The European Commission has sent out warnings to various countries, including Malta for failing to comply with reporting obligations under a directive whose aims with relevance for divers include:
“The marine environment is a precious heritage that must be protected, preserved and, where practicable, restored with the ultimate aim of maintaining biodiversity and providing diverse and dynamic oceans and seas which are clean, healthy and productive. In that respect, this Directive should, inter alia, promote the integration of environmental considerations into all relevant policy areas and deliver the environmental pillar of the future maritime policy for the European Union.”
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/56/oj
and
“The establishment of marine protected areas, including areas already designated or to be designated under Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (5) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Habitats Directive’), Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (6) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Birds Directive’), and under international or regional agreements to which the European Community or Member States concerned are Parties, is an important contribution to the achievement of good environmental status under this Directive.”
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/56/oj
Judging by what we hear on a regular basis, maybe this lack of reporting isn’t just someone missing the deadline…
Just a few news items we covered over the last months:
- Sewage at Ras il-Hobz
- Marine Protected Area management objectives published almost in secret…
- Conservation zones around wrecks turned into fishing grounds again within 15 days
The European Commission’s statement on this reasoned opinion stated:
“Today, the European Commission decided to send reasoned opinions to Denmark (INFR(2022)2174), Greece (INFR(2022)2176), Croatia (INFR(2022)2177) and Malta (INFR(2022)2181) to comply with reporting obligations under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (Directive 2008/56/EC). The Directive aims to achieve a good environmental status of the EU’s seas and oceans while ensuring that their resources are managed sustainably. The European Green Deal, with its zero pollution ambition, calls for air, water and soil pollution to be reduced, by 2050, to levels no longer considered harmful to human health and natural ecosystems, thereby creating a toxic-free environment and enhancing collective resilience. Under the Directive, Member States were required to review and update their programmes of measures by 31 March 2022. These programmes are the cornerstones of the Directive as they identify the measures which need to be taken to achieve or maintain good environmental status in the marine environment and ensure that the implementation of these measures is monitored. Several Member States failed to submit reports on the updates of their programmes of measures to the Commission by the required deadlines. For this reason, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the Member States concerned in February 2023. Some Member States have since adopted and reported their programmes of measures. However, Denmark, Greece, Croatia, and Malta have so far failed to do so. Therefore, the Commission has decided to issue a reasoned opinion to these Member States which now have two months to respond and take the necessary measures. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union.”
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_24_301
