More than half of the EU Member States fall short of MSFD implementation

European Commission scorecards published today reveal that more than half of the EU Member States fail to achieve a key milestone in the implementation of the Marine Framework Strategy Directive.

EU Member States were legally required to produce by 15th of July 2012 an initial assessment of the current environmental status of marine waters; to determine what Good Environmental Status is considered, and to set up environmental targets and associated indicators to guide progress in order to achieve GES.

The deadline for submitting these deliverables was 15th of October and it seems that only twelve (12) out twenty (22) Member States have sent their reports to the European Commission according to the EC website.

Countries that have submitted their reports to the European Commission are: Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

Those that have not submitted their reports yet include: Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.

However, these scorecards do not give any indication as to whether the reports conform to the requirements of the Directive (i.e. if the reported information fulfills all requirements of the respective articles). The European Commission is assessing these reports and a report is expected to be published later in 2013.

Find below the joint NGO Guidance Paper on the implementation of the MSFD.

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