Marine research: EU and ukrainian legislation

Abstract

The article analyzes the regulatory legal acts of the European Union and Ukraine in the field of marine research and identifies key gaps in Ukrainian legislation. It has been established that the EU legislation provides for the observance of the principle of integration of science, industry, politics and society and pooling their resources for the financing of marine research. The priority thematic areas of European legal support in this field are: research on climate change, protection and recovery of marine biodiversity, ecosystem approach to resource management and spatial planning, renewable ocean energy, impact of human activity on coastal and marine ecosystems, generation of digital scientific knowledge about seas and oceans and free access to them, forming the foundations of a carbon-neutral and cyclical EU’s “blue” economy. It is noted that, despite the wide range of legislative acts adopted in Ukraine, which regulate the field of marine research, there is a dispersal regarding the directions of these researches, and the basic principles of their conduct are not defined. The priority areas of scientific marine research need to be determined. It is concluded that there is a need to form a more consistent policy regarding marine scientific research, to strengthen partnerships with the participation of all interested parties who mobilize and distribute knowledge, experience, technologies and financial resources in the interests of the sustainable development of water resources of Ukraine. This requires establishing the basic principles of conducting marine scientific research, applying a foresight approach to determine the priority areas of marine scientific research for Ukraine. After the approval of the Foresight’s results by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers, the main tasks are focus on these priority areas during forming a state order for conducting marine scientific research and annually monitor the implementation of the identified priorities and provide a report on the monitoring results.