EU eyes 'leadership' role on oceans ahead of UN summit

The 27-nation bloc wants to position itself as a leader in the field and will formally launch the "European Ocean Pact" at next week's conference in the French city of Nice. But a draft leaked last month was given short shrift by a coalition of environmental groups including Surfrider, WWF, ClientEarth and Oceana -- who saw it as largely rehashing old measures. "While the document outlines steps towards better enforcement of existing laws," they said in a joint statement, "concrete actions to address...