Introduction We acknowledge the contribution of the experts, RSCs and WG GES members to the work coordinated by JRC. General framework: JRC’s coordinated work is part of the MSFD CIS work programme; Task for the follow-up to revised COM DEC and work on thresholds and integration rules. In particular: Progress on the work for the lists of criteria elements and on the work JRC is coordinating on EU wide methodologies for GES threshold setting. Descriptors: Biodiversity descriptors, NIS, eutrophication, contaminants

Progress on Descriptor 1 Biodiversity Andreas Palialexis andreas.palialexis@ec.europa.eu

Preparation of lists of elements for D1 to be available in web forms Article 8 guidance Reference lists of species and habitats (http://mcc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/document.py?code=201803194917&title=JRC%27s%20referen ce%20lists%20of%20MSFD%20species%20and%20habitats) Compiled lists for the reporting based on MS/experts feedback per region and subregion (GES_19-2018-02_Lists-SpeciesHabitats_JRC) Significant progress in determining 2 & 3 and assigning criteria elements to criteria A seemingly easy task, turned out to be very challenging

Mammals, birds, reptiles Member State experts Mammals, birds, reptiles Fish, cephalopods Habitats Belgium Nominated 1 Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom  RSCs HELCOM OSPAR UNEPMAP   BSC Reporting Status Reminder to MS to nominate experts and provide feedback on the reference lists. Timely received input will be considered for the reporting phase (by end of May).

Preparatory work for setting threshold values to determine GES at Union level according to the COM DEC 2017/848/EU. Article 8 guidance Number of seals reported per region BAL 3 NEA 2 MED 1 BLK

Preparatory work for setting threshold values to determine GES at Union level according to the COM DEC 2017/848/EU. Methods for setting thresholds for GES MSFD HD HELCOM OSPAR Population trends and abundance of seals Seal Abundance and Distribution population abundance population Seal Abundance and Distribution species distributional range and pattern range Distribution of Baltic seals mortality rate from by-catch Number of Drowned Mammals and Waterbirds in Fishing Gear habitat for the species extent and condition habitat for the species population Grey Seal Pup Production Reproductive and nutritional status demographic characteristics

Contribution to the analysis of the methods to set GES thresholds for D1 Key question emerged from the follow-up work Q: Compare methods for setting GES thresholds and examine their capacity for EU wide application; Evaluate the level of coherence in the application of operational methods and thresholds, regionally and EU wide. Q: Set rules for adequate number of species per group; methods for integration of species to assess species groups: e.g. OOAO for seals? Q: Integration method across indicators per species Q: Coordinate knowledge transfer across regions, where no similar methods are currently applied Contribution of experts to verify the methods and thresholds included in the analysis Dedicated technical workshop in JRC, Ispra 29-30 May 2018

Progress on Descriptor 2 non-indigenous species Ana Cristina Cardoso ana-cristina.cardoso@ec.europa.eu

Report on follow-up work on GES Decision at Union level: NIS The purpose of the work is to: Contribute to consolidated baseline inventories of marine NIS per MS by the reference year of 2012, on which the 2018 reporting will be based. 2. Facilitate discussions for the development of recommendations and best practices for common agreed methodological standards and rules on setting reference levels.

Approach The analysis includes: NIS baseline of 2012 extracted from: MSFD MS report for 2012 (Table for NIS inventory); Paper reports where not e-reporting was available. The analysis includes: Evaluation of the NIS baselines of 2012 Spotting missing NIS Highlighting NIS found after 2012 Using EASIN Catalogue & Geodatabase

Baseline inventories of marine NIS: Status (1) JRC annotated the baseline inventories per MS by the year of MSFD initial assessment and compiled a draft list of NIS introduced after this date (Document: GES_18-2017-04). The lists per MS were sent to the appointed national experts and GES Members in December 2017, with request for feedback by early February. 14 countries and HELCOM have provided feedback: BG, HR, CY, DK, EE, FI, FR, DE, IT, MT, PL, SI, SP, SE; 2 countries have indicated their intention to provide feedback: PT and UK

Baseline inventories of marine NIS: Status (2) Integration of feedback received is on-going. Some questions remain on the feedback received - will seek for bilateral clarification. Analysis will focus on issues aiming to ensure comparability of approaches: e.g. How are species introduced through secondary dispersal considered? Report will be drafted by the end of April.

Report on follow-up work on GES Decision at Union level: NIS The purpose of the work is to: Contribute to consolidated baseline inventories of marine NIS per MS by the reference year of 2012, on which the 2018 reporting will be based; Document: GES_18-2017-04 2. Facilitate discussions for the development of recommendations and best practices for common agreed methodological standards and rules on setting reference levels

Follow-up work on NIS Technical workshop with NIS expert group – Ispra 31 May 2018. Report in preparation based on current work will set the scene for the workshop.

Progress on Descriptor 5 Eutrophication Rita Araujo rita.araujo@ec.europa.eu

Preparation of lists of elements for Eutrophication to be available in web forms for reporting D5C3: Reference list of algae species causing algal blooms Collect information from RSCs reports OSPAR: third integrated report on the eutrophication status of the OSPAR maritime area (2017) HELCOM: State of the Baltic Sea report: the integrated assessment of eutrophication (2017) UNEP-MAP: United Nations Environmental Programme Mediterranean Action Plan (2018) Black Sea Commission: Black Sea integrated monitoring and assessment programme 2017-2022) Send information for validation and additions to MS experts Provide the validated list to EEA for inclusion to be included as drop-down menus in the web forms for MSFD D5 reporting by 15 May 2018

Assessment of criteria, methodological standards and threshold values at regional and EU-level Article 8 guidance

Assessment of criteria, methodological standards and threshold values at regional and EU-level Article 8 guidance Coastal waters and alignment with WFD

Assessment of criteria, methodological standards and threshold values at regional and EU-level Article 8 guidance Projects feeding on MSFD implementation EMBLAS MEDCIS EUCIS

Assessment of criteria, methodological standards and threshold values at regional and EU-level HELCOM UNEP-MAP OSPAR BLACK SEA Commission

Integration of criteria and criteria elements Integration methods to assess overall eutrophication status beyond coastal waters to be agreed, where possible, at the Union level Currently, different integration approaches adopted at regional level, and no agreement about a common methodology at the Union level.

Integration of criteria and criteria elements Common approach to integration criteria and criteria elements Test outcomes of available integration methods with common datasets OSPAR: Common procedure HELCOM: HEAT UNEP-MAP: TRIX Black Sea: BEAST WFD: One out all out Others: Averaging approach, scoring or rating, multimetric approaches, etc AVAILABLE INTEGRATION METHODS

Integration of criteria and criteria elements ROADMAP Request dataset to RSC Perform analysis with consultation with RSC and nominated experts Technical workshop with expert group on eutrophication Comparative analysis of outcomes of different integration methods to harmonize the assessment of eutrophication status

Progress on Descriptor 8 Contaminants Victoria Tornero victoria.tornero@ec.europa.eu

Operational lists of contaminants Preparation of operational lists of contaminants (single substances or groups of substances) for use in the 2018 MSFD reporting web forms Publication of report “Potential marine contaminants” Reference list for improved harmonization: ca. 2700 substances out of the «universe of chemicals» unambiguous identification of criteria elements Collection of substances for 2018 MSFD D8 reporting through the MSFD Expert Network on Contaminants Reference list circulated to experts to identify the substances to be reported by MS

Operational lists of contaminants 1st round of consultation with experts (November 2017) Contributions received from 14 MS Preliminary draft list of contaminants: ~400 substances (178 individual substances and 15 groups with a variable number of chemicals) FI EE IE UK NL PL High variability in the substances considered, also between MS within the same marine region DE RO FR HR BG IT ES EL

Operational lists of contaminants 2nd round of consultation with experts (January-March 2018) Contributions received from 15 MS List considerably reduced: 300 substances (150 individual substances and 15 groups with a variable number of chemicals) FI SE EE IE UK NL PL Still high variability in the type and number of substances considered (e.g. MS reporting from 7 to 108 substances or groups of substances) DE FR HR BG IT ES EL CY

Operational lists of contaminants 2nd round of consultation with experts (January-March 2018) Contributions received from 15 MS Member States are invited to contribute to the validation of the list of contaminants, if not yet done so, by 9 April 2018! FI SE EE IE UK NL PL DE FR HR BG IT ES EL CY

Operational lists of contaminants The final list will be prepared including CAS numbers as unequivocal identifiers of the chemical substances Substance names will be provided according to: WISE (Water Information System for Europe) vocabulary ICES vocabulary (if not in WISE) ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) (if not in WISE or ICES) Other, with relevant reference (if not in any of the previous) The final list will be delivered to EEA to be included as drop-down menus in the web forms for MSFD D8 reporting by 17 April 2018

Grouping/combining of substances According to COM DEC 2017/848/EU, for consistency in reporting, the grouping of substances shall be agreed at Union level The compiled list of contaminants will be used as reference for discussions on procedures for consistent grouping/combining of substances There are differences between MS regarding the substances considered within the same substance group (e.g. PBDEs, PCBs and PAHs) An online collaboration platform (wiki) has been created to facilitate the discussions within the MSFD Expert Network on Contaminants Invitation to experts to join the wiki by end of March Discussions to start in April 2018 (when the final list is validated) Outcomes at the next WG GES meeting, foreseen by October 2018

Further work ― Develop recommendations for harmonized approaches to identify emerging and relevant contaminants in order to reach equal level of environmental protection in all European marine waters ― Compile information on matrices and threshold values/reference levels for GES assessments through the MSFD Expert Network on Contaminants (in progress) Analyze this information to identify where efforts should be focused to improve cooperation and consistency in monitoring and methodological standards Progress and results at the next WG GES meeting (October 2018)

Overview of activities and anticipated contribution

Contribution of experts and WG GES in the activities coordinated by JRC Descriptor Task Contributors Deadline Contact 1 Further experts nominations Further feedback to the lists WG GES; MS experts End of March End of April andreas.palialexis@ec.europa.eu Contribution to the JRC’s analysis of the methods to set GES thresholds for D1 Express interest for the technical workshop (Ispra, 29-30 May 2018) WG GES, MS experts & RSCs 2 Further feedback to the NIS baseline inventories 20th April ana-cristina.cardoso@ec.europa.eu Technical workshop with NIS expert group – (Ispra, 31 May 2018) Express interest for the technical workshop

Contribution of experts and WG GES in the activities coordinated by JRC Descriptor Task Contributors Deadline Contact 5 JRC to request dataset from RSC RSCs By mid-April rita.araujo@ec.europa.eu MS are invited to nominate experts. Contribution to the JRC’s coordinated work and activities related to the monitoring and assessment of eutrophication. WG GES and RSCs 20th April; 15th May 8 Further experts nominations Further contribution to the validation of the contaminants list WG GES; MS experts End of March; 9th April victoria.tornero@ec.europa.eu Invitation to experts to join the wiki; Discussions on procedures for grouping of substances and contribution to further work Start in April

Thank you