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This article deals with the ability of stakeholders to coordinate their actions so that they may solve an environmental issue. From the whole of our case study, we chose to particularly consider the procedural policies which are organized around a local participatory multi-stakeholder process. Those policies are based on a volunteer implementation of agreements on biodiversity and water management. Our observations and analysis of the participatory processes show that consultation is not only made of cooperative interactions between the actors so as to get to a consensus.

The sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems requires better coordination between policies span-ning freshwater, coastal and marine environments. Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has been promoted as a holistic and integrative approach for the safekeeping and protection of aquatic biodiversity. The paper assesses the degree to which key European environmental policies for the aquatic environment, namely the Birds and Habitats Directives, Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive, individually support EBM and can work synergistically to implement EBM. This assessment is based on a review of legal texts, EU guidance and implementation documents. The paper concludes that EBM can be made operational by implementing these key environmental directives. Opportunities for improving the integration of EU environmental policies are highlighted.