The 27-nation bloc wants to position itself as a leader in the field and will present the "European Ocean Pact" at next week's conference in the French city of Nice.

"The ocean is facing many challenges, including pollution, climate change and overexploitation of marine resources -- which require urgent attention and action," the EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis said in presenting the new strategy.

"It also offers immense potential for more investments in a sustainable blue economy, and it is key for our security," he added.

Headline pledges in the EU commission's ocean pact include:

-- Proposing by 2027 a new European law on the oceans, revising two maritime directives to better protect biodiversity.

-- Monitoring and extending habitats capable of storing carbon dioxide, and proposing the creation of European blue carbon reserves.

-- Improving use of the European Satellite Oil Monitoring Service (CleanSeaNet), which can alert member states to the presence of pollutants -- but is drastically underused according to EU auditors.

-- Stepping up the fight against illegal and unregulated fishing through a certification system, IT CATCH, which is to become mandatory in January 2026.

-- Drawing up, by the end of this year, a long-term EU strategy for fisheries and aquaculture looking ahead to 2040.

-- Supporting small-scale fisheries and working to strengthen coastal communities through EU financing and loans.

-- Strengthening coast guard and naval cooperation, and coordinating efforts to remove unexploded ordnance from European waters.

- Jury still out -

Environmental groups had yet to respond to the pact -- having criticised a draft version as rehashing old measures with few immediate steps to tackle threats to marine eco-systems.

A key demand pressed jointly by advocacy groups Surfrider, WWF, ClientEarth and Oceana was banning the harmful fishing practice of bottom trawling in protected areas.

But EU lawmaker Christophe Clergeau of the Socialists and Democrats, who heads the parliament's Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas Intergroup, welcomed the pact as "a first victory" towards restoring the oceans.

Forty percent of Europeans live within 50 kilometres (30 miles) of the coast -- though paradoxically the bloc is dependent on imports for 70 of the aquatic food it consumes, according to EU data.

Nevertheless, the so-called "blue economy" linked to the sea supports more than five million jobs and contributes more than 250 billion euros ($285 billion) to the bloc's gross domestic product.

The EU will present the new roadmap at the June 9-13 UN Ocean Conference (UNOC), which is set to draw some 70 heads of state and government to southern France.

The third of its kind, the UN summit seeks to build unity -- and raise $100 billion in new funds -- for marine conservation, despite deep divergences over deep-sea mining, plastic trash and overfishing.

One of its aims is to secure the 60 ratifications needed to enact a landmark treaty to protect marine habitats outside national jurisdiction -- with 28 countries on board so far, along with the EU.

The oceans covering 70.8 percent of the globe have absorbed the vast majority of the warming caused by burning fossil fuels and shielded societies from the full impact of greenhouse gas emissions.

But there are alarming symptoms of stress: heatwaves, loss of marine life, rising sea levels, falling oxygen levels and acidification caused by the uptake of excess carbon dioxide.

Kadis said ahead of the pact's launch the bloc wants to send "a clear signal of Europe's leadership, commitment and vision" to its partners in Nice.