England's evolving marine and coastal governance framework Stephen Fletcher n , Rebecca Jefferson, Gillian Glegg, Lynda Rodwell, Wendy Dodds Centre for Marine and Coastal Policy Research, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, United Kingdom article info Available online 8 October 2013 Keywords: Marine planning Marine conservation ICZM Governance England abstract This paper reviews the principal marine and coastal policy changes in England since 1999. The key changes identified are the establishment of a strategic national marine and coastal policy direction, new marine legislation and institutions, the emergence of a marine planning framework, the consolidation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management approaches to coastal governance, the establishment of a Marine Protected Area network, and the decline of coastal partnerships. The European Union, UK National Government, and devolved administrations are identified as key influences on the governance evolution and their relative contributions are discussed. It is concluded that the English marine and coastal governance context has evolved significantly since 1999 and that the new framework, if implemented successfully, represents a genuine step towards an integrated governance framework for England's coasts and seas. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction This paper identifies and discusses key changes to the marine and coastal governance arrangements in England since 1999. This datum point was selected as it was when the last special issue of Marine Policy focused on the United Kingdom (UK) was published. The papers in the 1999 special issue collectively form a commentary on the marine and coastal governance arrangements in the UK at that time. Of particular note was an article within the special issue authored by Rhoda Ballinger entitled “The evolving organisational framework for Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in England and Wales”, which presented a review of the main components of the then prevailing coastal (and to a lesser extent marine) governance framework [1]. The article examined factors promoting and con- straining coastal integration and articulated a prognosis for inte- grated coastal and marine governance in England and Wales. It concluded that the 1999 coastal governance framework was unlikely to deliver an integrated approach due to: complex national-level coastal governance arrangements; piecemeal development of legis- lation; a lack of coordination between land and marine governance; weak horizontal integration at the local level; and limited European influence. However, the author expressed ambitions for local-level partnerships to engender greater integration and improvements in governance amongst coastal practitioners and stakeholders more widely [1]. The English marine and coastal policy landscape has evolved considerably since 1999, as evidenced by the enactment of the Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009), the publication of the UK Marine Policy Statement and the English national Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Strategy, the establishment of a marine spatial planning 1 system, and an evolving Marine Protected Area (MPA) network. The influence of the European Union on marine and coastal governance in England has strengthened to become a dominant driver, particularly in relation to ICZM, marine spatial planning, marine conservation, and environmental standards, includ- ing through the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC), ICZM Recommendation, and European Maritime Spa- tial Planning Roadmap. The Common Fisheries Policy has remained the dominant influence on fisheries management since 1999 and despite past reforms, its efficacy continues to prompt contentious debate [2,3]. Whilst acknowledging that the views of Ballinger (and other authors) on the status of marine and coastal governance in England have changed since 1999 [4–9], this date remains a useful baseline against which to consider marine and coastal governance evolution in England. The selection of marine and coastal governance changes included in this paper initially reflected topics discussed at the Marine and Coastal Policy Forum held in Plymouth in 2011, but evolved through subsequent discussion between the authors, practitioners, and policy-makers. In the final selection, there is an emphasis towards governance changes that are cross-sectoral rather than those that affect a single sector. There is also a degree of consistency between the governance changes presented in this paper with the key research questions identified for marine and coastal policy in the Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol Marine Policy 0308-597X/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2013.09.007 n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ44 1752 5 8 6177. E-mail address: steve.fletcher@plymouth.ac.uk (S. Fletcher). 1 Marine Spatial Planning is referred to as ‘marine planning’ in the UK and shall be referred to as such in this article. Marine Policy 45 (2014) 261–268