Annexes to COM(2017)3 - Assessing Member States' monitoring programmes under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

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dossier COM(2017)3 - Assessing Member States' monitoring programmes under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
document COM(2017)3 EN
date January 16, 2017
Annex I of the MSFD and include D1– Biodiversity, D2 – Non indigenous species, D3 – Commercial fish and shellfish, D4 – Food webs, D5 – Eutrophication, D6 – Sea-floor integrity, D7 – Hydrographical changes, D8 – Contaminants, D9 – Contaminants in seafood, D10 – Litter, D11 – Energy, including underwater noise. For the purpose of this report the Biodiversity descriptors (D1, 4 and 6) have been grouped according to the main species groups and habitat types, as follows: birds, mammals and reptiles, fish and cephalopods, seabed habitats and water column habitats. This additional grouping results in a total of 13 descriptor categories.

(3)

 Commission Decision 2010/477/EU of 1 September 2010 on criteria and methodological standards on good environmental status of marine water (OJ L 232, 2.9.2010, p. 14).

(4)

 Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament ‘The first phase of implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) — The European Commission’s assessment and guidance’ COM(2014)097 final

(5)

This requirement is provided for in Articles 5(2)(a)(iv) and 11 of MSFD.

(6)

This obligation in the Directive applies only to the 23 coastal Member States, and not to the 5 land-locked Member States.

(7)

 For the purposes of this report, September 2015 was used as a cut-off date.

(8)

The UK report excluded waters surrounding the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.

(9)

Malta and Poland have since submitted their reports, but given the late submission, an assessment of these could not be made for the purposes of this report. To date (October 2016) Greece has not yet submitted its report. The Commission will, at a later stage, communicate and make public its assessment and guidance to the Member States not included in this report.

(10)

SWD(2017)1 final

(11)

For Portugal and the United Kingdom, the Commission’s initial recommendations in its 2014 report were updated to reflect the data on Macaronesia for Portugal and on Gibraltar for the UK.

(12)

This graph does not include data from Latvia, Italy and Portugal as their reports were submitted in a non-standardised structure. The monitoring programmes cover several spatial areas, therefore could refer to coastal and territorial waters.

(13)

Percentages are calculated based on total number of monitoring sub-programmes reported.

(14)

Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ L 20, 26.1.2010, p. 7)

(15)

Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7)

(16)

Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1)

(17)

Directive 2006/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 February 2006 concerning the management of bathing water quality and repealing Directive 76/160/EEC (OJ L 64, 4.3.2006, p. 37)

(18)

Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (OJ L 375, 31.12.1991, p. 1)

(19)

 Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22)

(20)

This descriptor refers to the introduction of energy in the marine environment, including underwater noise. Given the scientific and technical development behind this descriptor is still maturing, Member States have exclusively concentrated their efforts on underwater noise, and the descriptor will be referred to as such for the purposes of this report .

(21)

Transitional waters are bodies of surface water in the vicinity of river mouths which are partly saline in character as a result of their proximity to coastal waters but which are substantially influenced by freshwater flows as defined by Directive 2000/60/EC. Coastal waters extend to 1 nautical mile from the baseline, as defined by Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

(22)

Territorial waters (out to 12 nautical miles), Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (up to 200 nautical miles), Continental Shelf beyond EEZ as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

(23)

 'Beyond Member States’ marine waters’ refers to areas outside the jurisdiction of the Member State (including in waters of neighbouring States).

(24)

 The sum of the different monitoring activities is greater than 100%, as programmes and their functions overlap. No data from Latvia, Italy or Portugal are included in this chart, as their reports were submitted in a non-standardised structure.

(25)

‘Not reported’: timeline of coverage of good environmental status not reported.

(26)

As explained in footnote 2 above, 13 categories of descriptors have been defined.

(27)

In line with Article 10 of the MSFD, Member States had to define environmental targets in order to meet the Good environmental status of their marine waters

(28)

Some of these issues such a as marine litter are already being considered in the framework of the common implementation strategy of the MSFD.

(29)

 Communication from the Commission to European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Closing the loop - An EU action plan for the Circular Economy COM/2015/0614 final

(30)

International commitments include the Rio+20 process (United Nations conference on sustainable development) and the 17 sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in September 2015.

(31)

Roadmap on the Fitness Check of monitoring and reporting obligations in environment policy, http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/roadmaps/index_en.htm.

(32)

The MSFD requires from Member States detailed and coordinated input. In order to facilitate this work, Member States and the European Commission have set up an informal programme of coordination, the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS).