of eleven environmental organisations has launched a coordinated legal campaign to force the European Commission to act against member states that are systematically allowing destructive fishing inside marine protected areas (MPAs) – areas that, under EU law, they are legally obligated to protect.

The MPA Legal Coalition, bringing together organisations including Blue Marine Foundation, ClientEarth, Oceana, the Environmental Justice Foundation, and Seas At Risk, will call on the European Commission to pursue infringement proceedings against member states currently failing to meet their legal obligations under the EU’s Habitats Directive and broader biodiversity commitments. The coalition will also support strategic legal action at the national level.

The launch comes exactly one year after several of the coalition’s member organisations filed landmark legal complaints with the European Commission against Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain – all six accused of systematically permitting bottom trawling and other destructive fishing practices inside marine Natura 2000 sites. Some 12 months on and the Commission has yet to act.

The scale of the problem is not in dispute. Official European Commission data show that 79% of the coastal seabed is considered physically disturbed, primarily due to bottom trawling. Around 93% of Europe’s marine ecosystems are affected by multiple human pressures, and Good Environmental Status has not been achieved. The EU has committed to protecting at least 30% of its seas by 2030 under the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. On current trajectory, that commitment risks becoming another number on paper.

“The MPA Legal Coalition exists to ensure that Europe’s protected seas are protected in practice, not just on paper,”” the coalition said at launch. “By connecting national legal action into a single, coordinated European strategy, the Coalition is building a wave of accountability that no government can ignore.”

The coalition argues that the path forward is not complicated. Prohibiting destructive fishing practices in designated protected areas would establish a clear, consistent rule – one that would, paradoxically, simplify rather than burden the regulatory environment. “Given the European Commission’s new political drive to reduce administrative burdens, prohibiting destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling in EU MPAs provides a clear and straightforward rule for all EU fishers, which would greatly simplify and reduce the costs of monitoring and implementation,” the coalition stated.

The launch is timed deliberately. The European Commission is currently undertaking an evaluation of the Birds and Habitats Directives — the foundational legal instruments underpinning nature protection across the EU. The coalition argues that the outcome of that process will be decisive for the future of meaningful ocean protection in European waters, and that recent legal victories at national level — including rulings relating to the Dutch Dogger Bank protected area and the Banc des Flandres site — demonstrate that enforcement is both possible and effective when pursued with determination.

The MPA Legal Coalition’s members span eleven organisations across multiple European countries, combining legal expertise, scientific evidence, investigative capacity and decades of conservation experience. Its immediate priorities include advancing ongoing legal proceedings, contributing to the Birds and Habitats Directives evaluation, and strengthening coordination between legal experts, scientists and civil society.

The premise of the coalition is, at its core, a straightforward one: the laws already exist. The protections are already designated. What has been missing is the will — and the legal pressure — to enforce them. Bottom trawling does not belong inside a marine protected area. That this requires a pan-European legal coalition to establish in practice, a year after formal complaints were filed and still without Commission action, is a measure of how far Europe’s ocean governance has fallen behind its own commitments.

The launch is timed deliberately to coincide with the European Commission’s current evaluation of its Birds and Habitats Directives – the foundational legal instruments underpinning nature protection across the EU. The coalition argues that the outcome of that process will be decisive for the future of meaningful ocean protection in European waters, and that recent legal victories at national level – including rulings relating to the Dutch Dogger Bank protected area and the Banc des Flandres site – demonstrate that enforcement is both possible and effective when pursued with determination.

The MPA Legal Coalition’s members span eleven organisations across multiple European countries, combining legal expertise, scientific evidence, investigative capacity and decades of conservation experience. Its immediate priorities include advancing ongoing legal proceedings, contributing to the Birds and Habitats Directives evaluation, and strengthening coordination between legal experts, scientists and civil society.

The premise of the coalition is, at its core, a straightforward one: the laws already exist and the protections are already designated. The coalition aims to plug gaps in both the legal pressure and political will to enforce them.

‘Bottom trawling does not belong inside a marine protected area. That this requires a pan-European legal coalition to establish in practice, a year after formal complaints were filed and still without Commission action, is a measure of how far Europe’s ocean governance has fallen behind its own commitments,’ said the coalition.

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