The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD; full title: Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy) is a European Directive originally aimed at achieving or maintaining Good Environmental Status (GES) in European marine regions and sub-regions by the year 2020 for 11 descriptors.European Commission - Legislation: The Marine Directive These descriptors include: D1 Biodiversity, D2 Non-indigenous species, D3 Commercial fish and shellfish, D4 Food webs, D5 Eutrophication, D6 Seafloor integrity, D7 Hydrographic conditions, D8 Environmental contaminants, D9 Contaminants in seafood, D10 Marine Litter, and D11 Introduction of energy, including noise.
The objective of Good Environmental Status had not been achieved by 2020 in all EU waters across all GES descriptors.
Overview The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is a framework directive, and this means that there are no specific targets and measures defined within the directive itself. The EU Member States therefore have a significant role in operationalising the goal of achieving or maintaining Good Environmental Status in the marine environment by the year 2020. They do so by developing their own marine strategies that must be implemented to protect or restore marine environments, as well as, reducing and preventing inputs to the marine environment to phase out pollution. The Directive is motivated by the fact that marine environments have been adversely affected by increasing human pressures in recent decades, as coastal and marine activities have expanded.
The scope of the directive applies to Member States' sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Baltic Sea, the North-east Atlantic Ocean (composed of the Greater North Sea, including the Kattegat and the English Channel, the Celtic Seas, the Bay of Biscay, the Iberian Coast, and the Macaronesian biogeographic region), the Mediterranean Sea (composed of the Western Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea, the Central Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean-Levantine Sea) and the Black Sea, with various subdivisions defined. Member States sharing marine regions are required to cooperate so as to have coherent strategies across regions. The cooperation and thus the implementation of the MSFD is reliant on already existing regional cooperation structures such as the Regional Seas Conventions (RSCs). The number of these RSCs correspond to the four European marine regions that the MSFD prescribed for the purpose of management, listed above. The corresponding RSCs are the Helsinki Convention (for the Baltic Sea), the OSPAR Convention (for the North-East Atlantic), the Barcelona Convention (for the Mediterranean), and the Bucharest Convention (for the Black Sea).
Besides policy cooperation taking place at regional level, policy coordination takes place at EU level to ensure consistency between the objectives of the MSFD and other directives, regulations and policies. The MSFD indeed has synergies with other EU policies such as the Water Framework Directive, the Habitats and Birds Directives, the Common Fisheries Policy, and Integrated Coastal Zone Management, which had to be considered in the development and planning of the Directive. More recent synergistic policies include the Single-Use plastics Directive, the EU Plastics Strategy, and the Ship-source pollution Directive to name a few. The MSFD is thus intended to integrate rather than replace related environmental legislation.
The Environmental Pillar of EU Maritime Governance Considered one of the most ambitious instruments of marine governance worldwide, the MSFD is anchored in the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP), which also comprises the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD). The MSPD taps into a global maritime spatial planning movement, and is considered the 'Blue Growth Directive', as it requires Member States to pursue blue growth while ensuring GES. Blue growth is tied to the ocean politics paradigm of 'blue economy', which recognises the ocean as a new economic frontier and links economic growth with principles of sustainable development and environmental protection.
The MSFD is considered the 'environmental directive', as it governs the environmental aspects of the blue economy under EU law. It also aims to protect the European marine environment and to ensure that natural resources are exploited sustainably, so biodiversity is maintained or achieved. The MSFD establishes criteria for this sustainable exploitation of natural resources based on the precautionary principle to prevent irreversible changes. Besides, the Directive also aims to ensure clean, healthy and productive regional seas. The MSFD thus links ocean health to human-induced pressures to guide marine management. Therefore, the MSFD also represents the paradigm of 'ocean health', which implies thinking of the oceans as 'a sick patient', requiring scientifically formed interventions to restore its well-being.
The legal text of the MSFD is composed of three parts. The first is a Preamble, which lays out the broad guidelines of the Directive. Amongst other things, it is here described that the Directive constitutes an important cornerstone of the EU's future maritime policy and that the Directive aims to promote the integration of environmental considerations in all relevant policy areas. Here, an exemption regime is also included whereby states can justify not achieving GES or the environmental targets. The second part of the Directive is the operative part, and this is divided into five chapters. The third and final part is composed of six annexes, which provide standards and guidance to Member States as they are addressing the operative part. The most central here is probably Annex 1, as this is about the qualitative descriptors that Member States must determine the characteristics of GES upon.
The Directive was updated in 2017. In 2017, the Commission also laid down assessment criteria and methodologies for defining GES for each descriptor to ensure coherence of definitions of GES between Member States, thereby narrowing their margin of discretion in defining GES.
Descriptors The 11 qualitative descriptors of the MSFD are listed in the third part of the Directive in Annex I and describe the desired state of the environment. The descriptors address the main characteristics, impacts and pressures in marine ecosystems. They can either refer to a state, such as D1 Biodiversity, or a pressure, such as D8 Environmental contaminants. The MSFD included more novel descriptors in the Directive such as D10 Marine Litter and D11 Introduction of energy, including noise, to encompass new and emerging pressures, which are not explicitly addressed by other policies. For instance, D3 Commercial Fish and Shellfish and D5 Eutrophication were already steered by the Common Fisheries Policy and the Water Framework Directive, respectively. By encompassing new pressures such as underwater noise in D11 and marine litter, including microplastics in D10, the EU has been a global frontrunner: The MSFD formally defines underwater noise as a pollutant and represents the first instance that microplastics in the marine environment have been included in a legislative act.
Main Actors and Stakeholders The main actors in the MSFD are the policy-making entities in the governments of the national Member States, as they are the ones responsible for developing marine strategies as well as achieving and maintaining GES. The Regional Seas Conventions do, however, also play a major role in coordinating these strategies. Besides, EU institutions are also central actors. These include the European Commission that play a role in guidance, oversight, and coordination, as it is responsible for the analysis of submitted Member State assessments, which are evaluated for their adequacy, completeness and coherence. Other relevant EU institutions include the European Environment Agency that stores and makes available monitoring reports. The MSFD Common Implementation Strategy also coordinates the policy implementation and guides, supervises, and evaluates the process.
As regards stakeholders, different public, private and third sector organisations who have a vested interest in marine waters are worthy of mention. Survey results have found that environmental NGOs have a significantly higher preference for being involved in decision-making processes to achieve GES as compared to other private stakeholders. Private energy firms have been active in consultation processes and have participated in some working groups, and the dredging and renewable energy industries have also sought influence along with the tourism industry with a link to marine waters. Some scholars argue, however, that the MSFD lacks coherency and detail with respect to stakeholder involvement, and that it can be difficult for policymakers to identify when and how to engage stakeholders in the implementation of the MSFD.
Background
Prior to 2008, the European Union had a laissez-faire approach to the regulation and management of the marine environment, resources and ecology. Maritime disputes between Member States would often result in arbitration proceedings, such as the MOX Plant Case (Ireland v. United Kingdom) of October 2001.
In 2001, 90% of oil trade with the EU was seaborne and almost 70% of imports passed the shores of Brittany and the English Channel. To minimize risk of polluting shipping disasters, the European Commission recommended maritime safety measures such as phasing out single-hull tankers, and creating a European Maritime Safety Agency. Following the major oil spills of MV Erika in 1999 and MV Prestige in 2002, the European Commission recommended the adoption of international maritime rules in April 2002, notably those of the IMO, of which the EU has never been a full member.
On 22 July 2002, the European Commission's Sixth Community Environment Action Programme (6th EAP) was defined to set European environmental policy up to 2010.
In October 2002, the European Commission reported that there was no integrated policy in existing EU policies and legislation to protect the marine environment, and proposed a strategy to promote sustainable use of the seas and oceans as well as conservation of global marine ecosystems. The resultant strategy outlined in October 2005 defined a dual EU and regional approach; common co-operation among Member States and third countries bordering EU waters, but planning and execution of measures taken at regional levels due to diversity of conditions, problems and needs of each marine region. Additionally, it concluded that a binding legal commitment was required from Member States to ensure adequate levels of protection from each state. As such, an EU Directive was chosen as the legal instrument for the strategy.
Creating the MSFD - The Legislative Process Now constituting a major part of the EU environmental legislation, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive was ratified on 17 June 2008 by the European Council with the unanimity of all 27 (at the time) Member States. It was then published on 25 June 2008 and came into force 20 days later, on 15 July 2008, reflecting an increasingly active role of the EU in marine governance.
The European Commission's Directorate-General for the Environment (DG ENV) developed and planned the drafting of the Directive. In accordance with the Ordinary Legislative Procedure of the European Union, the Commission proposed the Directive, which was then modified and subsequently adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.