DIKE DG_PoM-2014-2
Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
Common Implementation Strategy
Working Group on Data, Information and Knowledge Exchange (WG DIKE)
Meeting of a Drafting Group on Art. 13/14 reporting
0930-1730: 28 October 2014
Room C, BU-5, Avenue de Beaulieu 5, B-1160, Brussels
Agenda item:
3
Document:
DIKE DG_PoM-2014-2
Title:
Reporting on MSFD Programme of Measures (Art. 13) and on exceptions (Art. 14)
Prepared by:
Milieu Ltd and DG Environment
Date prepared:
23/10/2014
Background:
This document is a revised and further developed version of DIKE_10-2014-03
which takes account of the comments received from WG DIKE (29-30 September
meeting and subsequently) and from WG ESA (14 October meeting).
This document will be revised on the basis of the discussions at the Drafting
Group meeting and used to replace the current Annex 3 of the Recommendation
on Programme of Measures which outlines the reporting on PoMs (Note:
introductory text and details of the Art. 16 assessment are not intended to be
added to the PoM Recommendation).
MSCG will be requested to adopt the PoM Recommendation at its meeting on
10-11 November, whilst the reporting on PoMs (i.e. this paper as a new Annex 3,
and as revised by the DG) will be submitted separately to the MSCG for their
consideration.
The Drafting Group of WG DIKE is requested to:
a. Review and, where possible, finalise the elements of the attached paper which are to be
used as Annex 3 to the Recommendation on Programme of Measures;
b. Identify outstanding issues, if any.
DIKE DG_PoM-2014-2
Reporting and assessment of the
MSFD Programmes of Measures
23 October 2014
Version 4
DIKE DG_PoM-2014-2
DISCLAIMER:
The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not
represent the official position of the European Commission.
The main authors of this report are Jan Cools, Bastiaan Vermonden, Alice Belin and Claire Dupont
(Milieu Ltd).
Milieu Ltd. (Belgium), 15 rue Blanche, B-1050, Brussels, tel: 32 2 506 1000; Fax 32 2 514 3603; e-mail:
claire.dupont@milieu.be and alice.belin@milieu.be; web address: www.milieu.be
DIKE DG_PoM-2014-2
Contents
Section 1
Section 1. Objective of this concept note ........................................................................... 5
Section 2
Section 2. Setting the scene ................................................................................................ 6
1.1
2.1 The MSFD PoM recommendation ..................................................................................... 6
2.1
2.2 PoM Reporting under the WFD: Key Types of Measures (KTMs).................................... 10
3.1
2.3 Reporting on measures under other European policies ................................................. 11
Section 3
Reporting of MSFD Programmes of Measures .................................................................. 12
3.1
Conceptual approach to the MSFD PoM reporting ............................................................... 12
1.1
Key Types of Measures for MSFD .......................................................................................... 13
4.1
Reporting sheets.................................................................................................................... 14
3.1
Text-based country/regional fact sheets .............................................................................. 16
3.1
Adopting WFD reporting to MSFD reporting needs .............................................................. 18
Section 4
Section 4 Article 16 Assessment ........................................................................................ 20
DIKE DG_PoM-2014-2
Section 1 Objective of this concept note
According to Article 5(2)(b) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), Member States
should develop a Programme of Measures (PoM) by 2015 latest and notify the European Commission
of their PoM within three months (Article 13(9)). The Commission will undertake an assessment of
the Member States' PoMs (Article 16) and provide guidance to the Member States on these within six
months of receiving all these notifications. The assessment is expected to be presented in the form
of national and regional assessment reports, as was done for the Article 12 assessment of the Article
8, 9 and 10 reports, published in 2014.
This concept note is based on the provisions of the MSFD and the document entitled “Programmes of
measures under MSFD – Recommendations for establishment/implementation and related
reporting” (hereafter called the “PoM recommendation”), as discussed at the Marine Strategy
Coordination Group (MSCG) and the Marine Director's meetings in May and June 20141. The PoM
recommendation outlines the process towards the development of a PoM by each Member State. As
stated in the PoM Recommendation, the process starts by the identification of existing measures
that are relevant for the MSFD. A gap analysis is then undertaken which is followed by the
identification and selection of new measures to be applied under the MSFD (after a feasibility study
and cost benefit analysis). Exceptions (under Art. 14) are then assessed and, if applicable, justified. A
draft PoM is issued and then finalised after a public consultation process (Figure 1).
In view of the principle to streamline reporting and thus avoid duplication of work, the reporting on
the PoM under the MSFD does not need to contain the information which has already been reported
under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). To streamline the process, the PoM reporting content
is to be closely linked with that of the WFD and corresponding reporting requirements. A factor that
allows this close coordination of the reporting efforts under the WFD and the MSFD is the timing of
reporting for both directives which coincide and are only days apart in March 2016.
In preparation for the reporting exercise, this concept note aims to:



Support the development of the reporting questions for the PoM (art. 13) and exceptions
(art. 14) under the MSFD;
Build upon the reporting framework already in place under other European policies,
specifically the WFD;
Provide a basis for the discussion on the final products that will be derived from this
reporting and the assessment questions needed for the Commission's Art. 16 assessment.
In the sections that follow, this paper first sets the scene (Section 2) by explaining the approach of
the work which utilises elements from the PoM recommendation, the existing typologies for
measures in other European Directives, the categories present in MSFD Annex VI as well as the "WFD
reporting guidance 2016"2 that provides guidance to the design of the assessment and reporting
questions for the PoM and exceptions reporting under the MSFD.
In the second part (Section 3), the report presents the conceptual approach for the reporting on
MSFD PoMs based on data-based reporting sheets, descriptive national fact sheets and extended
WFD reporting. Finally, Section 4 presents first indicative headline questions to be used for the
Article 16 assessment by the Commission.
1
The version used for this concept note is version 13 of 27 May 2014 (MD-2014-1-1 Annex Item 2.1 PoM - final.pdf).
2
Discussed during the WFD SCG meeting of May 2014 and further updated on 9 July 2014 https://circabc.europa.eu/w/browse/0467f5e1a4a2-464c-8fff-59a0826567b8
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Section 2 Setting the scene
2.1
The MSFD PoM recommendation
The PoM recommendation defines a Programme of Measures (PoM) as “a set of measures that the
MS is responsible for implementing, put into context with each other and referring to the
environmental targets they address”. The PoM includes existing and new measures and is to be
developed in accordance with MSFD Art. 13(1).
Art. 13(1)
Member States shall, in respect of each marine region or subregion concerned, identify the measures which
need to be taken in order to achieve or maintain good environmental status, as determined pursuant to
Article 9(1), in their marine waters.
Those measures shall be devised on the basis of the initial assessment made pursuant to Article 8(1) and by
reference to the environmental targets established pursuant to Article 10(1), and taking into consideration the
types of measures listed in Annex VI.
In this concept paper, the following are summarised:
a. Categories of measures under the MSFD;
b. Process to develop the MSFD PoM;
c. Content of the MSFD PoM.
a. Categories of measures under the MSFD
Four categories of measures have been defined in the PoM recommendation (Table 1). The PoM
recommendation does not propose to further classify the measures by the typology proposed in
MSFD Annex VI (Table 3), but recognises that measures may have different modes of action as shown
in Table 2.
However, at the Water Directors' and Marine Directors' meeting of 5-6 June 2014 in Heraklion,
Greece it was agreed to develop the MSFD PoMs and their reporting in close conjunction with the
PoMs reporting for the WFD. Considering that the Reporting Guidance of the WFD had already been
developed and agreed, and considering that many measures to improve the status of the marine
environment are land-based and thus considered under the WFD, the MSFD reporting will follow the
WFD reporting guidance, to the extent possible and feasible. An important aspect of this coordinated
reporting is that under the MSFD, in line with the WFD reporting, measures are to be reported under
a predefined set of Key Type of Measures (KTMs). Further information on the WFD 2016 reporting
guidance is given in section 2.2.
The need for coordinated WFD-MSFD reporting does not exclude the addressing of specific issues
under the MSFD. For example, the need for cooperation within the MSFD (sub)regions, as required
under MSFD Art. 5(2), in order to develop a coherent and consist approach is more developed under
the MSFD, whereas the reporting on the WFD is more detailed in terms of cost reporting and
economic analysis. WFD reporting, already in its second reporting cycle, is able to report quantitative
figures whilst under the MSFD more substantial data gaps are anticipated and hence a more
descriptive approach to reporting is proposed.
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Table 1: Categories of measures (adapted from PoM recommendation)
Measures
Measure
category
Costeffectiveness
analysis (CEA)
Cost-benefit
analysis
(CBA)
Article 13(1) & 13(2)
EXISTING
No
No
Measures relevant for the maintenance and achievement of GES
under the MSFD that have been adopted under other policies and
implemented
1.a
Article 13(1) & 13(2)
EXISTING
No
No
Measures relevant for the maintenance and achievement of GES
under the MSFD that have been adopted under other policies but that
have not yet been implemented or fully implemented
1.b
Art 13(3)
NEW
Yes*
Yes*
Additional measures to achieve GES which build on existing EU
legislation and international agreements but go beyond what is
already required under these
2.a
Case by case
Case
case
Art 13(3)
NEW
Yes
Yes
Additional measures to achieve GES which do not build on existing EU
legislation or international agreements, i.e. that are completely new
2.b
by
Table 2: Modes of action of measures (from PoM recommendation)
N°
Mode of action
1
Technical: an actual action that one can see (and measure) in the field. In principle a wide range of measures have a
primarily technical mode of action.
2
Legislative: Adapting or supplementing national environmental law and other national legislation influencing the
marine environment to implement environmental targets and to achieve/maintain GES.
3
Economic: such as economic incentives that provide financial motives to stimulate a desired behaviour or
discouraging an unwanted behaviour. Financial instruments are often aimed at the uptake of technical measures. For
example, a subsidy for beach resorts of 20 Euros for each additional garbage bin they place.
4
Policy driven: Policy instruments can be economic incentives, but also other instruments, such as voluntary
agreements with stakeholders, communication strategies, awareness raising, and education. For example, the
government launches an information campaign to make the beach resorts aware of the new subsidy they can get for
placing more garbage bins, or beach resorts informing their customers where the litter bins are located, or teachers
telling children it is fun to collect waste and put it in a litter bin and gives you a clean beach as well.
Table 3: Typology of MFSD measures (from MSFD Annex VI); measures need to address the
typology, but reporting of PoMs is not structured using this typology.
N°
Description of measure
1
Input controls: management measures that influence the amount of a human activity that is permitted.
2
Output controls: management measures that influence the degree of perturbation of an ecosystem component that is
permitted.
3
Spatial and temporal distribution controls: management measures that influence where and when an activity is
allowed to occur.
4
Management coordination measures: tools to ensure that management is coordinated.
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N°
Description of measure
5
Measures to improve the traceability, where feasible, of marine pollution
6
Economic incentives: management measures which make it in the economic interest of those using the marine
ecosystems to act in ways which help to achieve the good environmental status objective.
7
Mitigation and remediation tools: management tools which guide human activities to restore damaged components
of marine ecosystems.
8
Communication, stakeholder involvement and raising public awareness.
b. Process to develop the MSFD Programme of Measures
The content of the PoM and the process to develop it is described in the PoM recommendation.
Figure 1 shows the process. It follows from the logic of the Directive that the starting point for the
PoM is the environmental targets of MSFD Article 10, provided they are set in an adequate and
coherent way, i.e. they address the key pressures which are preventing the achievement of GES (see
Art. 12 report3). In order to identify the need for new measures which are needed to achieve or
maintain GES, MSFD Art. 13 sets out some requirements for the identification and selection of
individual measures and for establishing the programme of measures. In addition, this scheme needs
to allow for early and effective opportunities for public consultation.
3
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/marine/eu-coast-and-marine-policy/implementation/reports_en.htm
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Inventory of existing
measures *
Towards GES, targets, and
reduction of pressures
Gap analysis
Measures which are technically
feasible, cost-effective and
sustainable.
Identification and
selection
of new measures
Application of
exceptions?
YES
NO
Article 14 application
Identification of
cases.
Justification of
exceptions.
Identification of
ad-hoc measures.
Draft PoM
Public Consultation
Final PoM
Figure 1 Overview of the process for the development of a Programme of Measures and the
identification of exceptions. (*) Existing measures are considered to be all measures currently
implemented and those which are going to be implemented as planned under EU legislation other than the
MSFD (e.g. WFD, Habitats and Birds Directives) and/or international agreements.
c. Content of the MSFD Programme of Measures
The content of the PoM, as cited in the PoM recommendation, shall contain:

An overview of the existing measures (categories 1.a and 1.b) with reference to their original
publication;

A short analysis of the contribution towards GES (baseline) and the gap that needs to be
addressed (gap analysis);

A list of new measures including a summary:
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
o
Category 2.a measures, if described elsewhere, brief details with reference to a
document with a more exhaustive description (e.g. WFD PoM), if not full description;
o
For category 2.b measures, full description;
Justification for exceptions, where no measure will be taken.
The PoM recommendation also suggests what is to be reported for new measures:

Method for selecting measures;

Implementation (e.g. by legal, policy, socio-economic and financial instrument), including
overview of potentially co-financed measures (MSFD Art. 22) where relevant;

Identification of spatial protection measures and the purpose for which they are put in place
(e.g. contributing to coherent and representative networks of marine protected areas under
MSFD Art. 13(4));

Cost-effectiveness and/or cost benefits of the measures (how it has been taken into
account?) and sustainability (MSFD Art. 13(3));

Overall coordination or input to other EU legislation and policies (including international
agreements);

Overall regional coordination including possible impacts on the marine waters of other
countries (MSFD Art. 13(8));

Public consultation information.
2.1
PoM Reporting under the WFD: Key Types of Measures (KTMs)
In the WFD reporting guidance 2016, detailed reporting schemes are proposed. These include
reporting based on 25 Key Types of Measures (KTM). KTMs have been predefined as the categories
under which measures have to be reported. The 2016 KTMs are based on the KTMs defined for the
2012 progress reports on the implementation of the programme of measures, the new ones
reported by Member States in 2012 and commonly reported significant pressures not previously
incorporated by predefined KTMs. Table 4 shows the KTMs as included in the WFD 2016 reporting
guidance. Considering that many of the pressures on the European seas are land-based, many of
the WFD KTMs are relevant to the marine environment as well and thus the measures are also
relevant to help achieve or maintain GES and to achieve environmental targets under the
MSFD.Table 4: KTMs for the 2016 WFD reporting (Note: text in red indicates modifications to the
WFD KTM title to help distinguish them from MSFD KTMs)
N°
1
WFD KTM description
Construction or upgrades of wastewater treatment plants
2
Reduce nutrient pollution from agriculture
3
Reduce pesticides pollution from agriculture
4
Remediation of contaminated sites (historical pollution including
sediments, groundwater, soil)
Improving longitudinal continuity (e.g. establishing fish passes,
demolishing old dams)
Improving hydromorphological conditions of water bodies other than
longitudinal continuity (e.g. river restoration, improvement of riparian
areas, removal of hard embankments, reconnecting rivers to floodplains,
improvement of hydromorphological condition of transitional and coastal
waters, etc.)
5
6
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Relevance to MSFD
Relevant for the reduction of nutrient
loads & solid particles (D5, D10)
Relevant for the reduction of nutrient
loads (D5)
Relevant for the reduction of
contaminants loads (D8, D9)
Relevant for the reduction of
contaminants loads (D8, D9)
Relevant in relation to diadromous
fish (D1)
Relevant (D7)
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N°
7
WFD KTM description
Improvements in flow regime and/or establishment of ecological flows
Relevance to MSFD
Unlikely
8
Water efficiency technical measures for irrigation, industry, energy
and households
Water pricing policy measures for the implementation of the recovery of
cost of water services from households
Water pricing policy measures for the implementation of the recovery of
cost of water services from industry
Water pricing policy measures for the implementation of the recovery of
cost of water services from agriculture
Advisory services for agriculture
Unlikely
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Drinking water protection measures (e.g. establishment of safeguard
zones, buffer zones etc.)
Research, improvement of knowledge base reducing uncertainty
Measures for the phasing-out of emissions, discharges and losses of
priority hazardous substances or for the reduction of emissions,
discharges and losses of priority substances
Upgrades or improvements of industrial wastewater treatment plants
(including farms)
17
Measures to reduce sediment from soil erosion and surface run-off
18
Measures to prevent or control the adverse impacts of invasive alien
species and introduced diseases
Measures to prevent or control the adverse impacts of recreation
including angling
Measures to prevent or control the adverse impacts of fishing and other
exploitation/removal of animal and plants
Measures to prevent or control the input of pollution from urban areas,
transport and built infrastructure
19
20
21
22
Measures to prevent or control the input of pollution from forestry
23
Natural water retention measures
24
Adaptation to climate change
25
Measures to counteract acidification (in freshwater systems)
2.1
Unlikely
Unlikely
Unlikely
Relevant for nutrient and pesticide
reduction (D5, D8, D9)
Relevant for seawater desalination
(D7)
Relevant, could be applied to all
descriptors
Relevant for the reduction of
contaminant loads (D8, D9)
Relevant for the reduction of
nutrients, solid particles and
contaminant loads (D5, D8, D9, D10)
Possibly relevant for the reduction of
nutrients & sediments (D5, D7)
Relevant (D2)
Relevant (D2, D3, D10, D11)
Relevant (D1,D3, D4, D6)
Relevant for the reduction of
pollution in general (D5, D8, D9, D10,
D11)
Possibly relevant for the reduction of
nutrient and contaminant loads (D5,
D8, D9)
Relevant for positive effects on
nutrients and sediment transport (D5,
D7)
Relevant, in particular when related
to the coastal zone (D1, D4, D6, D7)
Unlikely
Reporting on measures under other European policies
Besides measures under the WFD, the existing measures under other policies, such as for example
the Common Fisheries Policy, the Habitats and Birds Directives and for offshore pollution, can also
contribute to achieving GES in the marine environment. It is important that measures under other
policies are also incorporated into the MSFD PoMs.
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Section 3 Reporting of MSFD Programmes of Measures
3.1
Conceptual approach to the MSFD PoM reporting
In order to not repeat reporting efforts already undertaken through the WFD in 2016, and to ensure
consistency, comparability and coordinated action, the proposed approach for reporting of the MSFD
PoMs is to build upon the existing WFD reporting framework in the following ways:
a. Use the 2016 WFD reporting for the land-based measures which are relevant to MSFD but
are also reported under WFD;
b. Use the WFD approach to organising the measures according to a set of Key Types of
Measures (KTMs), which reflect the main types of pressure that the measures need to
address in order to achieve the MSFD environmental targets and to achieve or maintain GES;
c. Use the WFD approach to reporting on specific measures, by adopting the template for
describing each measure and by having this information held at national level (on a national
web site) rather than reported directly to the Commission (as xml files).
This approach reduces the reporting requirements for MSFD to:
a. Reporting on ‘MSFD KTMs’ which are specific to the marine environment;
b. Reporting on measures which are additional to those of WFD, either existing measures under
other policies or new ‘MSFD measures’;
c. Reporting on issues which are specific to the MSFD, such as links to Art. 10 environmental
targets and GES, regional cooperation and exceptions.
The reporting package for the MSFD PoMs consists of the following (Figure 2):
-
-
-
Reporting sheets which include mainly categorical (quantitative) information and which are
to be reported centrally to ReportNet (as xml files). This information will facilitate the
assessment of adequacy, consistency and coherence between Member States and across the
marine (sub)regions and enable the preparation of statistical information on the PoMs;
'Fact sheets', held, maintained and made available at suitable web sites (e.g. in pdf or html
format). These provide an overview of the PoMs (e.g. on general approaches to their
preparation) and more specific details on each measure. Where appropriate, the fact sheets
can be prepared jointly for measures which are implemented across multiple countries (e.g.
under Regional Sea Conventions or other international agreements). If appropriate, the
information could also be used for public consultation purposes;
Extended WFD reporting, to cover the MSFD needs, for land-based measures reported under
WFD but which also contribute to achieving the MSFD environmental targets and GES in the
marine environment. A coordinated approach between the MSFD and WFD implementation
processes in each Member State will be necessary to make the relevant links between the
two reporting processes.
Based on the Member State's reports (which may include joint reporting), the Commission will
undertake an EU assessment that will fulfil the provisions of MSFD Art. 164.
An outline of the reporting fields for each of these three elements of the package is given in the
following sections. These are set out in more detail in Annex 1 to provide the basis for defining the
specific reporting formats which will be prepared following agreement on the overall approach (in
the PoM recommendation).
4
A first version of the proposed assessment framework for this is presented in section 4.
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Figure 2 Components of the reporting package for MSFD Programmes of Measures (which are to be
used for the Commission’s Article 16 assessment).
3.1
Key Types of Measures for MSFD
The basis for a coordinated reporting between the WFD and MSFD, as agreed by the Marine and
Water Directors, is the development of a joint set of Key Types of Measures (KTMs). In the WFD 2016
Reporting Guidance, a set of 25 KTMs has been developed (see section 2.2). Additional KTMs are
needed to address sea-based pressures and other types of action for the MSFD. Considering that the
list of KTMs is part of a coordinated reporting and that many WFD KTMs can contribute to achieving
environmental targets and GES for the MSFD, the numbering of MSFD KTMs has been set to continue
from that of the WFD KTMs. The set of additional KTMs needed for the MSFD, which are not yet
covered under the WFD, is given in Table 5. These are based on the list of pressures in MSFD Annex
III Table 2. Several KTMs address additional needs that are not directly related to a specific pressure;
these can be found at the bottom of the KTM table.
The measures identified as relevant for the MSFD PoM, both existing measures under WFD and other
policies and new 'MSFD measures', are assigned to the relevant KTM (either the WFD KTMs or the
MSFD KTMs) to provide a consistent structure to the reporting and to facilitate assessment of the
PoM under MSFD Art. 16.
Table 5: Key Types of Measures (KTMs) for the MSFD, supplementing the WFD KTMs listed in
Table 4.
N°
Additional KTMs for MSFD reporting
26
Measures to reduce physical loss of seabed habitats in the marine environment (beyond WFD
Coastal Waters)
27
Measures to reduce physical damage to the marine environment (beyond WFD Coastal
Waters)
28
Measures to reduce inputs of energy to the marine environment, including underwater noise
29
Measures to reduce marine littler
30
Measures to reduce interferences with hydrological processes in the marine environment
(beyond WFD Coastal Waters)
31
Measures to reduce contamination by hazardous substances (synthetic substances, nonsynthetic substances, radio-nuclides) and the systematic and/or intentional release of
substances in the marine environment from sea-based or air-based sources
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N°
Additional KTMs for MSFD reporting
32
Measures to reduce sea-based accidental pollution
33
Measures to reduce nutrient and organic matter inputs to the marine environment from seabased or air-based sources
34
Measures to adapt to climate change impacts on the marine environment (including marine
acidification)
35
Measures to reduce the introduction and spread of non-indigenous species in the marine
environment and for their control
36
Measures to reduce biological disturbances in the marine environment from the extraction of
species, including incidental non-target catches
37
Measures to reduce other types of biological disturbance, including death, injury, disturbance
and translocation of marine species and the introduction of genetically-modified individuals of
marine species
38
Measures to address the introduction of microbial pathogens
39
Measures to restore and conserve marine ecosystems, including habitats and species
40
Measures related to Spatial Protection Measures for the marine environment (addressing
multiple pressures)
41
Complementary activities on research and improvement of the knowledge base to facilitate
the devising of measures5
3.1
Reporting sheets
Information to be reported in xml format to ReportNet will focus on categorical information with
limited descriptive information. Descriptive information, relating to general approaches to the PoM
and to the specific measures, is to be reported in the 'fact sheets' (see section 3.4). The XML reports
will consist of three sections:
a. Reporting on KTMs;
b. Reporting on individual measures, linked to the respective KTM;
c. Reporting on exceptions, linked to the respective KTM.
In these reports, the information on the KTM, measure and exception is linked to the spatial
coverage (i.e. the relevant MS, (sub)regions and assessment areas), to the environmental targets
defined by the MS (Art. 10), to the GES Descriptors (Art. 9) and to the Art. 8 assessments via the
elements of MSFD Annex III (at a generalised level); website links provide access to more detailed
information in the fact sheets.
A schematic overview and main contents of the reporting sheets is provided in Figure 3. The set up
allows for one individual measure or exception to be linked to one or more KTMs. Additionally, each
report6 can be linked to one or more Member States, (sub)regions and assessment areas, thus
reducing the reporting effort and enabling joint reporting where this is appropriate.
5
Complementary activities do not need to be aligned to specific environmental targets. Therefore, for such activities there is
no need to carry out cost-benefits and/or cost-effectiveness assessment
6
Subject to technical feasibility at xml schema preparation phase.
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Figure 3: Components of the xml reporting sheets MSFD Art.13 (PoM) and Art. 14 (exceptions), with
outline contents
The main contents of each section are as follows:
Report on each KTM:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
KTM code/name
Measures associated to the KTM
Sufficiency of measures for the KTM to achieve environmental targets and GES
Links to relevant targets, GES Descriptors and Annex III elements
Spatial coverage of the KTM (MS, (sub)regions, assessment areas, geographic zones)
Report on each measure:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Measure code/name
Spatial coverage of the measure (MS, (sub)regions, assessment areas, geographic zones)
Links to relevant targets, GES Descriptors and Annex III elements
Web link to further information (i.e. to 'fact sheet' for the measure)
Report on each exception:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Exception code/name
Exception type and justification
Mitigation
Spatial coverage of the exception (MS, (sub)regions, assessment areas, geographic zones)
Links to relevant targets, GES Descriptors and Annex III elements
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In the WFD reporting against each KTM, a set of indicators has been developed to monitor progress
in achieving the KTM (i.e. reducing the pressure to particular levels). For the MSFD reporting on
KTMs, this approach is replaced by linking the KTM to the MSFD Article 10 targets, as these should
effectively define the goals set by each Member State to reduce each pressure to levels which will
lead to GES being achieved or maintained.
Table 6 shows examples of individual measures for selected KTMs. Examples are given for each type
of measures, ranging from existing measures to new measures (types 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b according to
Table 1). Examples are given for land-based measures (reported under WFD KTMs) and sea-based
measures (reported under MSFD KTMs).
Table 6: Example measures for selected KTMs
KTM
KTM description
n°
WFD KTMs (land-based measures)
Examples of individual
associated to KTMs
1

Construction or upgrades of
wastewater treatment plants
(WWTP)

2
Reduce nutrient pollution from
agriculture


measures
Type of measure
Extending a planned upgrade of
a WWTP to reduce also the
inflows of plastics into the marine
environment
More stringent nutrient treatment
to reduce coastal eutrophication
Reduce application of fertiliser to
agricultural fields
Winter cover crops to reduce
nutrients
leaching
into
the
groundwater
1b
Restriction on seabed trawling in
selected areas
Permits for deep-sea mining
exploitation
Beach litter removal plan
Economic incentives to deposit
shipping waste, including old
fishing gear, at port reception
facilities
Reduce off-shore pollution
Inspection of illegal dumping of
shipping waste into the sea
2a
2a
1a
1a
MSFD KTMs (sea-based measures)
27
29
33
3.1
Measures to reduce physical
damage
to
the
marine
environment
(beyond
WFD
Coastal Waters)
Measures to reduce marine littler

Measures to reduce nutrient and
organic matter inputs to the
marine environment from seabased or air-based sources





2b
2a or 2b
2b
1b
2a or 2b
Text-based country/regional fact sheets
To complement the more categorical information reported in the xml reporting sheets, more textbased 'fact sheets' should be prepared which include qualitative and descriptive information for the
PoM. This more flexible format is intended to provide further detail on the PoM, at a general level
and for each measure. Where appropriate, the relevant information can be prepared jointly by
Member States in a (sub)region. Such joint documentation can provides an indication of the
cooperation in development and implementation of PoMs across the (sub)region and also reduce
efforts in preparation of the documentation. These national and regional fact sheets can be prepared
in pdf or html formats and be posted on suitable national or regional web sites where they are
available to stakeholders, other Member States and the Commission.
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General fact-sheet:
The following “table of content” (and guiding questions in each section) is proposed for the national
fact sheet. Additional questions/information can be added if the Member State wishes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Update on environmental targets
a. Which version of your environmental targets (MSFD Art 10) does the PoM address (e.g. as
reported in 2012; revised update on ReportNet; revised update available at national
level)? Provide date and link.
b. Did you set any operational targets that relate to concrete implementation measures to
support their achievement (Annex IV (2))?
Inventory of existing measures
a. Has an inventory of existing measures under other legislation been undertaken (including
measures for which implementation is pending)?
b. How have you assessed to which extent the existing measures are sufficient to achieve
environmental targets and GES?
c. Does this analysis (done in question 2b) identify a gap between the baseline scenario (i.e.
current status taking into account implementation of existing measures) and what is
needed to deliver the environmental targets and achieve or maintain GES?
d. Describe the outcomes of the analysis.
New measures
a. When selecting new measures, how have you ensured that they are based on / take into
account:

Technical feasibility

Sustainability: a combination of Impact Assessment (environmental, social and
economic), cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis7
b. Will you designate additional marine protected areas covering the relevant biodiversity
components? How will the spatial protection measures contribute to a coherent and
representative network of marine protected areas covering the relevant biodiversity
components in the (sub)region?
c. Have you taken consideration of maritime spatial planning when designing new
measures?
Regional cooperation and transboundary impacts
a. Describe how (sub)regional coordination in development of PoMs was undertaken, and
what were the key outcomes (e.g. coordinated national PoMs, joint measures,
identification of issues for EU/international consideration)
b. How did you assess the transboundary impacts on waters beyond your marine waters?
c. How and when were any identified transboundary impacts (positive and negative) notified
to affected states? How were their views taken into account in your final set of PoMs?
Obligations in relation to public consultation (Art. 19(2))
a. When was the public consultation undertaken?
b. Where/how? (consultation website)
c. Did the Public Consultation include:
i. All measures reported under Art. 13?
ii. All exceptions reported under Art. 14?
iii. If not, provide a list of the measures and/or exceptions which were not
included and a reason for this.
d. How was the Public Consultation taken into account?
Administrative process (Art. 13(3) and 13(10))
Description of implementation process (together with administrative framework (e.g. the policy
tools or plans containing the measures, including new measures, for protecting the marine
environment (e.g. WFD PoM, National Waste prevention plans))
7
Following the PoM recommendation, sustainability is not to be assessed separately, but assessed as a combination of
impact assessment, SEA and CEA/CBA.
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Fact-sheet for a measure:
As minimal information per measure is included in the Reporting Sheet (xml file), a fact sheet
(national or regional) should be prepared to provide further details on the measure. The
format/content is given below, based on the format used for WFD reporting on each measure. NOTE:
where the measure is already reported under the WFD process, there is no need to report this again,
but simply provide a URL web link in the Reporting Sheet to where the WFD measure fact sheet can
be accessed.
Content of the fact sheet:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
3.1
Measure code/name
Description
Measure type (i.e. 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b)
Existing or new measure – policy used (e.g. Habitats Directive, RSC measure, MSFD)
Temporal coverage (start date, end date if appropriate)
Responsible Competent Authority and delivery authorities/organisations
Mode of implementation (e.g. legal, policy, economic)
CEA and CBA undertaken (Not needed/Yes/No)
Financing (state of securing, source of funding)
Level of coordination in implementation (e.g. Local, national, regional)
Obstacles to delivery
Effectiveness of implementation – indicators, milestones
Adopting WFD reporting to MSFD reporting needs
The reporting of measures under the WFD KTMs in 2016 is expected to make a relevant and
significant contribution to achieving GES for the MSFD, especially to address land-based water-borne
pressures which are also affecting the marine environment. There is a need to add "new" KTMs
which are mainly focused on sea-based (and air-based) pressures in order to cover any new MSFDspecific measures. This extension to the existing WFD approach will facilitate comparability and the
consolidation of information at the EU level. Member States are expected to "bundle" their national
measures (usually much more detailed than the KTMs) to report them in an aggregated way as KTMs.
The 25 predefined KTMs for the 2016 WFD reporting, as well as their relevance to MSFD, are listed in
Table 4.
The 2016 WFD reporting guidance already includes linkages to the MSFD by means of new reporting
questions that cover the MSFD. These are listed in the textbox below.
Questions related to MSFD in the 2016 WFD reporting on measures:






Is this measure relevant for the purpose of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive?
Has the preparations of the WFD RBMP/PoM been coordinated with the implementation of the
Marine Strategy Framework Directive?
In developing the WFD PoM, have you assessed the need for additional measures/more
stringent measures beyond those required by the WFD in order to achieve the relevant MSFD
objectives in coastal and marine environment?
If MSFD Assessment is “yes”, for which issues are additional measures needed to meet the MSFD
objectives? Choice is given between Nutrients, chemicals, litter, others
Please provide a reference to where more information can be found on the coordination with
the MSFD implementation and the consideration of the MSFD objectives in developing the WFD
PoM.
Was joint consultation carried out on the Marine Strategy? If yes, provide more information in
the RBMP/background documents.
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The already existing question on MSFD relevance in the section entitled “Mapping KTMs to individual
measures”8 is shown below.
Existing question:
Schema element: MSFDRelevance
Field type / facets: Yes, No, Unknown
Guidance: Required: Is this measure relevant for the purpose of the Marine Strategy Framework
Directive?
More specific information on the relevance of the WFD measure to MSFD implementation is
required, in particular, to make the links to the relevant environmental targets, GES descriptors and
Annex III elements. Rather than add this detail to the WFD reporting (which could be at a fine
resolution (water body/river basin), the information is captured in the MSFD Reporting Sheet. This
will ensure the linkages are made to WFD reporting whilst allowing the specific MSFD information to
be kept with similar information for non-WFD measures.
8
p.241 of the WFD 2016 Guidance report
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This section is not to be included in the PoM Recommendation
Section 4 Article 16 Assessment
Article 16 MSFD requires the Commission to make an assessment, within 6 months, of whether the
programmes “constitute an appropriate framework to meet the requirements” of the MSFD (Article
16 assessment). This includes assessing the adequacy, consistency and coherence of the information
reported by the Member States.
In order to guide the Member States on the content of their PoM reporting (Article 13), it is
important to also define the questions used to make the assessment of adequacy, consistency and
coherence as per Article 16 MSFD.
To define these assessment questions, a modular approach similar to that used for the Art. 12
assessment of monitoring programmes is followed, with first a set of headline assessment questions.
Where relevant the PoM recommendations have been integrated. A more detailed set of assessment
questions on the adequacy, consistency and coherence of the measures reported will then be
developed along with the structure of the information that Member States should report in order to
allow this assessment.
The preliminary set of headline assessment questions are:
1. Has a public consultation been undertaken?
2. Has an inventory of existing measures under other legislation been undertaken (including
measures for which implementation is pending or on-going)?
3. Has the MS assessed to which extent the existing measures are sufficient to achieve GES and
environmental targets? Has a gap analysis been made between baseline scenario (i.e.
current status taking into account implementation of existing measures) and GES and
environmental targets?
4. Have new measures been identified to bridge the gap between baseline scenario and the
desired status of the marine environment (GES and targets)?
5. When selecting new measures have MS ensured that they are based on / taken into account:
a. Technical feasibility
b. Sustainability (Impact assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit
analysis)
6. Has (sub)regional coordination in development of PoMs been undertaken, and what were the
key outcomes (e.g. coordinated national PoMs, joint measures, identification of issues for
EU/international consideration)
7. Have the transboundary impacts on waters beyond the MS waters been assessed?
8. Has the Member State considered the implications of its PoM on waters beyond its
jurisdiction?
9. How and when were any identified transboundary impacts (positive and negative) notified to
affected states? How were their views taken into account in their final set of PoMs?
10. Has the Member State designated marine protected areas covering the relevant biodiversity
components?
11. Are the measures linked to maritime spatial planning?Are all pressures reported under
Article 8 covered by the KTMs of the PoM (existing or new)?
12. Are all targets reported under Article 10 covered by the KTMs of the PoM (existing or new)?
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Overall assessment question
13. Does the programme of measures (PoM) as a whole constitute an appropriate programme to
meet the requirements of the MSFD (GES and targets)?
14. If not and gaps have been identified, are these gaps justified by exceptions (see Section 5.2
for more detailed assessment questions on exceptions)?
Questions related to assessment of coherence:
1. Are the PoM coherent and comparable across the region?
2. Do the spatial protection measures result in a coherent and representative network of
marine protected areas covering the relevant biodiversity components?
A preliminary identification of the products from the Article 16 assessment includes:
A list of products will be developed inspired by the products for the WFD agreed upon by the Water
Directors in December 2013 in “Reporting: Update of planning of work with regard to the revision of
the WFD reporting guidance and reporting exercise; discussion and endorsement of the proposed
approach” (WD/2013-2/79).
One of the main products from the assessment will be the national, regional and EU-level Article 16
assessment reports. A preliminary structure of the national report is presented below.
Country report
Section 1. Introduction and cross-cutting issues


Description of the submission process to the Commission (dates, types of documents,
format of the documents, etc.)
Short summary of the overall approach and structure of the MS PoM.
Section 2 Assessment of adequacy of the PoM as a whole
Headline question: Does the PoM as a whole constitute an appropriate programme to meet the
requirements of the MSFD?
Will the programme (or several, if appropriate) enable the achievement of GES (taking into account
where exceptions have been applied)?






The programme, including all existing and new measures, addresses all relevant targets
reported under Article 10 or provides an adequate justification for excluding particular
targets
The programme, including all existing and new measures, addresses all the relevant
pressures reported under Art. 8 or provides an adequate justification for excluding certain
pressures
All the new measures where relevant have been assessed for sustainability using an
appropriate assessment methodology such as CBA.
The reporting identifies all significant gaps in the requirements for the programme of
measures
The reporting includes plans for filling all gaps identified.
The exceptions under Art. 14 have been applied correctly
9
https://circabc.europa.eu/sd/a/7aa45212-86e3-44bd-8fa6-ee3ca3abddb2/WD_7_Reporting state of play and
way forward.doc
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


Where exceptions have been applied, adequate ad hoc measures have been applied
Transboundary impacts are addressed
The programme as a whole constitutes a consistent programme, including in relation to
what has been reported by the Member State under Articles 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
Section 3 Assessment of adequacy by KTMs





If existing measure: assessment of gap analysis (existing measures – achievement of GES)
If new measure: assessment of technically feasible, CBA/CEA, sustainability, etc.
Coverage of relevant targets (Article 10)
Coverage of relevant pressures (Article 8)
If relevant, assessment of exception for not taking the measure
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Annex: Outline reporting schema
The elements of the reporting package have been set out in the embedded spreadsheet to show the
reporting questions in more detail, including use of categorised responses and text fields. Once the
overall approach is agreed (in the PoM recommendation), this can be refined as fact sheet templates
and xml schemas, together with associated guidance.
The file contains the following sections:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
General questions (fact sheet)
Measures (partly xml report, partly fact sheet)
KTMs (xml report)
Exceptions (xml report)
KTMs – list of WFD and MSFD KTMs
1410MSFD_PoMsrep
orting.xls
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