Brussels, 9-10 April Conclusions

Transcription

1 Regional meeting with the Member States being Parties to the Barcelona Convention in the Mediterranean following the Assessment of the Commission on the MSFD implementation (Article 12 report) Brussels, 9-10 April 2014 Conclusions Participants: SCHOMAKER Astrid, MAILLET Aurore, CONNOR David, PAPADOYANNAKIS Michail, MICHEL Cyril, SMITH Nigel (DG ENV), APLIKIOTI Marilena, MICHAELIDES Savvas (Cyprus), ARRIETA ALGARRA Sagrario (Spain), BREZNIK Barbara, PETERLIN Monika (Slovenia), GURBAN Gyorgyi (Barcelona Convention), TERRIER Isabelle, LENORMAND Christophe (France), MONTANARO Oliviero (Italy), VERNON Eduard, BORG Duncan (Malta), DUPONT Claire, BELIN Alice, PANELLA Eleonora (Milieu Consultants), VAN ONSELEN Eline, BARBANTI Andrea, ADRIAENSSENS Veronique (Arcadis Consultants) Background (general chapeau to be added to the text of all regional meetings ): The Commission presented its report (COM(2014) 97 final) on the first phase of MSFD implementation on 20 February 2014 together with a set of recommendations at EU, regional and national level. The comprehensive documentation 1 which was released with the Commission report included a detailed appraisal of the progress and the shortcomings to date. In addition, the Commission announced that it would organise four regional meetings to discuss the findings of the report with Member States in the region. The following meetings with the EU Member States being contracting parties to the following RSCs have taken place: Black Sea Commission on March with BG and RO being present; Barcelona Convention on 9/10 April with CY, ES, FR, IT, MT, GR and SI being present; HELCOM on May with DE, DK, EE, FI, LT, LV and SE being present; OSPAR on 23/24 May with BE, DE, DK, ES, FR, IE, NL, SE and UK being present. The Secretariats of the Barcelona Convention, HELCOM and OSPAR were invited to participate in part of the respective meetings to discuss possible cooperation and synergies in relation to the follow up actions to the Article 12 report. The meetings followed a similar structure by addressing questions on the various aspects of the Commission assessment/report and resulted in a joint outcome document which is the basis for further actions. The Commission intends to present the results and lessons learnt to the Marine Directors in June 2014 (Heraklion) and discuss, also in the presence of the Executive Secretaries of the RSC, ICES and GFCM, the proposed way forward. 1 See 1

2 The meetings resulted in informal conclusions which were agreed by all participants and also sent to those Member States of the marine region which did not participate with the view to getting their endorsement. These informal conclusions should be the agreed basis for further discussion and follow up through, as appropriate, either the relevant meetings of Regional Sea Conventions or the regional cooperation set up under specific support contracts (in particular for the Mediterranean and Black Sea). When specific support contracts exist, they are designed to support the follow up and the implementation of the operational part of the conclusions. Part of the informal conclusions may have to be worked out in more detail and more formal arrangements put in place, e.g. through the above-mentioned processes. Ultimately, Member States are expected to, preferably, coordinate throughout a marine region or otherwise unilaterally give a formal response on how the Commission's recommendations in the Article 12 report have been considered and translated into action, together with their report on the implementation of the monitoring programmes (i.e. by 15 October 2014) 2. The Commission expects Member States to make reference to the informal conclusions of these regional meetings and inform the Commission about whether, when and how the listed actions will be addressed. The Commission will then take this response into account when assessing the monitoring programmes. Introduction This was the second of the four follow-up meetings organised by the Commission to discuss recommendations in the Commission's article 12 assessment report, focused on the regional level and associated links to the Regional Sea Conventions. It aimed to provide a platform for the Member States, which are Parties to the Barcelona Convention, and the Commission to discuss the analysis, clarify any outstanding issues and address the general, regional and country-specific recommendations contained in the report. It is the first step towards a regionally coordinated and agreed response to the Recommendations made for the short, mid and long term, in order to better implement the MSFD. Discussion The meeting discussed the results of the Commission report (COM(2014) 97, SWD(2014) 49) and associated consultant reports and the Commission recommendations in relation to the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD 2008/56/EC). It was recognised that: There are a number of issues to be addressed as regards the adequacy and coherence of the national approaches for defining Good Environmental Status (GES) (Article 9), setting environmental targets and related indicators (Article 10) and undertaking the initial 2 See letter of Director-General of DG Environment to Permanent Representations of Member States transmitting the Article 12 recommendations. 2

3 assessment (Article 8). Other issues identified by the Commission in the report should also be addressed In addressing these issues, it will be necessary to develop a joint understanding of what needs to be done in the short- (2014), mid-(2016) and long- (2018 and beyond) term. Further ways should be explored by the Commission to inform MS about existing EU funding mechanisms to implement the MSFD in line with the art 22 of the MSFD. It is however, the Member States responsibility to make use of funding mechanisms available. The monitoring programmes and the programmes of measures will seek to address some identified issues. It is necessary to improve the coherence in the definitions of GES and methods for its assessment and, where appropriate, have a common set of environmental targets and associated indicators. This should build upon the work of the review of the GES Decision and the Common Understanding document and on the work of the Barcelona Convention under the ECAP process and other international organisations (GFCM, ACCOBAMS, etc) when relevant. This will help to improve the implementation of coordinated, effective and costefficient monitoring programmes and will pave the way for programmes of measures which reflect the improved GES definitions. Other challenges exist, such as lack of monitoring data, and will need to be addressed in systematic manner, e.g. through an action plan, including in coordination with the Ecosystem Approach (ECAP) process under the Barcelona Convention. Conclusions On the basis of the discussion, the Member States, being Parties to the Barcelona Convention, agreed to: 1. Work together to improve adequacy and coherence of the MSFD implementation. In doing so, they are already collaborating actively to implement the Mediterranean Work Programme agreed in the context of CIS with the support in the short term of a dedicated project 3 financed by the Commission. 2. Adapt and further develop together the coherent definition of GES, environmental targets and associated indicators for their marine waters taking into account the assessment and the recommendations of the Commission. These adaptations will be done as soon as possible. However, where this is not possible in 2014, a work plan per descriptor will be established feeding into or using the results of the review of the GES Decision, setting out by when these improvements can be expected in the perspective of the next implementation cycle. 3 Project title: "Technical and administrative support for the joint implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) in the Mediterranean" 3

4 3. Adapt some aspects of the monitoring programmes based, as much as possible, on appropriate GES and targets (and associated indicators) and addressing the issues identified in the Article 12 report. If GES and targets cannot be adapted in time, a common list of monitoring parameters will be used in order to allow the further development of GES and target-setting thereafter. Agreed monitoring fact sheet templates can be used to support monitoring programmes. These programmes will take into account developments in the MSFD and build on the work undertaken under the above-mentioned dedicated project and related work of the Barcelona Convention and other relevant international organisations. 4. To prepare jointly an action plan which lists the gaps and needs in relation to the initial assessment (Article 8) and GES and environmental targets setting, and sets out individual or joint actions towards 2018 and beyond to address these gaps. Work is already ongoing under the dedicated project mentioned in paragraph 1 5. Improve the coordination of the programmes of measures taking into account the findings of the Commission's report, adapted GES and targets and the work undertaken under the Barcelona Convention as well as consider joint measures, whenever relevant and possible. The Regional Action Plan for Marine Litter adopted in December 2013 by the Parties to the Barcelona Convention can be considered a common measure, and further MPA designation in the Mediterranean would constitute another example 6. Review the geographic data related to MS marine waters delimitation when issues have been identified by the Commission, with a view to clarifying which overlaps are due to technical issues and resolving where possible technical issues relating to gaps and overlaps in boundaries between neighbouring states. Furthermore, the Commission committed itself to: Support the cooperation between Mediterranean Member States, e.g. through the abovementioned support contract and dedicated meetings on particular issues (if requested by Member States) Explore further ways to inform MS about existing EU funding mechanisms to implement the MSFD in line with the art 22 of the MSFD Improve the reporting system to make it more efficient and effective, reducing administrative burden and improving synergies with other reporting requirements such as Water Framework and Habitats Directives. The Barcelona Convention Secretariat offered to provide soon the ECAP gap analysis of existing measures in order to feed into the discussions on programme of measures. The Commission invited the Mediterranean EU Member States to: implement these agreements and provide an overview on the progress of this work at the latest with the report for monitoring programmes (i.e. 15 October 2014). Such an overview 4

5 of progress should address, in particular, how the Member States, individually or together, have addressed the recommendations made by the Commission send written comments on the Commission's assessment report (including the technical assessments) if they consider it still useful 4. All participants agreed to: Present the results of this meeting to the MSCG in May 2014 and the Marine Directors in June 2014, with a view to having a shared understanding between COM and MS of the analysis of the MSFD reports and to a coherent follow-up of its results throughout the EU, including through a review of the CIS Work programme and its regional components, when needed. Make this document publicly available, once agreed. Final remarks In the mid or long term, it will be necessary to share work done in the context of the MSFD with other countries in the Mediterranean, in particular in the ECAP context. 4 The Commission cannot amend its assessment reports; however it may publish the Member States' comments alongside its report. 5