In June 2014, The European Council adopted a Maritime Security Strategy for the global maritime domain. The objective of this strategy is to provide a common framework for relevant authorities at national and European levels to ensure coherent development of their specific policies and a European response to maritime threats and risks.  The second aim of such a strategy is to protect EU's strategic maritime interests and identify options to do so.  Such a framework will provide the context and ensure consistency amongst different sector specific maritime policies and strategies. Most importantly it will significantly strengthen the link between internal and external security aspects of the maritime policy of the EU and civil and military cooperation.