Up to the present date, measures to protect the marine environment have been developed in a sector by sector approach resulting in a patchwork of policies, legislation, programmes and actions plans at national, regional, EU and international level which do not deliver a high level of protection of the marine environment.
Direktīva ne vien paredz aizsargāt un saglabāt jūras vidi, bet arī atjaunot to tur, kur jūras vide jau ievērojami cietusi.