The recently adopted European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) brings in new funding opportunities to support the Member States (MS) in the implementation of the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE). On 30 September, the European Commission, with EMSA’s support, organised a dedicated online workshop for maritime authorities to explain what opportunities the fund offers and how to apply.

During the workshop, the experts from the European Commission (DG MARE) informed that there are two funding opportunities for the MS to co-finance their CISE-related activities under the EMFAF. The first one concerns the funds available under the shared management, intended for actions contributing to the achievement of the objectives of CISE (see EMFAF Regulation, article 33). To apply for funding, the MS should include their plans related to the implementation of CISE in their National Operational Programmes, which are then revised and approved by the Commission.

To provide the participants with better understanding on rough cost estimates, EMSA presented the three main cost categories MS should take into account, namely the infrastructure, software, and personnel.

The second funding possibility, presented by the expert from the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), is to participate in the new Call for proposals “Action for a CISE incident alerting system”. The call, launched on 26 August under the EMFAF programme direct management, aims to enhance the cooperation between public maritime authorities by promoting the development of at least 2 services at pre-operational phase and to foster the uptake of CISE in view of its operationalisation.

The workshop was concluded by the presentations provided by the MS participating in the previous EMFF (2014-2020). Representatives from Bulgarian, Finnish and Slovenian maritime authorities shared their experience and lessons learnt in the application and implementation process. The aspect of the cooperation and coordination among the participating authorities was highlighted as an essential factor for the success of the project.

The funding opportunities presented during the workshop will support the MS in the process of joining CISE. Together with the other two crucial instruments already developed, the Cooperation Agreement and the operational infrastructure, the European Commission (DG MARE and JRC) and EMSA are providing the MS the foundations to start to use CISE in the operational context.