405 Adolfo García Quintela The evolution of maritime policy in the European... The impetus given by Spain to the EU Maritime Safety Strategy is also expressed by Fernando del Pozo: “Spain was the main driving force behind this second and final effort, and it was during its rotating Presidency of the Commission (January – June 2010) when the Informal Defense Council, held in Mallorca, considered the urgent need of an EU Maritime Safety Strategy…”41. At the end of Spain’s Presidency of the EU, José Antonio Ruesta Botella also expressed the role of Spain in the EU Maritime Safety Strategy when he declared: “Let us hope that a beneficial result for all is achieved, and if it is, it may then be said that this stems from Spain’s proposal during its Presidency period in the first semester of 2010”42. Later on, in 2011, the EU established a program of support for the consolidation of integrated maritime policy whose aim is to boost its consolidation and application to obtain the maximum sustainable development of seas and oceans, the enhancement of scientific knowledge, and the economic growth and social cohesion of the member States43. The Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries is the department in the Commission in charge of the implementation of the Community Fisheries Policy and the Integrated Maritime Policy, which include measures related to protection, control, market measures, structural actions, and international fishing relations44. However, in general terms, the DG MARE allocates most of its budget – approximately 95% – to the Community Fisheries Policy, leaving only 5% to the IMP45. More specifically, the instrument that finances the implementation of the Community Fisheries Policy during the period 2014-2020 is the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) which distributes the budget into those percentages which, although seemingly giving less importance to the IMP, in fact quadruple its budget, thus showing the interest 41 The Sea is never calm …Op. Cit. p.20. 42 José Antonio Ruesta Botella, The Spanish Presidency of the EU: from the concept of maritime safety to the Security Strategy in the global maritime environment, ARI 101/2010, Elcano Royal Institute, 06.17.2010. p7. 43 Regulation (EU) Nº 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 30, 2011 establishing a Program to support the further development of an Integrated Maritime Policy L321, 12.5.2011. 44 The institutional information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/maritimeaffairs_fisheries/ index_en.htm. 45 According to the information presented at the lecture on “The Integrated Maritime Policy of the European Union: Blue Growth” given on May 7 at “Casa África” in Gran Canaria, within Project MACSA, “Program to Promote Sustainable Development in the fields of trade and maritime transport in West Africa”. http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee
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