Europe’s troubled seas

The Mediterranean's delicate health has long been at the centre of European environmental research. The Black Sea has not been ignored either and has been the subject of a number of studies and remedial measures. Now, with the approaching accession of Romania and Bulgaria (planned for 2007), the European Union will land itself an extensive shoreline along this landlocked sea, which is in a particularly critical state. The IASON initiative, launched in the spring of 2003 at a major scientific conference under the Greek presidency, aims to set up transnational and multidisciplinary co-operation networks to treat and protect these two crucially important maritime basins.

• Primary Source