In the frame of the preparation of the MSFD 2018 reporting guidelines, a document on “MSFD marine reporting units” [1] has been prepared by the EEA/ETC and discussed in several WG DIKE meetings, where 5 scales/levels have been proposed for the reporting of the different descriptors of the Directive:

a) MSFD Regions,

b) MSFD Subregions,

c) Subdivisions within each region or subregion,

d) National part of a region, subregion or subdivision, and

e) Further division into coastal waters and territorial waters as reported under WFD (by RBD within each MSFD subregion or subdivision) and beyond territorial waters. Regarding level (c), OSPAR and HELCOM have identified subdivisions for the Baltic Sea and the NE Atlantic Ocean regions. However, such an exercise has not yet been done for the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea regions.

The workshop objectives and setting stem from discussions of members from the Mediterranean EU Member States in working groups GES and DIKE to address issues related to the use of assessment and reporting units in the Mediterranean, and aims to delineate subdivisions within the Mediterranean sub-regions, where needed for the different MSFD descriptors.
 
Participation of colleagues/experts from the South Mediterranean countries to this workshop are welcome.  The aim is to reinforce synergies and encourage mutually-supportive technical developments in the region.

Meeting documents:

Documents and presentations to be uploaded to the meeting folder in CIRCA at the following link: https://circabc.europa.eu/w/browse/b5c0c6cd-c668-4299-878b-b05152cf4c9f