Committee/09/2015/03
Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
9th meeting of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Committee
05th May 2015, 14:00-16:30
Conference Centre Albert Borschette (CCAB) - Room 2A
36, Rue Froissart, B- 1040 Brussels
Agenda Item:
4
Document:
Committee/09/2015/03
Title:
Review of the GES Decision 2010/477/EU and MSFD Annex III – Progress and next
steps
Prepared by:
DG Environment
Date prepared:
28/04/2015
Background
The document aims to describe the progress made so far in relation to the
technical and scientific review of the Commission Decision 2010/477/EU and MSFD
Annex III and to propose next steps.
This document has been prepared on the basis of related discussions at the last WG
GES meeting (22-23 April 2015) where progress on the review since the previous
meeting in October 2014 was presented and discussed.
The MSFD Committee is invited to:
- Take note and discuss the document on the progress of the review.
- Discuss results and endorse that phase 1 (technical and scientific review) of the
review process is sufficiently mature but some outstanding issues should be
addressed in the short term.
- Discuss and agree the launch of phase 2 (consultation and discussion) of the
review and invite the WG GES to oversee it via preparation for the Committee
in November 2015.
1
Committee/09/2015/03
Review of the GES Decision 2010/477/EU and MSFD Annex III
Progress and next steps
1.
INTRODUCTION
The review and possible revision of the Commission Decision on criteria and
methodological standards on good environmental status of marine waters (GES
Decision 2010/477/EU) and of MSFD Annex III was discussed at the MSFD regulatory
Committee in February 2013 (see Committee/6/2013/3). The following Committee
meeting in November 2013 endorsed a roadmap for the review of Commission
Decision 2010/477/EU prepared by the Drafting Group within WG GES (see
Committee/07/2013/03rev for details). Based on this roadmap, the review has been
organised in three phases:
 Phase 1 (end 2013 – mid 2015): technical and scientific review
A number of lead experts coming from the respective CIS or RSC groups under the
coordination of JRC and ICES prepared the technical and scientific reviews per
descriptor that resulted in recommendations for revision providing a proposed draft
text with changes and the rational for these changes.
 Phase 2 (mid 2015 - end 2015): consultation and discussion
The results of the technical review will be discussed in the Committee and the MSCG
with the view to identifying additional technical work and input that is needed as well
as ensuring the necessary information is available to allow making a decision on the
revision. At the same time, a formal consultation of the results of the technical review
will take place providing Members and observers of the MSFD Common
Implementation Strategy the opportunity to provide a consolidated opinion.
 Phase 3 (end 2015 – mid 2016): Decision making
The relevant decision-making procedure (at the moment, regulatory procedure with
scrutiny) will be undertaken, in accordance with the procedures and the revised
timetable discussed and agreed in the Committee meeting in November 2014.
WG GES was requested by the MSFD Committee to oversee the technical phase of the
review. During the 8th MSFD Committee meeting in November 2014 it was agreed to
extend the technical phase of the review (as described in Committee/07/2013/03rev)
until mid-2015 and phases 2 and 3 of the review to be consequently, postponed
accordingly (see Committee/08/2014/03rev for details). It was decided that provided
sufficient progress has been made until the next WG GES (April 2015), consultation
and discussion on the results of the technical review (phase 2) would take place in the
following MSCG and Committee meetings (May 2015), until the end of 2015.
Following discussions in the 13th meeting of WG GES (April 2015), this document
presents the progress made so far in relation to the phase 1 technical and scientific
review of Commission Decision 2010/477/EU and MSFD Annex III and advises on next
steps of the process (phases 2 and 3).
2
Committee/09/2015/03
2.
APPROACH AND PROCESS
The objectives of the review of the Commission Decision and MSFD Annex III were set
in Committee/07/2013/03rev and the process until the last Committee meeting in
November 2014 is described in detail in Committee/08/2014/03rev.
The final products of the review will form a coherent set of elements including the
review of the Commission Decision, together with technical clarifications on the
application of the Decision and the further development of the Common
Understanding document to overcome the shortcomings identified by the
Commission's Art. 12 assessment and prepare for the next cycle of reporting in 2018.
The review of the Decision should take place in conjunction with a review of MSFD
Annex III.
The 12th meeting of WG GES (October 2014) discussed for the first time the various
work items ongoing in relation to GES; namely the review of the 2010 Decision, the
review of Annex III, a paper addressing cross-cutting issues of relevance to the
technical reviews being led by JRC and ICES and elements for a Common
Understanding document. WG GES appreciated all the technical work so far but clearly
confirmed that all these items were work in progress and further discussions were
needed with the view to discussing and, where possible, agreeing them at the next WG
GES meeting (April 2015). Furthermore, the idea for the organisation of a workshop
addressing cross-cutting issues in the beginning of 2015 was supported.
The workshop on cross-cutting issues was held at the European Environment Agency in
Copenhagen from 21-22 January 2015 (Presentations and summary can be found at
circabc). The purpose of the workshop was to discuss cross-cutting issues in the
context of the GES Decision review process and the development of the descriptorspecific manuals. It also aimed to extract key conclusions to be fed into WG GES
discussion on the finalisation of the technical phase of the Decision review and the
preparation of a progress report with recommendations for the way forward for the
MSFD Regulatory Committee. The three themes of the workshop were the following:
a) Streamlining Descriptors, reference lists and other cross-cutting issues
b) Consistency with existing legislation and RSCs methodologies
c) Scales and aggregation
During February-March 2015, further consultation of the revised manuals per
descriptor took place, along with meetings of expert working groups to address
outstanding technical issues. Four workshops were organised either by the JRC on D8
and D9 or by ICES on D3, D4 and D6, whereas for the rest of the descriptors the
consultation was performed via email exchange.
The descriptor manuals were finalised by 8th of April 2015 and discussed during the
13th WG GES meeting (April 2015). An updated version of the cross cutting issues
document was also prepared and presented, as a result of discussions within WG GES
since 2012, including at the cross-cutting workshop in January 2015 where many
relevant issues were raised (GES_13-2015-02). In addition, an updated version of the
MSFD Annex III following comments after the last WG GES was also presented
(GES_13-2015-02_Annex 3). Finally, the role and possibilities for further revision of the
3
Committee/09/2015/03
Common understanding of Art. 8, 9 and 10 MSFD document was discussed during the
WG GES meeting.
3.
OUTCOME OF WG GES
Since WG GES was entrusted with the duty to oversee the organisation and planning of
the technical review phase, the last WG GES meeting discussed the further
developments in relation to the various work items ongoing regarding the review of
Commission decision. WG GES appreciated all the technical work so far and the
progress made. Discussions during the meeting confirmed that the results of the
scientific and technical review presented are in line with the objectives of the exercise
for phase 1 and that can be used for the consultation in phase 2 of the review (pending
decision by the MSFD Committee). Detailed conclusions per descriptor are presented
in Annex 1 of this document, including where further work is particularly needed for
some descriptors.
After the release of the Descriptor manuals by JRC for Descriptors 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10
and by ICES for descriptor 11 in mid-May, the Commission proposes to set up a more
formal consultation phase for these documents and the descriptor manuals already
published by ICES on descriptors 3, 4 and 6. The consultation should last for the period
May to July 2015. The documents of the consultation will also include a finalised
version of the proposal on MSFD Annex III (GES_13-2015-02_Annex 3). Member States
and the other approved stakeholders of the MSFD Common Implementation Strategy
will be requested to provide a consolidated opinion (i.e. one set of views per
country/stakeholder) on the consulted documents. In parallel, the Commission during
the period May to October 2015 intends to consult relevant expert groups in closelyrelated policy areas (i.e. WFD; CFP; BHD) in order to ensure coherence with other
relevant legislation.
The scientific and technical review of the GES Decision also identified additional
technical work and input needed in order to finalise the exercise. WG GES supported
these proposals to develop all these items further through possible JRC workshops on
some descriptors (see Annex 2 and Annex 3 for details) with the view to discussing
and, where possible, agreeing them at the next WG GES meeting (October 2015).
Based on the results of the work performed until then, the Commission could prepare
a first draft outline of a revised Commission Decision and Annex III for the next
meeting of the MSCG and the Committee in November 2015 subject to Commission's
internal decision making process).
WG GES also discussed a proposal on "Taking forward the common understanding of
Art. 8, 9 and 10 MSFD" and agreed to send comments on the role of the document and
proposals on how to proceed with its revision to the WG GES co-chair (DE) who will
prepare a proposal on the way forward and report progress to the next WG GES
meeting in October 2015.
Finally, regarding the document on cross-cutting issues, which provides an informal
perspective of the MSFD Core Team (ENV, MARE, JRC, EEA, ICES) on the application of
MSFD Art. 9 and 10, it was decided that Member States will provide comments until
the end of June. The Commission intends to prepare a final version for WG GES in
4
Committee/09/2015/03
October. The content of the paper can contribute to further development of Common
Understanding document and other review documentation.
Details on the discussions and conclusions of WG GES can be found in the draft
minutes (Annex 3). Contact details regarding follow up of the different review products
are provided in Annex 4.
4.
TIMETABLE AND NEXT STEPS
The following specific next steps are envisaged for 2015:
a. 30 April 2015: WG GES to send factual corrections on the descriptors manuals
to JRC and ICES
b. Mid May 2015: JRC release descriptor manuals for Descriptors 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9
and 10 and ICES for Descriptor 11
c. 20 May 2015: WG GES to submit comments on the role of the Common
Understanding document and taking its revision forward to WG GES co-chair
(DE)
d. May to July 2015: official consultation of Phase 1 documents
e. 15 June 2015: Based on comments received on Common Understanding
document, WG GES co-chair (DE) to work up a proposal for taking work forward
– progress to be reported in next WG GES (October 2015)
f. 30 June 2015: WG GES to submit comments on the cross-cutting document –
final version to be presented in WG GES (October 2015)
g. June to September 2015: possible JRC workshops on some descriptors (based
on written mandate) – starting with biodiversity and cross –cutting issues (see
Annex 2)
h. May to October 2015: consultation of other relevant expert groups (WFD; CFP;
BHD; …) as appropriate
i. 12-13 October 2015: next WG GES meeting
j. 05-06 November 2015: next MSCG meeting
k. 06 November 2015: MSFD Regulatory Committee meeting, discuss 1st draft
outline of revised Commission Decision and Annex III – provided Commission
goes ahead
Tentative steps in 2016 are the following (subject to Commission's internal decision
making process):
a. Early Feb. 2016 (tbc): MSFD Regulatory Committee - discuss draft version of
revised Commission Decision and Annex III and overall progress of work
b. April 2016 (tbc): WG GES meeting - update of process and outstanding
technical issues as mandated by the MSFD Regulatory Committee
c. May 2016 (tbc): MSFD Regulatory Committee - possible vote on revised
Commission decision and Annex III
5
Committee/09/2015/03
d. Autumn 2016 (tbc): formal adoption and publication, subject to positive MSFD
Regulatory Committee vote in May 2016
Following discussion and agreement at the MSFD Regulatory Committee that the
review will continue and the revision of the Commission Decision and Annex III should
be prepared, the Commission will discuss internally in order to get a mandate for the
work.
6
Committee/09/2015/03
5.
ANNEX 1 DRAFT CONCLUSIONS AND WAY FORWARD FROM 13TH MEETING OF WG
GES, 22-23 APRIL 2015, BRUSSELS
7
Committee/09/2015/03
8
Committee/09/2015/03
9
Committee/09/2015/03
10
Committee/09/2015/03
11
Committee/09/2015/03
12
Committee/09/2015/03
13
Committee/09/2015/03
14
Committee/09/2015/03
6.
ANNEX 2 JRC PROPOSAL FOR A MANDATE
Will be circulated once available
7.
ANNEX 3 DRAFT MINUTES 13TH
BRUSSELS
MEETING OF
WG GES, 22-23 APRIL 2015,
Will be circulated once available
8.
ANNEX 4 CONTACT DETAILS
Product
Contact person
Towards a possible revision of MSFD Annex III
ENV: David Connor, Anna Cheilari
Review of the GES Decision 2010/477/EU and
MSFD Annex III – cross-cutting issues (version
4)
ENV: David Connor, Anna Cheilari
Common understanding (guidance) on MSFD
Articles 8, 9 and 10
Uli Claussen, Andrea Weiss
Descriptor 5 manual
JRC: Nicolas Hoepffner
Descriptor 1 & 2 manuals
JRC: Ana Cristina Cardoso
Descriptor 7, 8, 9 & 10 manuals
JRC: Georg Hanke
Descriptor 3, 4 & 6 manuals
ICES: Mark Dickey Collas
Descriptor 11 manual
ICES: Mark Tasker
15