The dataset on offshore military areas in the European seas was created in 2020 by CETMAR for the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). It is the result of the aggregation and harmonization of datasets provided by several sources. It is updated every year and is available for viewing and download on EMODnet web portal (Human Activities, https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/human-activities). The dataset contains points and/or (where available) polygons representing offshore military areas in the following countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Each point and/or polygon has the following attributes (where available): Country, Country_2, Country_3, Status (Active, Deactivated, Unknown, Planned), Type_1 (Firing Area, Air Force Exercise, Surface Exercise, Underwater Exercise, Mine Hunting Exercise, National Defence Area), Type_2, Type_3, Resource, Distance to coast (metres) and Area (square kilometres). The distance to coast (EEA coastline shapefile) has been calculated using the UTM WGS84 Zone projected coordinate system where data fall in.