1. State of the Environment reporting Agenda 5.
CIS WG D meeting
28-29 September 2011
DG ENV, Brussels
State of the Environment reporting Agenda 5.
Peter Kristensen / Bo N. Jacobsen
EEA

2. Outline
Ministerial Conference in Astana
EEA technical report on hazardous substances
EEA 2012 State of Water assessment

3. "Environment for Europe" Ministerial Conference, Astana, 21-23 September 2011
In support of the 2011 'Environment for Europe' Ministerial Conference in Astana, EEA has prepared 'Europe's environment — An Assessment of Assessments' (EE-AoA). This report provides a comprehensive overview of available sources of environmental information across the region which directly relate to the themes in focus at the Conference, water and related ecosystems, and green economy.

4. Assessments

5. The EE-AoA demonstrated that
At the European scales a multitude of inland water assessments is available.
Nearly every country has frequent water assessment in the form of chapters in State of the Environment reports, environmental statistics, and dedicated state of water reports and water indicators
Over the last 15 years the amount of water information has increased. However, there are no clear evidence that it is being used or having an impact on policy!
Many of the reports analysed are generally rich in statistical data but are of limited use in the policy-making process.

6. Hazardous substances in Europe's fresh and marine waters — An overview Technical report No 8/2011
Sources, pathways and emissions
Hazardous substances in water,
aquatic biota and sediments
Impacts of hazardous substances
in water
Protecting Europe’s fresh and marine
waters from chemical pollution
Improved assessment and
modelling tools
Conclusions

7. Inputs
Impacts
Modelling tools

8. Conclusions Hazardous substances in water affect aquatic life
and pose risks to human health
Legislation continues to play an important role,
but challenges exist
The potential risks posed by emerging pollutants
are insufficiently understood
The ubiquity of some hazardous substances presents
particular challenges
The quantitative understanding of sources and emissions must be improved
Smart modelling and assessment tools are required
Chemicals should be produced and used more sustainably
Climate change will also affect chemical water quality
Training for expertise in environmental risk assessment should be supported

9. EEA 2012 State of Water assessment
100 pages synthesis/integrated report
more than five Water thematic assessments ( pages)
Overview of status and pressures affecting Europe’s water
Related to the main policy issues
WFD Article 18: … a review of the status of surface water and groundwater in the Community under-taken in coordination with the European Environment Agency;

10. 170 RBMPs Analysis Other information DG Environment
Blueprint to Safeguard European Waters
Analysis
WFD imple-mentation
Water scarcity & drought
Climate change & water
EEA State of European Water
Synthesis/integrated
Water assessment
Other information
Status of waters and pressures affecting them
Further assessments – e.g. water resource efficiency, water accounts, ecosystem goods and services
Thematic (focused) assessments

11. Analysing the information from RBMPs
Since the April WG D meeting the work on analysing information from River Basin Management Plans and other sources and planning the different reports (thematic assessments and synthesis report) have progressed.
However, we have not progressed as far as we had hoped; there are a lot of obstacles and challenges (e.g. differences in aggregation levels) in analysing the huge amount of information being reported by Member States from the RBMPs.

12. Some preliminary results (13 MS) ~70 000 inland surface water bodies
58% of the classified European freshwater water bodies have ecological status or potential less than good
The percentage of freshwater water bodies with less than good ecological status or potential ranges from 33% in Finland to 100% in Belgium
In 10 of the 13 countries the percentage of water bodies with ecological status or potential less than good is higher than 50%

13. Timeplan
Analyse information from RBMPs, Water Scarcity and Drought and other issues (e.g. water ressource efficiency) – untill October 2011 – update later
Prepare baseline state and pressure indicators (graphs+assessments) (ready 4 quarter 2011)
Draft thematic and integrated assessments (Autumn 2011/1. half of 2012)
Present and discuss results and assessments with stakeholders (Eionet NRCs, WFD CIS – 1. half of 2012)
2012 finalise and publish the assessments

14. Thanks for your attention