1. Reporting units for MSFD assessments
Irene del Barrio (EEA)
Neil Holdsworth (ETC-ICM/ICES)
December 7, 2016
13th meeting of WG DIKE, Brussels
Reporting units for MSFD assessments
See DIKE_

2. Reporting of assessment areas in 2012
Why assessment areas?
to define the geographic areas (context) to which the different elements of MS reporting have been applied
How were these defined?
The entire waters of the MS
MS marine waters of each relevant MSFD region
MS marine waters of each relevant MSFD subregion
Additionally, assessment areas could include subdivisions as formally defined by MS
Other assessment areas (informally defined by MS). These, and the subdivisions under point (d), should be nested within the region/subregions being reported on.

3. The result: Assessment areas submitted in 2012

4. Lesson 1 from 2012 Reporting Make use of WFD
Reporting guidelines suggested that WFD water bodies or types could be used as MSFD assessment areas in areas where the MSFD marine waters and WFD coastal waters overlap
Only 7 out of 23 Member states followed this approach
MSFD assessment areas example from Sweden - Öland and Gotland (WFD coastal waters indicated with lighter shading)

5. Lesson 2 from 2012 Reporting
Overall, more uniformity (and guidance) are needed
Some countries reported a large number of assessment areas at various scales
For example, the reporting area ranged from 2 km2 to km2
This allows very detailed reporting, but causes difficulties in producing regionally coherent assessment maps when aligning with the reporting from other countries
MSFD Assessment areas of Italy and Malta used for 2012 reporting

6. Assessment scales defined in the revised GES Decision
In the revised Decision, specific assessment scales are laid down for each descriptor criteria element.
Assessments should be carried out within each region or subregion, but the relevant assessment scales include WFD coastal waters (CW), territorial waters (TeW), subdivisions or MS marine waters as part of a region or subregion.
Assessment area type
 No of criteria
Region 11
Subregion 17
Subdivision of region or subregion* 27
MS marine waters part of a Region or Subregion 5
Fishing areas ** 4
Coastal waters as defined under the WFD 10
Territorial waters as defined under the WFD 2
*Include assessments to be done beyond CW (D5) and beyond TeW (D8)
** Include ICES Divisions, GFCM Geographical Sub-Area and Sub-areas or divisions listed in the FAO fishing areas

7. Looking towards 2018

8. Reporting of geographic areas in 2018
Update of arts. 8, 9 & 10 needs to review and where necessary update the geographic areas.
taking into account the assessment scales to be used for the revised Decision.
The geographic areas need also to reflect the boundaries of the marine regions and subregions.
Agreed by the MSFD Regulatory Committee on 10 November 2016

9. OSPAR geographic reporting units
For the OSPAR Area there are 5 levels of reporting units, levels 0 to 4:
The entire OSPAR convention area
Division of the OSPAR area in 5 regions
Division of OSPAR regions into a subset of OSPAR regions (incl. MSFD subregions)
Further division into a zone of coastal influence and an offshore zone
Further division of the zone of coastal influence into an amalgam of WFD units.
OSPAR Reporting units guideline –
issues/intermediate-assessment-2017-resources

10. HELCOM assessment units
HELCOM has defined 4 levels for the Baltic Sea to be used for regional monitoring and assessment purposes:
The entire Baltic Sea (HELCOM convention area)
Division of the Baltic Sea into 17 sub-basins
Further division into coastal (to 1nm) and offshore areas
Further division of the coastal areas by WFD water types or water bodies.
HELCOM Monitoring and Assessment Strategy
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11. Reporting units proposal
Objective: to agree on a common layer of reporting units prior the reporting
Suggested criteria, based on the following levels:
MSFD Regions (Baltic Sea, North-east Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea)
MSFD Subregions (of the North-East Atlantic and Mediterranen Sea)and Subdivisions of each MSFD region or subregion*
Subregion (b) split by MS Marine waters
Further division into*
Coastal Waters (CW) per River Basin District (RBD) (as defined under WFD)
Territorial Waters (excl. CW) per RBD (as reported under WFD)
Coastal water-bodies (as reported under WFD)
* The RBD and coastal water bodies are not naturally aligned with the MSFD regions/subregions/subdivisions. This can be overcome by splitting WFD coastal water bodies and RBD in cases where they are located in more than one MSFD region/subregion/subdivision, as has been done with the OSPAR reporting units.

12. Reporting units proposal - examples
Marine regions and sub-regions intersected with EEZ’s
Marine Sub regions and Sub-divisions
Marine Regions
Coastal Waters per River Basin District (from WFD) and Territorial Waters (excl. CW)
Coastal water bodies (WFD)

13. Common layer of reporting units at the European scale
Facilitating 2018 reporting
The layer can be developed by the EEA/ETC-ICM, to be presented to WG DIKE and MSCG for approval during 2017 (see timeline)
The layer, and the reporting unit codes, could be inserted in the MSFD reporting system, to facilitate reporting and bring regional coherence in the implementation of the MSFD.
The layer would be developed to be compliant with the INSPIRE implementing rules, falling in the theme “Area management/restriction/regulation zones and reporting units”, and would be made available in the EEA’s website.

14. Common layer of reporting units at the European scale
Timeline (2017)
Spring
The WFD units. Both coastal and territorial waters are provided and up to date through the WFD reporting (As soon as possible)
MS should check their deliveries for Marine waters. Resubmit if needed (Spring ~1/5 latest)
Summer
Late Spring/Summer drafting of layer with bilateral discussions with MS and RSC’s as necessary
Autumn
Working proposal to DIKE September 2017
Winter
Based on DIKE feedback, a final version to be available November 2017

15. To be agreed by WG DIKE WG DIKE is invited to:
Agree on the criteria to be used for the definition of reporting units. In the case agreement is reached, commitment to use these criteria.
Agree on the development of a common layer of reporting units at the European scale, prior the reporting. In the case agreement is reached, commitment to collaborate with EEA/ETC for such a task.