CONSULTATION BRIEF
Start date: 9 December 2019
Closing date: 4 February 2020
Title of the public consultation: Public Consultation: Updated Assessment of Status, Good Environmental Status and Environmental Targets for Malta’s marine waters pursuant to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD)
Ministry: Ministry for Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Entity: Environment & Resources Authority
1. Background
EU Directive 2008/56/EC establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy, known as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), calls for the achievement or maintenance of Good Environmental Status (GES) in the marine environment by the year 2020 through the development and implementation of marine strategies. GES is defined by eleven descriptors covering various elements pertaining to the marine environment and the pressures thereon. Member States are required to seek achievement of GES, as determined at the level of the marine region or sub-region, for each Annex I descriptor based on a plan of action stipulated by the Directive itself.
In accordance with Article 17 and Article 19 of the Directive, all the elements of the marine strategy should be reviewed every six years after their initial establishment and the updates should be made available to the public for comments. Within this context, ERA has carried out the second cycle of the assessment of the status of the marine environment, and the revision of GES characteristics and the environmental targets that were initially reported by Malta in 2013.
The documents being issued as part of this public consultation include the state of the marine environment and associated pressures and impacts (Article 8), and the revised Good Environmental Status characteristics (Article 9) and environmental targets (Article 10).
2. Consultation
The public is invited to submit any feedback or comments on these documents.
3. Documents
MSFD Initial Assessment – Second Cycle
MSFD Good Environmental Status & Environmental Targets – Second Cycle
4. Submission of feedback
E-mail: [email protected]
5. Further notes
Please be informed that comments submitted, together with the identity of the contributor, may be published online at the end of the public consultation, unless the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal data. In this case, the contribution may be published in anonymous form.
All comments submitted shall be duly considered.
