Workshop Coherent geographic scales and aggregation rules in assessment and monitoring of GES GES SCALES workshop 23 October 2013

Agenda 9:00 Welcome, introduction, objectives of the workshop 9:30 Analytical report 10:00 Discussion on spatial assessment scales 12:30 Lunch 13:30 Discussion on aggregation 15:30 Wrap-up, conclusions 16:00 End GES SCALES workshop 23 October 2013

Directive requirements Article 5(2) indicates that Member States sharing a marine region or subregion shall cooperate to ensure their marine strategies are coherent and coordinated, endeavouring to follow a common approach. Article 8(3) indicates that Member States should “make every effort to ensure that assessment methodologies are consistent across the marine region or subregion” Article 11(4) indicates that “specifications and standardised methods for monitoring and assessment which take into account existing commitments and ensure comparability between monitoring and assessment results, …., shall be adopted …”.

Assessment of GES Assessment of GES can be undertaken at various scales within a region/subregion, depending on the nature of the topic. can be undertaken at scales larger than a Member State’s waters of a region/subregion - reported by MS, reflecting the collective assessments made across several MS waters. When made within a Member State waters, rules of aggregation may be needed to assess whether GES, determined at the level of the region/subregion, has been achieved or maintained.

MSFD regions and subregions Draft map – March 2012 Extended coverage for Continental Shelf areas – Atlantic states

Defining assessment areas These can be: Regions (Baltic, Black) Subregions (of NE Atlantic, Mediterranean) Subdivisions (where formally defined) Other informal areas Should allow, where possible, ecosystem-based assessments: “are determined taking into account hydrological, oceanographic and biogeographic features” (Art. 3(2)).

- document on general principles (Clausen et al., 2011) MSCG 2012: Need for development of common understanding on geographic assessment scales - document on general principles (Clausen et al., 2011) Conclusions from 2012 reporting: No or limited coherence between MS and between marine regions Variety of assessment scales (spatial, temporal) and aggregation limiting comparability and coherence of assessments Develop guidance on the application of geographic scales and aggregation rules Service request: Deltares + consortium (AZTI, HCMR, VU-IVM): Analysis of national approaches Workshop with WG GES Draft guidance document GES SCALES workshop 23 October 2013

Agenda 9:00 Welcome, introduction, objectives of the workshop 9:30 Analytical report 10:00 Discussion on spatial assessment scales 12:30 Lunch 13:30 Discussion on aggregation 15:30 Wrap-up, conclusions 16:00 End GES SCALES workshop 23 October 2013

Objectives of this workshop Presentation and discussion on results of analysis Discussion on options to approach spatial scaling and aggregation Discuss key issues and principles Agree on common principles Outline for guidance document GES SCALES workshop 23 October 2013