Last week, the annual plenary conference of the European Coast Guard Functions Forum (ECGFF) took place. The Italian Coast Guard concluded its presidency with a large-scale demonstration exercise COASTEX, where European member states and agencies collaborated on Search and Rescue, fisheries inspection, migration, and enforcement.
Despite their different organizational structures, European Coast Guards face similar challenges: a rapidly changing geopolitical context, evolving shipping flows, the presence of the shadow fleet, and the increasing use of new technologies to create a better maritime picture.
During a panel discussion, Nathalie Balcaen, administrator-general of the MDK agency, emphasized on behalf of Flanders and Belgium the importance of a Multipurpose Maritime Operation (MMO) in the North Sea as a lasting result of the Belgian presidency in 2023.
Since 2024, an MMO has been organized annually in collaboration with neighboring countries and the European agencies EMSA, EFCA, and FRONTEX. This cooperation has further strengthened ties between member states and European agencies, ensuring better knowledge exchange at the operational level.
With the handover of the European flag, Spain takes over the presidency from Italy. Spain has already announced its intention to continue Project Olivia within its program, ensuring that the focus on inclusion within European coast guard cooperation remains high on the agenda.
