Bilateral coordination

Intensive contact and good coordination with the immediate neighbouring countries is the 'low-hanging fruit' in terms of the development and the implementation of North Sea policy. That applies in particular to spatial planning, achieving and maintaining good environmental status and ensuring there is a good balance between functions and use, on the one hand, and the carrying capacity of the North Sea system on the other.

The Netherlands shares a border in its section of the North Sea with Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark. There can be no doubt about the importance of a shared vision for the use and the future of the area on either side of each border. That may have a bearing on specific areas, such as the Western arm of the Ems and the Dollart, both bisected by the Dutch-German border. The two countries have concluded the Westereemsverdrag and the Ems-Dollart Treaty on this issue.
Of more general importance is the fact that the various North Sea countries jointly assess the development and subject matter of each others' spatial policy plans and also that they exchange views on them. So, during development those plans and the draft versions must be public.
The URLs below give such access: