2027 Commission Work Programme could put Ocean health at risk, Surfrider Europe warns

A Work Programme falling short of what the Ocean needs

Surfrider Europe expresses its opposition and strong concern over:

• The continued prominence of the Commission’s deregulation agenda, with the maintenance of its Omnibus packages impacting key legislation for Ocean health such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation together with the expected proposal on permitting acceleration.
• The confirmation of a European Water Initiative. While the Commission’s intention to address the impacts of climate change on water resources is commendable, we want to reiterate that this should in no way justify revising the Water Framework Directive. Only a few years ago, the WFD underwent a rigorous Fitness Check and was confirmed as fit for purpose following an extensive evidence-based review and wide-ranging consultation with water-using sectors and the public.
• The announcement of a review of the Nature Directives, leaving the door open for a reopening of the Directives despite Commission’s ‘stress test’ preliminary results pointing at a lack of implementation and 1.25 million citizens – among them Surfrider community members opposing the revision
• The absence of policy initiative on microplastics, despite an increase of microplastic emissions in contradiction with the EUs commitment to reduce microplastic releases into the environment by 30% by 2030.

Calling on the Commission to deliver on its commitments

Not included in the 2027 official Work Programme, Surfrider Europe wishes to remind the European Commission of:

• Its commitment to propose a European Ocean Act. Announced in the 2026 Work Programme, the European Ocean Act does not appear—as is usually the case—among the pending proposals listed in the 2027 Work Programme. However, as 2026 has not yet come to an end, Surfrider Europe considers that the initiative remains on the Commission’s agenda and calls for its commitment to be upheld. Surfrider Europe calls for the adoption of an ambitious Ocean Act with good environmental status as its binding and overarching objective.
• Its responsibility to take forward the ongoing work at ECHA level on a universal restriction of PFAS as soon as possible, so as to ensure that such a restriction sees the light of day as soon as possible, covering all sectors and uses, including industrial sectors.
• Its commitment to revise the Tobacco Product Directive and its intention, in doing so, to adopt a more comprehensive approach that recognises the environmental impacts of tobacco and nicotine products throughout their lifecycle. The ocean is on the frontline of tobacco- and nicotine-related pollution. Cigarette butts remain among the most littered items in the environment, while discarded tobacco and nicotine products release toxic substances that can harm aquatic ecosystems.

Gaëlle Haut, EU affairs coordinator at Surfrider Foundation Europe: “It is disappointing to see that, despite the severity of the multiple crises facing the Ocean and coastal communities and the Commission itself acknowledging the climate crisis, the strategies, action plans and legislative initiatives it sets out for 2027 miss the point of what is needed and, more worryingly, could further exacerbate these crises.”

References:
European Commission’s 2027 Work Programme: https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/detail?ref=COM(2026)710&lang=en