Marine Strategy Framework Directive State of play and follow up Art. 12 assessment MSCG Claire Dupont 9 February 2015, Brussels

MSFD implementation cycle – where are we now? -

Format of Commission assessment and guidance Commission report – Recommendations on Article 11 General recommendations and guidance Indicative timeline: end of 2015 Technical background reports - Article 11 assessment (Milieu Consortium) Country assessment reports: Analysis per country Regional assessment reports: Analysis per marine sub/region

Who is assessed? Assessment is currently underway 23 Member States are being assessed 9 country assessments already made (drafts under revision) 14 assessments remain Reporting status: 16 Member States have reported* 7 Member States have still not reported (or reported but file is not yet complete and submitted) * Reporting status on 02.02.2015

Approach for assessment reports Builds upon the Article 8-9-10 reports and describes progress made since 2012 Assessment is made against Member State GES definition and Targets Provides context by discussing programmes with a “reference list” based on EU and regional requirements Provides overview on aspects such as: Public consultations Links with monitoring under Regional Sea Conventions Policy linkages (WFD, BD, HD, CFP, etc.)

Assessment of the MS reports – preliminary observations Very few Member States have updated their GES or targets in 2014 Most Member States have reported with a 2018 outlook: stating intentions to update GES, targets, further develop criteria and indicators and revisit monitoring programmes (or develop monitoring programmes by 2018-2020 wherever missing) Majority link to existing monitoring programmes under other EU and regional commitments Many links with RSC’s observed – regional approaches in place Coverage of Descriptors Good coverage of D3, D5, D8, D9 in most Member States Partial coverage (gaps) for D2, D7 is some Member States Gaps for D10 and D11 in most Member States Biodiversity descriptor coverage is mixed

Assessment of the MS reports – preliminary observations Information on measures and activities is not yet widely available – most refer to upcoming PoM report and how information will be provided there Gaps and justifications are often identified by the Member States In some MS: Justifications and plans are clear In some other MS: no clear plans to address them OR limited amount of justifications provided

Assessment of the MS reports – preliminary observations Reporting style Almost all Member States reported through reporting sheets (xml) and text based reports Few have only reported in text based reports format or only in xml format RSC factsheets are provided by some Decentralised reporting implemented by some with external links provided

Types of elements monitored (illustrative graph – a sample from Batch 1 of Art.11 assessment)

Spatial scale of the monitoring (illustrative graph – a sample from Batch 1 of Art.11 assessment)

Contact details: Claire Dupont Principal Legal & Policy Advisor Milieu Ltd - Law & Policy Consulting claire.dupont@milieu.be