Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Reports
URL http://icm.eionet.europa.eu/ETC_Reports/InitialAssessmentOfEuropeanSeasBasedOnMSFDart8_201506
Title (Primary) Initial assessment of European seas based on Marine Strategy Framework Directive Article 8 reporting - summary report
Author Peterlin, M.; Boteler, B.; Globevnik, L.; Green, N.; Jesus, A.; Künitzer, A.; Lago, M.; Palatinus, A.; Piet, G.J.; Prins, T.; Spiteri, C.; Stoker, B.; Thomsen, F.; Zenetos, A.
Source Titel ETC/ICM Technical Report
Year 2015
Department ASAM
Volume 1/2015
Page To 79
Language englisch
UFZ wide themes RU2;
Abstract The aim of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56 ('MSFD'), often referred to as the Marine Directive, is to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of the EU's marine waters by 2020. In 2012, 23 Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, United Kingdom) had to provide information on their initial assessment (Article 8 of the directive), on the determination of GES (Article 9) and on the establishment of environmental targets and associated indicators (Article 10).

Data analysis of the initial assessments (Article 8) as reported by Member States in 2012 was undertaken by the ETC/ICM with the aim to summarise messages given by initial assessments about the European marine environment. Initial assessments provided information on:

   -  Analysis of features and characteristics, including physical features and features relating to biodiversity such as habitats, species and functional groups (Article 8-1a);

   -  Analysis of the predominant pressures and impacts, including human activity, on the environmental status. (Article 8-1b);

   -  An economic and social analysis of the use of those waters’ characteristics (Article 8-1c).

This ETC/ICM Technical Report gives an overview and summary of the detailed data analysis of the initial assessments (Article 8). A very high percentage of the initial assessments shows that the status is unknown.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=17498
Peterlin, M., Boteler, B., Globevnik, L., Green, N., Jesus, A., Künitzer, A., Lago, M., Palatinus, A., Piet, G.J., Prins, T., Spiteri, C., Stoker, B., Thomsen, F., Zenetos, A. (2015):
Initial assessment of European seas based on Marine Strategy Framework Directive Article 8 reporting - summary report
ETC/ICM Technical Report 1/2015
European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine Waters, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH – UFZ, Magdeburg, 79 pp.