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Adopted in 2014, the Directive on maritime spatial planning (2014/89/EU) constitutes one of the most important legislative instruments for DG MARE outside of the Common Fisheries Policy. After more than a decade of implementation, this study pursues two complementary objectives: to assess the performance of the current directive and to carry out a prospective impact analysis for the future Ocean Act, a cornerstone of the European Ocean Pact. It will provide essential input for the European Commission's assessment of the directive in 2026 and for the construction of the future legislative framework.

Within an international consortium led by Ecorys and Milieu, SML is responsible for establishing the evidence-based database. who will both feed into the evaluation of the directive and the impact assessment of the future Ocean Act.

Our mission focuses on two main areas:

• Comprehensive literature review – Exploitation of all relevant studies on maritime spatial planning and its impacts (official European and national reports, scientific literature, European databases) and extraction of evaluation indicators.
• Survey of Member State authorities – Collection of feedback on the implementation of the directive and identification of needs for its future evolution, through semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire (EU-Survey) with ministries responsible for maritime spatial planning. SML ensures the development, deployment and analysis of the results.