The consenting of offshore renewable energy is often cited as one of the main non-technical barriers to the development of this sector. A significant aspect of this is the uncertainty inherent in the potential environmental impacts of novel technology. To ensure consents are compliant with EU and national legislation, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats Directive, costly and time consuming surveys are required even for required even for perceived lower risk technologies in sites which may not be of highest environmental sensitivity. It is therefore the aim of the RiCORE project to establish a risk-based approach to consenting where the level of survey requirement is based on the environmental sensitivity of the site, the risk profile of the technology and the scale of the proposed project. RiCORE will study the legal framework in place in the partner Member States to ensure the framework developed will be applicable for roll out across these Member States and further afield. The next stage of the RiCORE project is to consider the practices, methodologies and implementation of pre-consent surveys, post-consent and post-deployment monitoring. This will allow a feedback loop to inform the development of the risk-based framework for the environmental aspects of consent and provide best practice. The project will achieve these aims by engaging with the relevant stakeholders including the regulators, industry and EIA practitioners, through a series of expert workshops and developing their outcomes into guidance. The impact of the project will be to improve, in line with the requirements of the Renewable Energy Directive specifically Article 13 (1), consenting processes to ensure cost efficient delivery of the necessary surveys, clear and transparent reasoning for work undertaken, improving knowledge sharing and reducing the non-technical barriers to the development of the Offshore Renewable Energy sector so it can deliver the clean, secure energy

The Multi-Use in European Seas (MUSES) project will review existing planning and consenting processes against international quality standards for MSP and compliance with EU Directives used to facilitate marine and coastal development in the EU marine area to ensure that they are robust, efficient and facilitate sustainable multi use of marine resources. The project will build knowledge of the appropriate techniques to minimize barriers, impacts and risks, whilst maximising local benefits, reducing gaps in knowledge to deliver efficiencies through integrated planning, consenting processes and other techniques. MUSES Project - 3 main pillars: 1. Regional overviews which take into account EU sea basins (Baltic Sea, North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Eastern Atlantic) will be based on an analytical framework to facilitate adoption of a common approach across the sea basins. The progress in implementation of the concept of Multi-Uses in European Sea Basins will be assessed and key obstacles and drivers identified. 2. A comprehensive set of case studies of real and/or potential multi-use will be conducted and analysed to provide a complete spectrum of advantages in combining different uses of the sea. The case studies will create local stakeholder platforms to identify multi-use potentiality, opportunities and limitations. 3. Development of an Action Plan to address the challenges and opportunities for the development of Multi-Uses of oceans identified in the regional overviews and case studies. Provide recommendations for future action, taking into account national, regional and sea basin dimensions. The project will build on work undertaken in other studies including Mermaid, TROPOS, H2Ocean and SUBMARINER. MUSES project partners have direct links with related forums including The Ocean Energy Forum (OEF) which will assist understanding of many issues that need to be addressed at an EU level and could help facilitate and implement the OEF roadmap.

The objective of SMARTFISH is to develop, test and promote a suite of high-tech systems for the EU fishing sector, to optimize resource efficiency, to improve automatic data collection for fish stock assessment, to provide evidence of compliance with fishery regulations and to reduce ecological impact. SMARTFISH exploits technological developments in machine vision, camera technology, data processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data analysis, smartphones/tablets, LED technology, acoustics and ROV technology to build systems for monitoring, analyzing and improving processes for all facets of the fishing sector, from extraction, to assessment, to monitoring and control. The SMARTFISH systems will: - assist fishermen in making informed decisions during pre-catch, catching, and post-catch phases of the extraction process. This improves catch efficiencies and compositions in fisheries across the EU, leading to improved economic efficiency while reducing unintended fish mortality, unnecessary fishing pressure and ecosystem damage. - provide new data for stock assessment from commercial fishing and improve the quality and quantity of data that comes from traditional assessment surveys. This provides more accurate assessment of currently assessed stocks and allow the assessment of data-poor stocks. - permit the automatic collection of catch data to ensure compliance with fisheries management regulations. The SMARTFISH systems are tested and demonstrated in several EU fisheries. This contributes to promoting the uptake of the systems by extraction sector and fisheries agencies. An interdisciplinary consortium with technology developers and instrument suppliers, fishing companies, research and fisheries management institutes and universities will realize SMARTFISH. They are active at national and international levels and well placed to ensure the uptake of SMARTFISH systems by fishing industry and fisheries managers and stock assessment scientists.