The French Mediterranean adopts a new maritime façade strategy
The Prefect of the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Georges – François Leclerc and Vice-Admiral Christophe Lucas, Maritime Prefect of the...
This will be implemented by all sea and coastal stakeholders over the next six years. Unanimously validated by the eighty members of the conseil maritime de façade Méditerranée on June 20, 2025, the draft update of the Mediterranean maritime façade strategy was approved on October 28, 2025, by inter-prefectural decree for a period of six years.
This is an important step following work that heavily mobilized the public and private stakeholders of the façade.
Consultation began in 2023, first within the conseil maritime de façade, then with the general public, notably during the public debate "la mer en débat", which was particularly rich in the Méditerranée. This strategy is in line with the commitments made by France in Europe and internationally and provides the Méditerranée façade with a vision for 2050.
Representatives of the State, local authorities, socio-professionnels, associations, and federations are collectively looking forward to the effective management of protected areas, the maintenance of sustainable fishing, adaptation to coastline recession, inter-port cooperation, and the strict limitation of nuisances caused by tourism and recreational boating.
Furthermore, for the first time, the Méditerranée façade has developed mapping for areas eligible for strong protection by 2027 with a target of 5% of French Mediterranean waters, as well as mapping of priority areas for offshore wind development over ten years and by 2050.
These maps were notably concerted with representatives of professional fishing on the sidelines of the Conférence des Nations Unies sur l'Océan in Nice, in order to reconcile the maintenance of this economic activity while strengthening biodiversity protection and accelerating the production of renewable energy.
The State and stakeholders have chosen to make this strategy more readable and operational.
As such, the status of the marine environment and maritime and coastal economic activities has been updated.
Enforceable objectives and ambitious but achievable targets have also been set for the next six years, such as: Reaching 100% of bathing sites with good water quality; Decreasing the number of illegal or accidental discharges of contaminants at sea; Reaching 80% of cruise companies sailing in French Mediterranean waters among the signatories of the "croisière durable" charter; Providing 2/3 of priority sites[1] with a tool to limit anchoring pressure on marine habitats; Raising awareness of eco-friendly actions among 6,500 recreational boaters each season; Listing 100 educational marine areas, etc.
• Photo PRESSE AGENCE. PLEASE NOTE... This strategy will now guide the implementation of the action plan adopted in 2022 and steered by all Mediterranean stakeholders, to be found here: https://www.
dirrm. mediterranee. developpement-durable.
gouv. fr/adoption-du-plan-d-action-du- document-strategique-a3026. html To access the strategy and useful documents, go here: https://www.
dirrm. mediterranee. developpement-durable.
gouv. fr/document-strategique-de-facade- mediterranee-r335. mouillages
Photo PRESSE AGENCE. [1] Identified in the Mediterranean anchorage management strategy