Transcript EU Marine Strategy

The integrated management of human
activities under the Marine Strategy
Framework Directive
Carlos Berrozpe Garcia
European Commission (DG ENV)
Greenwich, 3 June 2009
Structure (Part I)
 Part I - The Marine Strategy Framework
Directive (“MSFD”)
Legislative process
 Objective
 Implementation milestones
 Common Implementation Strategy
 Part II – Integrated management of
human activities under the MSFD
Marine Strategy
Framework Directive:
Legislative process
 2002 Sixth Environmental Action Plan
October 2005 - Commission proposal for
a Marine Strategy Directive
November 2007 - Agreement between
Parliament and Council
25 June 2008 - Directive 2008/56/EC
published in the EU Official Journal
15 July 2008 - Entry into force
Objective of the Directive
This Directive establishes a framework
within which:
 Member States shall take the necessary
measures to achieve or maintain
 good environmental status in the marine
environment
 by the year 2020 at the latest.
Marine Strategies Implementation milestones (1)
Preparatory phase: the EU Member States must progressively
develop Marine Strategies (action plans) in several steps.
By 15 July 2012:
 Description and assessment of current environmental status,
including the environmental impact of human activities
 Determination of good environmental status
 Establishment of environmental targets and associated indicators
By 15 July 2014:
 Monitoring programme
Marine Strategies Implementation milestones (2)
Marine Strategies will culminate with:
 Programme of measures towards good environmental
status – by 2015
 Achieve Good Environmental Status – by 2020
Some key concepts:
 Regional approach, specific to each sea basin
 Building upon existing activities developed in the
framework of regional seas conventions
 Adaptive management, with regular review (every
6 years)
Marine
Directors
… Other relevant groups
e.g. Nature Directors
Maritime policy:
experts, focal points
INITIAL STRUCTURE
(2009-2010)
Marine Strategy
Coordination Group
Committee:
MS only
MS, neighbouring countries
relevant international organisations,
stakeholders
Working group
on good
environmental status
COM
MS
Y
RSC, …
Input to WG
JRC/ICES/SANCO
Task group
Descriptor X
Working group
on … information …
exchange
Z
Structure (Part 2)
 [Part I - The Marine Strategy Framework Directive
(“MSFD”)]
 Part II – Integrated management of human activities
under the MSFD
 Other EU environmental legislation related to integrated management of
human activities in the maritime area
 The MSFD as environmental pillar of the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP)
 General linkages between IMP and MSFD (and vice-versa)
 Ecosystem approach to the management of human activities in MSFD
 Focus on marine regions in MSFD and IMP
 The initial assessment under MSFD (incl. social and economic assessment)
 Some MSFD provisions directly relevant to IMP tools (MSP and data)
Integrated management
of human activities
in EU environmental law
 Environmental impact assessment (EIA)
and strategic environmental assessment
(SEA)
 Natura 2000 network (coastal and offshore)
EU Recommendation on Integrated Coastal
Zone Management (ICZM)
 Water Framework Directive (coastal
waters)
Marine Strategy
Framework Directive
Marine waters in Regions and SubRegions
The two framework directives
link up in coastal waters, where
MSFD will complement WFD for
issues not covered by WFD.
Water Framework Directive
River Basin Districts
The European Council of
14 December 2007
The European Council
(…)
“welcomes the conclusion of the Marine
Strategy Framework Directive as the
environmental pillar of the integrated EU
maritime policy”
What can that mean?
 The MSFD is not a separate development which
gives a "green" complement to ongoing IMP efforts.
The implementation of the MSFD is not a mere
sectorial development, unrelated to maritime
economic activities.
Healthy marine ecosystems will be a condition to
realise the potential benefits resulting from the goods
and services they provide.
 i.e. economic development and jobs.
 plus eco-innovation.
The MSFD will help to define more accurately the
boundaries of sustainability.
Linkages IMP > MSFD
1. Many activities under the IMP can be useful for the
implementation of the MSFD:
 Political impetus on seas and oceans.
 New cross-cutting tools (e.g. Maritime Spatial Planning,
EMODNET)
 Other related developments (statistics, funding priorities).
2. Potential for synergies in the other direction:
 The development of IMP will require a closer articulation with all
ongoing policy initiatives that can support integrated management.
 The MSFD establishes an integrated approach to maritime
activities that can contribute to IMP success.
 Its legally binding framework will benefit the development of
integrated maritime tools (spatial planning, data, etc).
 Legal basis for enhanced cooperation in marine regions (as IMP).
Ecosystem approach
(upfront in the Directive)
 Marine Strategies shall apply an ecosystem-based
approach to the management of human activities:
 ensuring that the collective pressure of such activities is kept
within levels compatible with the achievement of good
environmental status
 and that the capacity of marine ecosystems to respond to
human-induced changes is not compromised,
 while enabling the sustainable use of marine goods and services
by present and future generations.
 Integration of environmental concerns into the different
policies which have an impact on the marine
environment.
First step (2012):
initial assessment
Member States must make an assessment of their marine
waters:
(a) analysis of the essential characteristics and current
environmental status of those waters (physical,
chemical and biological features)
(b) analysis of the predominant pressures and impacts,
including human, on the environmental status of those
waters, covering the main cumulative effects
(c) economic and social analysis of the use of those
waters and of the cost of degradation of the marine
environment
The initial assessment
and the IMP
Requirement to develop an integrated
understanding of maritime human activities
Such cross-cutting knowledge is required by
the IMP for a sound start
And also for a long-lasting success: it must be
be updated every six years under the MSFD
 Likely Working Group under the CIS for
social and economic assessment? (IMP link)
Like IMP, strong emphasis in MFSD on
co-operation within Marine Regions
 MS marine waters form a part of the following
marine regions:
(a) the Baltic Sea;
(b) the North-east Atlantic Ocean (+ subregions);
(c) the Mediterranean Sea (+ subregions);
(d) the Black Sea. (MSFD Art. 4)
 Duty of regional cooperation (MSFD Art. 6)
At the different stages of Marine Strategies
(assessment, targets, monitoring, measures).
Regional Sea Conventions
The European
Community is a Party to
three of the four
regional sea
conventions (HELCOM,
OSPAR, Barcelona
Convention)
The EC aims at
becoming a Party to the
Convention for the
Black Sea
Platform for
cooperation, also
relevant for IMP
Arctic Council
Different marine regions
around Europe
Provisions of MSFD relevant to
integrated maritime data (under IMP)
For instance:
Article 8 – initial assessment
Article 11 – monitoring programmes
Article 20(3)(b) - review of the status of the
marine environment in the Community (in
coordination with the European Environment
Agency and the relevant regional marine and
fisheries organisations and conventions)
Provisions of MSFD relevant to
Maritime Spatial Planning
For instance:
Article 8 – initial assessment
Article 13(3)(2) – for programme of measures:
ensure that measures are cost-effective and
technically feasible (impact assessments and
cost-benefit analyses)
Annex VI point 3 (“Spatial and temporal
distribution controls: management measures
that influence where and when an activity is
allowed to occur”).
THANK YOU !