Blue Economy Policies in the European Union

Abstract

The Blue Economy, which is a component of sustainable development, has brought a new perspective to economic development. Although “Blue Economy” is an alternative development strategy introduced in the 2000s, unfortunately there is no unique agreed definition. Blue Economy offers many development opportunities to littoral countries, whether developed or developing. Focusing on the background of the concept and denoting the contribution of Blue Economy to sustainable development, this chapter researches policies implemented in the European Union (EU) in order to promote Blue Economy. In this context, the aim of this chapter is to review the state of art policies about the Blue Economy in the EU and to identify the contributions of the Blue Economy industries to the EU economy via the case of France. Moreover, this chapter concentrates on the Blue Growth Clusters in the EU as a tool for the Marine Spatial Planning.