1. State of play on the preparation of PoMs
Results of a questionnaire
Provided by you!
Rob van der Veeren
Xander Keijser

2. Timeline
WG ESA meeting of Oct ‘14 tour de table on State of play on preparation of PoMs
Discussion was prepared by sending in advance a list of questions
Not enough time to discuss all, but lively discussion
NL offered to compose report if MS would send answers in writing
Significant number MS agreed to do so
Report and presentation prepared for last WG ESA meeting
Both considered very useful
Conclusion: Effective and efficient way to stimulate useful exchange of experiences, that could be repeated (e.g. on progress on – and difficulties with – implementation of measures)

3. Summary of the results Reactions received from 18 Member States:
Belgium
Italy
Portugal
Estonia
Latvia
Romania
Finland
Lithuania
Spain
France
Malta
Sweden
Germany
The Netherlands UK
Ireland
Poland
UNEP MAP
Thank you!

4. Some MS are finished…
…but some are still very busy

5. 1. Examples of measures
Most 1a and 1b measures refer to EU directives, e.g. WFD, EU Port Reception Facilities Directive, Nitrates Directive, CFP
Category 2a often relates to MPAs and Natura 2000 policies
Litter related measures are often mentioned as 2b measure
According to some MS certain additional measures they intend to take for the MSFD have already been agreed upon and are therefore no ‘new measures’, but category 1b measures 1a
Fertilizer related requirements
Fisheries policies
Port reception facilities
Marine protected areas
Waste water treatment
Beach cleaning 1b
Enhancement of existing policies, e.g.
Fisheries policies, including discard ban
Nitrate Directive, including buffer strips
Wastewater treatment and sewerage
Ballast water convention
Designation of new MPA’s
WFD 2a
MPA’s
Natura 2000 related regulations 2b
Litter related measures

6. 2. Definition of measures
Most MS use or refer to PoM recommendations document for defining a measure
Most MS apply a broad definition, including green deals. However, for green deals it appears to be difficult to perform a CBA.
Different views on whether actions taken by private companies are considered to be part of the PoM
Some MS try to include as many actions taken by various actors that may contribute to GES as possible (to avoid gaps in PoM)

7. 3. Assessment of contribution existing measures
Most MS have performed (or will perform) a GAP analysis
Important challenge: Lack of knowledge on the cause effect relationships, making it difficult to estimate the contribution of measures to reaching GES.
Therefore, many MS largely rely on expert judgment and qualitative assessment.
Others will rely on monitoring.
Expert judgements seem to be used by MS that perform the assessment as part of their ex ante analyses
Monitoring seems to be used as part of ex post assessments

8. 4. Challenges performing cost-benefit analysis
Most important challenges:
lack of data on costs of measures
limited understanding of the cause-effect relationships and ecological processes, making quantification of environmental and social impacts of measures difficult/impossible
Therefore, most MS use
expert judgement,
many assumptions and
qualitative analyses, including scores in classes instead of monetary numbers
Another challenge mentioned by various MS is lack of funds and/or time/capacity to perform the analyses

9. 5. Role of CBA in the decision making process
Since not all MS have performed the analyses yet, not all MS could answer this question
Various (potential) uses are mentioned. The most important ones:
To narrow down the number of potential measures
To support decision making process
To inform policy makers and the wider public
(often more than one answer was given)

10. 6. International cooperation
Most MS have contact with their neighbouring countries and/or RSC
International cooperation is in generally good and useful
However, there is room for improvement.
Most importantly with respect to regional coherence, e.g. by starting international cooperation earlier in the process in the second round of analyses and by devoting more international attention and coordination to economic analyses
The fact that different MS are in different phases in the process makes it difficult to achieve real and effective coordination.
But those who started later, can learn from those who are further in the process (e.g. copy interesting methods and learn from mistakes and other experiences)

11. 7. CBA on performing CBA Not many answers to this question, because:
Didn’t perform a CBA yet
This question may have been considered redundant
May be did not understand the question?
The range of answers is quite broad
However, in general, performing economic analysis requires adequate funding, capacity and time

12. 8. Experiences with applying/justifying exceptions
Only a few answers to this question
Still under consideration, no experiences to share

13. Summary Almost all Member States responded to the questionnaire
Long list of 1a and 1b measures, but 2a was significantly shorter and only a few examples of 2b measures were provided
Most MS apply a broad definition, including green deals. However, for green deals it appears to be difficult to perform a CBA
Most important challenges: data availability, quantification of environmental and social impacts, and the baseline scenario
Performing CBA takes time and capacity
CBA has different roles: fine-tune possible measures, support decision making and to inform policy makers and the wider public
International cooperation works, but there is room for improvement
WG ESA is enthusiastic about this type of information exchange

14. See you in Helsinki?
Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, June