The Joint Programming Initiative Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans (JPI Oceans) is an intergovernmental initiative to enable cooperation in marine and maritime research. The initiative was launched as one of ten Joint Programming Initiatives by the Council of the European Union in 2011. JPI Oceans currently has a membership of 21 countries. The member countries of JPI Oceans collectively decide which areas of research would benefit from international collaboration and participate on a voluntary basis.
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Structure
Each of the 21 member countries is represented in the Management Board of JPI Oceans, which is the decision making body. Countries are typically represented by government ministries and funding agencies who have been mandated to make decisions on joint activities and potential funding. The European Commission is represented at the Management Board as a non-voting member.
The Management Board is supported by the Executive Committee which meets more regularly. The Executive Committee consists of eight members: the Chair and Vice Chair of the Management Board, two members representing the current and successor countries holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, four members are voted in from the Management Board.
Ecological aspects of microplastics
In 2013 JPI Oceans initiated an activity to improve the scientific understanding of microplastics in the marine environment. Four research projects were funded for an approximate sum of 7,7 million Euro.
Ecological aspects of deep-sea mining
The MiningImpact project assesses the possible impacts from commercial mining activities in the deep-sea. A three-legged research cruise on the RV SONNE visited claims of European countries in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone in the Pacific Ocean and the DISCOL (DISturbance and re-COLonization experiment) area off the coast of Peru.