reinforce maritime sovereignty to develop the blue economy
April 2022
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Who are we ?
- direct jobs: The leading private employer in 4 port hubs; accounts for 10% of industrial jobs across 4 regions, with 40% of sites located outside coastal areas.
percents of SMEs and Micro-businesses.
bn€ annual trunover ‘Made in France’, including 45% from exports.
- commitments: The naval industry is dedicated to ; #1 strengthening security, #2 safety, and #3 environmental protection at sea.
st in Europe: A robustly dual use ‘Made in France’ industry, in pole position in Europe and essential to both national and European strategic autonomy.
Is France aware of its unique maritime assets ?
The maritime domain dictates our future. The sea is a global common, vital to the world economy, rich in resources, and at the heart of strategic maneuvering and confrontation.
Key Facts:
- 90% of international trade is carried by sea.
- 99% of intercontinental communications pass through subsea cables.
- 30% of global energy resources come from offshore operations.
The Challenges:
- Illicit trade accounts for 10% of global goods exports; maritime transnational organized crime costs €1,000bn per year (1.5% of global GDP).
- Less than a quarter of drugs transiting by sea are intercepted.
- 90% of irregular migrants travel to Europe via maritime routes.
- Ocean warming has doubled in 10 years compared to the previous century’s increase.
- 10 million tons of oil are discharged illegally into the oceans annually through tank cleaning , ten times more than from shipwrecks.
- Overexploitation could lead to the disappearance of wild fish species by 2050.
France possesses the second-largest maritime territory in the world (11 million km²) and must act now for its own future.
mare incoginta : mastering the oceans to drive the blue economy
A new public policy is required. Without sovereignty and security at sea, economic development will falter.
Recognizing this will create a virtuous circle for industrial solutions and act as a Keynesian multiplier for maritime economic activity.
We must move beyond the current logic of merely coordinating administrative resources. We need a transition from ‘State Action at Sea’ to a genuine ‘State Maritime Action’ that incorporates a vital investment vision.
A strategic review of maritime safety, security, and environmental protection requirements at sea must lead to the commitment of a dedicated Military/Policy Programming Law (Loi de Programmation), funded through a new budgetary architecture.
A strategic review of maritime security, safety, and environmental protection requirements must lead to a formal Programming Law, funded by new budgetary architecture. This should create an interministerial mission (as defined by the LOLF¹) titled ‘State Maritime Action,’ with shared objectives between the executive and legislature, managed by departments responsible for:
- Sustainable Development
- Transport and Ports
- Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
- The Economy, Research, Defense, and the Interior.
Finally, public procurement and major contractors must reserve a larger national share for industrial solutions produced in France, using social and societal selection criteria.
¹ LOLF: Institutional Act on Finance Acts (France’s framework for budgetary management).
the maritime industy : meeting sovereignity priorities at sea
Decision-makers must take owneship of 21st century challenges:
Comprehensive Awareness: Above and Below the Waves.
• Launch a National Maritime Digital Transformation Plan.
• Amplify the National Deep-Sea Strategy by ensuring synergy between France 2030, mineral resource exploration, and defense strategy.
Monitoring Human Impact on the Marine Environment
• Fund innovative surveillance solutions for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as their surface area grows.
• Safeguard biodiversity through new monitoring tools to combat illicit or high-impact activities (illegal fishing, offshore, etc.).
• Develop monitoring tools for maritime waste management and the fight against accidental or intentional pollution.
• Accelerate the decarbonization of maritime and port activities.
Enforcing French Maritime Sovereignty
• Develop next-generation maritime surveillance systems (drones, satellites, radars, balloons).
• Advance collaborative intelligence through sensor networks and secure databases.
• Increase resources to combat illegal immigration by sea.
Strengthening Safety at Sea
• Reduce vessel vulnerability through new anti-piracy measures that can become global benchmarks.
• Enhance the security of vessels flying the French flag.
• Support French maritime cybersecurity solutions and develop the CERT-M.
• Develop modern, French-produced Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) solutions with new capabilities (VDES*, next-gen AIS).
*VHF Data Exchange System – Automatic Identification System