Monitoring sea water pollution, the RAMOGE Agreement

Elodie Martin

Secrétariat de Ramoge (Monaco)

The RAMOGE Agreement had been signed in 1976 by the governments of France, Italy and Monaco. It aims to constitute a pilot zone for preventing and combating pollution in the marine area of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, the principality of Monaco and the Ligurian region.

This agreement stands for a new approach of the preservation of Mediterranean environment, it introduces explicitly the notion of scientific, technical, legal and administrative cooperation and of sub-regional solidarity. The three states decide together of the actions to conduct for an integrated management of the coastal area and the public awareness toward the respect of the environment.

The RAMOGEPOL PLAN

A contingency plan to combat accidental pollution, named RAMOGEPOL Plan, had been created in the framework of the RAMOGE Agreement and had been signed in 1993, by the three Member States.
In the framework of the RAMOGEPOL PLAN, the activities are conducted by the three states in order to:

- Strengthen the cooperation and the coordination of the combat means against accidental marine pollutions;
- Know their respective organizations and move their methods regarding the shared experience;
- Increase the efficiency of the fight against accidental pollution.

This Agreement, evolving constantly, will strengthen in the future its cooperation with other institutions and International, European and Mediterranean organizations to become "an experimental laboratory" to test new programs.