Sometimes you cannot make it on your own; drivers and scenarios for regional cooperation in implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive Luc van Hoof a,n , Astrid Hendriksen b , Helen J. Bloomfield c a Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies Wageningen UR, P.O. Box 68,1970 AB IJmuiden, The Netherlands b Mixed Methods, Wageningen, The Netherlands c School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom article info Keywords: Implementation MSFD Regional cooperation Participation Foresight analysis Scenarios Governance abstract Implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive explicitly calls for regional cooperation between the EU Member States in the different regional seas. This regional cooperation, although set in a general framework of EU Member States and non-EU states utilising existing Regional Sea Conventions as focal point, develops along different tracks. Based on a series of interviews with different stakeholder groups in the different regional seas the drivers for this regional cooperation were determined. These drivers were used to develop a set of scenarios to depict possible ways and structures for cooperation at the different regional seas. In this paper the result of this analysis and the different scenarios developed are presented. The five scenarios developed were very helpful in elaborating alternative governance models for regional cooperation. From the validation by the stakeholders it became clear that both the drivers used, as the scenarios developed were found to be relevant. There is no single solution that is going to fit all regional seas, or that is going to appeal to all stakeholders within a regional sea. Especially in this setting the scenario approach does help people to explore the full range of possibilities that exists for the development of alternative governance models that address two issues raised but not detailed in the MSFD: cooperation and participation. & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction European legislators have adopted ambitious policy initiatives for the oceans, seas and coasts, to be implemented over the next two decades. These initiatives include e.g. the 2007 Integrated Maritime Policy, the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, the 2012 Motorways of the Sea initiative and the Blue Growth Strategy and the recent reform of the Common Fisheries Policy [1]. With the introduction of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) in 2008, the European Union (EU) has made a firm commitment to implement an ecosystem-based approach to marine management. The MSFD provides a comprehensive framework for the protection of the marine environment. The main objective of the MSFD is to put in place measures to achieve or maintain “Good Environmental Status” (GES) of Eur- ope's regionals seas by 2020 [2,3]. Europe's seas differ in terms of ecosystem components, and the sectors and activities that exert pressures upon them [2,3]; thus different and specific solutions at both the regional and sub-regional levels are required in working towards GES [2]. Whilst the MSFD calls for individual Member States (MS) to develop a marine strategy based on the specific needs and challenges identified for its own waters, it also requires cooperation and coordination of activities between MS, and where possible with third countries sharing a region, in both the devel- opment and implementation of strategies to ensure that the overall perspective of the marine region or sub-region is not overlooked [2]. The MSFD states that “where practical and appro- priate” regional level working makes use of existing regional institutional cooperation structures, such as the Regional Sea Conventions, but contains no specific legal framework nor speci- fies governing structures to ensure cooperation [4]. Furthermore, the regional level is not formally reflected in the European Treaty [5]. Achieving regional cooperation thus poses challenges for MSFD implementation, particularly given that neighbouring MSs within a region may have different, and potentially contradicting, priorities and that for all regional seas, neighbours include third countries that are not bound to the MSFD [6]. Hence the ‘governance model’ or way in which cooperation in implementing the MSFD is organised at the regional sea level Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol Marine Policy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2014.03.031 0308-597X/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ313 17487173, þ316 109 61991 (mobile); fax: þ313 174 87326. E-mail address: luc.vanhoof@wur.nl (L. van Hoof). Please cite this article as: van Hoof L, et al. Sometimes you cannot make it on your own; drivers and scenarios for regional cooperation in implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Mar. Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2014.03.031i Marine Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎