1. Monitoring and assessment of the marine environment under the European Marine Strategy
Introduction
The European Union is highly dependent on maritime transport. Around 90% of its external trade and 40% of its internal trade goes by sea. For most inter continental trade, shipping is of course the only feasible option. World trade is growing and as a result so is EU shipping. Trade has consistently grown at a faster rate than the world economy for the last six decades. In view of the scale of current and predicted activity, it is inevitable that concerns arise about its impact on the environment.
The development of short sea shipping is seen as a central element of the strategy for a European transport system set out in the Commission’s 2001 transport White Paper which seeks to encourage use of more environmentally benign modes of transport. The view is often stated that in order to reduce pollution and ease congestion on the roads, shipping should be encouraged. This may well be true, with a number of caveats. Firstly that using the sea should not lead to further growth in demand to distribute the goods by road, secondly that shipping actually should result in lower pollutant emissions. On the positive side it should be noted that where shipping substitutes for road transport, its low energy use per tonne-km helps to reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.
As with all modes of transport the external effects from shipping vary. The Commission has a long standing policy of seeking to ensure that all modes of transport pay their external costs, and there is of course every reason why this should also be implemented in the maritime sector.
So we can see that shipping does offer potential for satisfying a proportion of transport demand in a way that offers some environmental benefits. However, in doing so, there are environmental concerns that need to be addressed. In addition if capacity is to be expanded it will give rise to additional environmental pressures.
Gert Verreet – DG Environment, Unit D.2 marine team
Eva Royo Gelabert – EEA
June 2006

2. European Marine Monitoring and Assessment (EMMA)
One of the four working groups established to elaborate the Strategy, only one currently still active
Jointly operated by DG ENV and the EEA (co-chairs)
Most recent (6th) meeting 3-4 April, EEA, Copenhagen

3. Main elements of EMMA roadmap (1/2)
Roadmap objective
Purpose
A.1 Inventory per region and country of existing monitoring of elements in marine strategy directive.
A.2 Pan-European level inventory of indicators, (…), based on inventories per region.
To improve at national level understanding of starting situation, to see the extent to which data and information are already available in existing context of marine environmental monitoring and assessment work and which gaps exist on country basis.
To see across countries and regions how the situation is in level of existing data and information and to determine more precisely where improvements can be expected through action at international (regional, Europe, …) level.
To learn the degree of commonality in indicators across regions and see how things are done elsewhere, determining scope for harmonisation or understanding reasons for regional differences.
A.3.1 Determining the contribution of operational oceanography to marine environmental indicators
Given strong commitments to operational environmental data and information services, to capitalise in on these developments at operational level so that newly developing data and information streams feed in rapidly, and are tuned, to end-users such as the environmental monitoring and assessment community.
A.4.1 Convergence of assessment methods and presentation of status of biodiversity
General need across regions and many developments where there is scope to avoid incoherence across institutional boundaries. High general interest for better tools to capture the complexity.

4. Main elements of EMMA roadmap (2/2)
Roadmap objective
Purpose
B.1 EMS Glossary
To avoid (potentially costly) misunderstanding of key terms.
E.2 Clarity on practical mechanisms to benefit from existing and upcoming operational oceanography data streams for the purpose of the EMS
Benefit from improved applied communication between the operational oceanography community and the marine environmental monitoring community at national level and at the level where the indicators are processed.
I.1 A complete and clear list of research needs, suitable for use in a research management context
Coherence in articulating common research needs to ensure sufficient early focus on EMS/MSD needs in e.g. FP7 context which may lead to research results in time for practical application during the EMS/MSD implementation period.

5. “Next steps” in fulfilling EMMA roadmap (1/2)
Roadmap objective
Timing and main actors
A.1 Inventory per region and country of existing monitoring of elements in marine strategy directive.
A.2 Pan-European level inventory of indicators, (…), based on inventories per region
Spring 2006
EEA, written process to start with. Main aim is to “converge” to a core set of indicators, starting with the EEA’s. These should be useful to not only improve the EEA’s pan-European marine assessments but also to prevent duplication and eventually support EMS implementation
Some refining via EEA-led EMMA workshops on data flow harmonisation/comparability on “operational oceanography”, “ecological processed/biological elements” and “chemical loads and burdens”

6. “Next steps” in fulfilling EMMA roadmap (2/2)
Roadmap objective
Timing and main actors
A.3.1 Determining the contribution of operational oceanography to marine environmental indicators
E.2 Clarity on practical mechanisms to benefit from existing and upcoming operational oceanography data streams for the purpose of the EMS
Autumn 2006
Contribution from EEA-led workshop on “Bringing operational oceanography into the assessments under the EMS and EEA assessments; requirements for a marine spatial data infrastructure”
A.4.1 Convergence of assessment methods and presentation of status of biodiversity
Summer 2006
Contribution from EEA-led expert meeting on “European Biodiversity Indicators for 2010: the marine component”, 27-28th June 2006
Contribution from EEA-led workshop on “Requirements and data needs to develop the assessments of ecological processes and biological elements”, end 2006