1. Assessment of Reporting on Competent Authorities
Claire Dupont, Milieu Ltd.,
13 November 2012

2. Member States’ Obligations
Article 7 requires MS to designate CAs by 15 July 2010 and report to the Commission on 15 January 2011 on:
CAs designated pursuant to Annex II
CAs participating in international bodies relevant for the implementation of the MSFD
CA(s) competent for cooperation and coordination within the catchment area of each marine region or subregion (Art.6)

3. The different elements of Annex II
Name and address
Legal status: administrative level of authority e.g. national/regional and the type of authority (ministry, agency) and relevant key hierarchical relationships
Legal and administrative responsibilities and role
Membership: when the CA(s) acts as a coordinating body for other competent authorities, a list of these together with a summary of the institutional relationships to ensure coordination.
Regional or subregional coordination: summary of the mechanisms to ensure coordination between the MS whose marine waters fall within the same marine region or subregion.

4. Assessment topics Assessment topics
The CA(s) for the implementation of the Directive
For the preparation of the initial assessment
For the determination of GES and the establishment of environmental targets and associated indicator
For the monitoring programme
For the programme of measures
The CA(s) for cooperation at the marine region or sub-region level
The legal status of the CA(s)
The legal and administrative responsibilities of the CA(s) and their role in relation to the marine waters concerned
When the CA(s) act(s) as a coordinating body for other CAs, a list of membership and a summary of the institutional relationship to ensure coordination
The mechanisms for coordination between the MS in shared marine region(s) or sub-region(s)
Preparation of an assessment questionnaire on the basis of the requirements of MSFD Article 7 and Annex II, including where appropriate linkages to other aspects of MSFD implementation (e.g. links between the Competent Authority(ies) and implementation of key Articles such as assessments, monitoring and measures).
Analysis of reports submitted by Member States (either electronically into ReportNet or via letter) according to the questionnaire/evaluation process. This task has been carried out by national experts.
Preparation of a draft report presenting the Member State analysis, together with recommended actions
Revision of the draft report following comments from DG Environment
On legal and administrative responsibilities and role: descriptions of the broader roles and responsibilities of the CA, beyond the MSFD itself: for example, whether the CA has a specific mandate for marine waters or a role in areas such as fisheries or offshore permits

5. General Results All MS have reported except for PL, CZ and HU
Level of information provided by MS varies greatly in terms of volume or content
Fields where information was less complete are: coordination mechanisms between MS, and to a lesser extent, legal status, role & responsibilities, coordination amongst CAs
e.g., about 30 pages of material for some MS, while some Member States only filled in the ReportNet form in a minimal fashion
Some Member States only reported information in national legislation, while others provided greater description.

6. Key findings
Description of CAs responsible for implementation and cooperation between MS: generally well reported but not all MS have distinguished according to the different elements of the MSFD.
Legal status: generally clear information e.g. describing the legal status of the ministry or other body acting as CA.
Roles and responsibilities: very variable level of information. Some MS have described in details the different responsibilities including beyond the MSFD implementation in the strict sense.
Coordination amongst CAs: concern only MS which have designated several CAs reflecting a federal structure or principally different offices in the national government.
Coordination within marine (sub)regions: MS refer to RSC and some mentioned further activities e.g. joint cooperation projects. Some MS refer only to bilateral cooperation.
The preparation of the initial assessment
The determination of GES, the establishment of targets and indicators
The monitoring programme
The programme of measures
It should be noted that several Member States with only one CA mentioned coordination mechanisms among government ministries and other offices, and in some cases with sub-national ministries (for example in federal or semi-federal countries). This is the case, for example, in Italy, where the Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea will set up a technical committee whose members will include representatives of other ministries and of regions.
Coordination amongst CAs: concern only MS which have designated several CAs reflecting a federal structure (DE, PT, UK) or principally different offices in the national government (BE, BG, FR, LT, MT, NL, RO, SI).