The RAMOGE Agreement between France, Italy and Monaco establishes a joint intervention plan for spill response in the Mediterranean Sea (from the mouth of Rhône river on the West, to the lighthouse of Capo d’Anzio in the East, including Corsica and Sardinia islands). The area is divided into 2 sub-areas, one where each party shall provide assets in an automatic way, and the other where joint intervention is scheduled only after request to national authority concerned by the pollution. The plan describes all the operational procedures, assets available, time to mobilize, expertise, national doctrines for use of dispersants etc.

In force since 1976, the RAMOGE Agreement is a scientific, technical, legal and administrative cooperation instrument by which the governments of France, Monaco and Italy implement actions for an integrated management of the coastline. The main objective is to coordinate the actions of the three parties to protect Mediterranean littoral waters. It is part of Barcelona Convention, and has an executive secretariat in Monaco. The area of the RAMOGE Agreement encompasses the maritime waters of South-East France (Region Sud-Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur), Monaco, and North-West of Italy (Region of Liguria), forming a pilot zone for prevention of and response to maritime pollution.

This bilateral agreement signed in 1978 and regularly updated aims at coordinating French and UK capabilities in case of maritime disaster in their adjacent waters. Its guideline is the designation of a single authority for the coordination of the response involving the two parties. An Anglo French accident technical group (AFATG) meets twice a year.

The Paris MOU is based on the principle that the prime responsibility for compliance with the requirements laid down in the international maritime conventions lies with the ship-owner/operator. Responsibility for ensuring compliance remains with the flag State. It aims to eliminate the operation of sub-standard ships through a harmonized system of port State control. The members are Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

OSPAR is the mechanism by which 15 Governments & the EU cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. OSPAR was started in 1972 with the Oslo Convention against dumping and was broadened to cover land-based sources of marine pollution and the offshore industry by the Paris Convention of 1974. These two conventions were unified, up-dated and extended in 1992 with a new annex on biodiversity and ecosystems was adopted in 1998 to cover non-polluting human activities that can adversely affect the sea. The fifteen Governments are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and UK.

The European Coast Guard Functions Forum (ECGFF) is a self-governing, non-binding, voluntary, independent and non-political forum bringing together the Coast Guard authorities from 25 EU Member States and Schengen associated countries, as well as representatives of the EU institutions and bodies with competencies related to EU CG Functions. Since its establishment in 2009 the European Commission and EU Agencies, have supported the ECGFF. The rotating chair, supported by a secretariat, governs the Forum with responsibility to implement the annual programme. Bringing together over 30 national coastguard authorities from EU countries and associated Schengen countries, it works on collaborative issues i.e. multi-agency, multinational operations and capacity building among CG academies.

On 17 October 1990, Portugal, France, Morocco, Spain and the European Community signed the Lisbon Agreement, which is essentially a mechanism to ensure cooperation between the Contracting Parties in the event of a pollution incident. Such a pollution incident is a discharge or danger of a discharge of hydrocarbons or other harmful substances, which has occasioned or may occasion damage to the marine environment, the coast or the related interests of one or more of the Parties, and requiring emergency action or an immediate reaction. The Agreement establish the obligation on the Contracting Parties to create their own intervention agencies and to set their own national plans of action. An International Centre, located in Portugal, is assisting the Parties to react swiftly and effectively to pollution incidents.

The DENGERNETH Plan is a trilateral agreement between Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, which establishes a joint response plan to maritime incidents involving oil and other harmful substances, including marine pollution or threat of marine pollution. The plan is an operational agreement, which describes in detail the cooperation in aerial surveillance and oil spill response, and the 3 Member States conduct annual exercises.

DENGER is a bilateral agreement between Denmark and Germany, which provides a Joint Maritime Contingency plan on combating pollution from oil and other harmful substances in the North Sea.

The North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum (NACGF), formed in 2007, aims to increase cooperation amongst member countries on maritime safety and security in the region. The NACGF is not policy or regulatory oriented, is non-binding, voluntary, and operates within existing legal frameworks. Its members are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland have observer status.