ABSTRACT
The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) constitutes the environmental pillar of the European Union integrated maritime policy. Its implementation aims at achieving and sustaining a Good Environmental Status (GES) in marine waters under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of European Union Member States, thus promoting sustainable use of the seas and preserving marine ecosystems. Considerable effort will be needed for implementing an environmental monitoring programme able to achieve these objectives. In particular, the monitoring of large and remote ocean areas faces the challenge of providing wireless communications and energy to humans and systems, namely unmanned vehicles, which are crucial for making large scale ocean monitoring cost-effective. ENDURE and BLUECOM+ projects specifically address this challenge.
