Maritime spatial plans as an object of the right of access to information

Abstract

This paper examines maritime spatial planning (MSP) from the perspective of transboundary interaction in the context of the public right of access to environmental information while considering digitisation possibilities. In addition to a theoretical approach, the paper contains an empirical part. The paper presents the background characterising the genesis of MSP in the European Union and its transboundary nature. Following a literature review, the paper offers a characterisation of the right of access to environmental information in the context of MSP transboundary interaction. The empirical part clarifies the availability of basic MSP documentation, namely maritime spatial plans, their cartographic format, and strategic environmental assessments in practice, based partly on communication with the national MSP authorities of the European Union’s coastal Member States. The main finding relates to the need to look for approaches offered in the framework of the paper to ensure the digital distribution of basic official MSP information in the context of transboundary interaction in line with the right of access to environmental information in the pertinent legislation and soft law instruments at the international, regional and national levels.