Member State report / Art9 / 2018 / D1-P / Germany / NE Atlantic: Greater North Sea
| Report type | Member State report to Commission |
| MSFD Article | Art. 9 Determination of GES (and Art. 17 updates) |
| Report due | 2018-10-15 |
| GES Descriptor | D1 Pelagic habitats |
| Member State | Germany |
| Region/subregion | NE Atlantic: Greater North Sea |
| Reported by | Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit |
| Report date | 2020-02-17 |
| Report access | DE_ART9_GES.xml |
GES component |
D1
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D1-P
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D1C6
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Marine reporting units |
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Features |
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GES description |
It can be said that overall GES for D1/6 cannot yet be established, but at the minimum, good environmental status is achieved if good environmental status is achieved, if:
... the coastal waters in accordance with the Water Framework Directive are in good environmental status and in good chemical status.
... are in a favourable conservation status for the habitat types of Annex I (habitat type 11) to the Habitats Directive relevant to the marine sector in the North Sea.
... the species of Annex II to the Habitats Directive, relevant for the marine sector in the North Sea, as well as species of the Birds Directive relevant to the marine sector in the North Sea, are in favourable conservation status due to the quality of their food habitat.
... the species, species groups and habitats listed in the Wadden Sea are in good condition.
... the objectives are achieved by single species or group specific conventions (e.g. ASCOBANS, seal agreement).
... the Ecological Quality Objectives (EcoQO), as defined by OSPAR.
For the assessment of good environmental status in relation to D1-Pelagic habitats, criterion D1C6 is used as set out in Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848. Pending the development of the necessary assessment methods, use in the coastal waters of < 1 nautical mile on criteria D5C2 and D5C3 and in the open North Sea > 1 nautical mile on criteria D5C2, D5C3 and D5C4.
Explanation: Germany does not update the general description of good environmental status (GES) from 2012 at descriptor level in this reporting exercise. Over the reporting period, Germany has worked with the North Sea countries in the framework of the EU's MSFD CIS process and in OSPAR to develop methodological standards (indicators, evaluation procedures). Specific aspects of criteria and indicators that contribute to a quantitative assessment of good environmental status are reported in the reporting scheme Article 8_GES. For the assessment of the criteria set out in Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848, the relevant assessments under other EU directives shall be taken into account under Article 8_GES, taking into account, as far as possible, the regional assessments that have been coordinated so far and, on a case-by-case basis, supplemented by national assessments.
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Determination date |
201810 |
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Update type |
Same as last reported determination |
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Justification for non-use of criterion |
In the coastal waters < 1 nautical mile, criterion D5C4 is not applied, as water transparency is not an appropriate parameter to assess the effects of eutrophication due to high natural turbidity.
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Justification for delay in setting EU/regional requirements |
Regional cooperation in the reporting period focused on the development of methodological standards for assessing the various pressure and condition aspects based on Commission Decision 2010/477/EU. In the regional or subregional cooperation, within the framework of OSPAR, it has mostly not been possible to agree threshold values for these indicators in order to make (quantitative) statements about the state of the affected loads or the ecosystem components. Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 results in an explicit obligation for the EU member states to agree assessment elements, threshold values and integration rules within the framework of the EU MSFD CIS process and through regional or subregional cooperation. Germany is actively working with the states bordering the North Sea, within the framework of the current work programmes of the EU MSFD CIS process and the OSPAR bodies, to establish them, where a coordinated definition is still missing.
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