Greece's Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)

Greece has concrete its planning process by publishing its first official National Marine Spatial Plan as of 2025 country. This plan is a binding document demonstrating compliance with obligations under the European Union’s Marine Spatial Planning Directive Europe. The published map clearly defines spatial allocations for activities to be carried out in the country’s maritime jurisdiction areas and provides a visual representation of the national marine strategy.

Greece occupies a complex marine geography in the east sector of the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by numerous islands. Consequently, the country has long required comprehensive marine planning to manage maritime jurisdiction areas, protect natural resources, and coordinate maritime sectors. The European Union’s Directive 2014/89/EU on Marine Spatial Planning has obliged member states including Greece to establish a national MSP system.

Greece’s Marine Spatial Plan (Protothema).

Greece’s Thematic Objectives

The core principles adopted by Greece in its MSP process are as follows:

• Sustainability: Conservation of marine resources for future generations
• Multi-sectoral approach: Balancing diverse economic and environmental interests
• Ecosystem-based approach: Placing natural habitats at the center of planning processes
• Scientific basis: Grounding decisions in scientific data and modeling
• Implementation and monitoring linkage: Supporting map-based decisions with concrete monitoring tools

Under this framework, the key objectives identified include increasing investments in marine energy, promoting sustainable fishing practices, planned expansion of tourism infrastructure, enhancing the effectiveness of marine protected areas, and ensuring safe navigation routes.

Characteristics and Scope of the Map

Greece’s official map encompasses three marine regions: the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the Sea of Crete. Within these regions, areas allocated to different activity types are distinguished by color codes and each is supported by technical data. The map has also been made accessible through digital platforms and publicly shared.

Divided zones within the Marine Spatial Plan. (Protothema)

The main categories highlighted in the above map are:

• Renewable Energy Zones: Areas suitable for wind and wave energy projects, primarily located in the northeastern Aegean
• Fishing Zones: Areas designated for traditional and industrial fishing, balanced with protected zones
• Marine Protected Areas: Conservation zones aligned with the Natura 2000 network, concentrated around biodiversity hotspots
• Marine Transport Corridors: Routes regulating international and national maritime traffic, planned according to safe passage principles
• Tourism and Recreation Areas: Zones allocated for yachting, diving, and swimming activities, concentrated around islands

MSP as a Geopolitical Instrument

Greece’s MSP process has not been limited to environmental sustainability and economic development goals; it has also acquired a geopolitical dimension. Disputes with Türkiye over maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean Sea have directly linked the MSP to foreign and security policies. In this context, Greece has presented its official Marine Spatial Plans not merely as reflections of environmental or economic objectives, but as instruments mapping its sovereignty claims.

The official MSP map published in 2025 has been strongly rejected by Türkiye and has triggered international political debates. The map treats the maritime jurisdiction of islands as extending far beyond their coastlines and includes areas defined under Greek planning that lie very close to Turkish coasts.

MSP Tension Between Greece and Türkiye

Türkiye considers this map to be in violation of its continental shelf rights and principles of international maritime law, and has formally declared in diplomatic notes that it does not recognize these arrangements due to their inconsistency with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In developing its MSP map, Greece has assumed that all islands possess full continental shelf and exclusive economic zone rights. While this position is consistent with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which Greece is a party, Türkiye is not a party to the convention and does not recognize the relevant provisions.

Türkiye’s position holds that islands cannot generate maritime jurisdiction areas equivalent to those of mainland territories. The proximity of islands to each other and to the Turkish coast in the Aegean Sea has rendered the issue technically and legally complex. This situation has led to the perception of Greece’s MSP map as a de facto attempt to define maritime jurisdiction areas.