OSPAR presents its Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter at European Parliament briefing

On 27 September OSPAR contributed towards the revision of the EU’s proposed new Port Reception Facilities (PRF) Directive by providing an information briefing on the OSPAR marine litter Regional Action Plan to the European Parliament. The proposed PRF Directive will replace the existing regime and is intended to improve the operation of port waste facilities and facilitate and encourage the discharging of ship-generated garbage at ports. It will include fishing and recreational vessels within its scope as well as including passively fished waste in the waste definition of the Directive. The meeting was hosted by Gesine Meissner MEP, rapporteur for the Transport Committee, and joined by advisors and assistants to the MEPs representing the major political groups in the Committee. The OSPAR team gave a presentation on the work of OSPAR, the 2017 Intermediate Assessment (in particular the results on marine litter), the marine litter Regional Action Plan, and the many links and synergies between OSPAR’s work and the scope of the PRF Directive. The aim of the meeting was to help the EP gain a better understanding of the evidence on the prevalence and sources of marine litter and how OSPAR was working to achieve its strategic objective of substantially reducing marine litter in the OSPAR Maritime Area.