Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, speaking at the 3rd UN Conference on Oceans in Nice, France, stressed the need to strengthen the protection of marine protected areas worldwide.

He also spoke about marine pollution and its impact on water quality, marine life, but also on coasts, coastal settlements and islands, 
Tzitzikostas stressed the importance of the adoption of the European Pact for the Oceans, presented by the European Commission, as he pointed out, "it is an integrated strategy for the protection of the oceans, for the promotion of the blue economy, for a competitive and healthy fisheries and, above all, for the proper management and operation in coastal and island regions, where millions of our fellow citizens live and make a living from the sea".  "It is a legacy for the sea and for future generations," he said. 
He also underlined the importance of protecting marine waters, especially for Europe, as "the EU is the largest collective maritime area in the world, with 40% of its population living less than 50 km from the sea". 

The EU counts 70,000 km of coastline, he said, while 74% of its external trade goes through the sea lanes, and the power of the blue economy in the EU is huge as it represents five million jobs. 

According to the announcement, on the sidelines of the conference, Tzitzikostas held talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides and others.