D2 NIS REVIEW PROCESS March 2014: Draft Manual endorsed by WG GES June 2014: Manual prepared by Milieu. Filled by DG ENV and EC JRC. September 2014: Amended with comments from MSFD CC Expert Group on NIS February 2015: Amended with comments from GES considering also the directions from the cross-cutting workshop April 2015: Amended with comments received from Expert Group and DG ENV April 2015 Final report to CIRCABC for the WG GES meeting. 2 December 2018 1

D2 NIS Key recommendations Criterion 2.1 Retained with some important modifications Improve quality of species inventories Link regional and national NIS inventories Coherence across policies Align in particular with IAS Regulation, including agreement on definitions GES threshold values Qualitative, e.g. increasing trend in the presence and abundance of NIS, qualified as negative, whereas negative trends or stable situations, considered at least acceptable, but no agreement

D2 NIS Outstanding issues Criterion 2.2 Needs to be further considered, i.e. is it needed? If yes, agree on a revised version This requires considering links with other descriptors, in particular D1, D4 and D6 Exchange of information on indicators/ methodological standards Work ongoing to develop indicators at national and regional levels New criteria dealing directly with “propagules pressure”? Current criteria address pressure and impact exerted by the already established IAS GES threshold values

D2 NIS Way forward Workshop with D2 expert group (+ thematic experts: D1, RCSs) Tentative: end of June 2015 (back-to-back with D1)

D2 NIS Issue Way forward Timeline Harmonization across Descriptors on assessment elements and integrated assessment across them Links of the D2 (as a pressure) with the state Descriptors Interaction with state descriptors’ expert groups, RSCs End 2018