The APPLE will be composed of between six and eight representatives from the European Commission, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) secretariat, the United Nations (UN) Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Nature-based Solutions for preservation of ecosystems, the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI) and an industry policy expert. The APPLE will provide a proactive interface between MARBLES and the relevant policy stakeholders. As with the PIE, the information flow will be bidirectional, the project will inform the policy and legal experts on any questions they might have regarding the science, while also helping the policy and legal experts to improve their policy making and enforcement. The APPLE will bring together the breadth of experience necessary to focus the direction of project activities towards addressing the critical policy and legal issues relating to marine bioprospecting in Europe. The APPLE will hold a one-day virtual meeting twice a year, as well as two physical two-day meetings (in M18 – October 2022 and M48 – April 2025) organised in convenient locations. The physical meetings will be held back-to-back with the PIE meetings, giving the PIE members the opportunity to also participate in the APPLE meetings, further advancing the dialogue between industry and policy, and reaffirming the go-between role of MARBLES.