Activities of WG A Ecological Status SCG Meeting 23 February 2010 Ursula Schmedtje, DG Environment On behalf of Wouter van de Bund, JRC

Activities of WG A WG A has not held any meetings since November 2009. Intercalibration working group meetings: General COAST meeting: 21-22 Jan 2010 Reference Conditions Working Group: 8-9 Feb 2010 Lack of members of MS to support COAST part of this work WG Leaders met on 26 January 2010 to discuss the implementation of the work programme 2010-2012.

1. Intercalibration Coordination mechanisms in place: activity coordinated by JRC technical work carried out by GIGs and IC subgroups cross-GIG BQE leads for rivers and lakes, NOT for COAST (!) Work programme for 2nd phase of IC 2008-2012 in place (endorsed by WDs in Nov. 2007) IC Guidance 2008-2011 adopted by WDs in Nov. 2009 (3 Annexes missing) missing annexes are under preparation: Annex III on defining reference conditions and alternate benchmarks Annex V on comparability criteria for setting class boundaries Annex VI on contents of milestone reports will be consulted with ECOSTAT 4 weeks prior to next ECOSTAT Meeting (8-9 April 2010)

2. Harmonisation/Standardisation Need for standardisation should result from intercalibration Question on need for standardisation will be added in reporting template. Quality assurance & quality control (QA/QC) including lab comparison is an important topic but low priority for the moment will become more important after intercalibration has been completed In any case QA/QC should be in place at national level

3. Ecological Classification Classification of Ecological Status Questionnaire to ECOSTAT in April use info reported into WISE, if not sufficient include additional questions in questionnaire Topics all supportive QEs plus confidence & precision Nutrient standards: how have they been used; analysis of information previously submitted by MS Specific pollutants: information exchange with other ongoing activities (e.g. JRC-IES) Hydromorphological QEs – how have they been integrated Workshop on classification (if necessary) in early 2011 Information exchange with MSFD

3. Ecological Classification Definition of Ecological Potential Sensitivity of biological assessment methods to hydromorphological pressures Methodologies for assessing minimum flow requirements Methodologies for defining GEP Intercalibration of GEP Workshop on GEP and related topics possibly in autumn 2011 Information exchange with HYMO Task Group Alien species focus on how AS affect biological assessment methods Compile list of high impact species Information exchange with MSFD

4. Links with other activities Information exchange with MSFD Compare which elements are in both directives Aim: to harmonise assessment in coastal/transitional and marine waters Possibly organise joint workshop on GES assessment methods under WFD and MSFD Information exchange with research projects WISER, MIRAGE, BIOFRESH, REFRESH

Thank you for your attention.