Greening Blue Energy - BioTools For Business

3 Marine Strategy Framework Directive
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive covers the “[establishment
of] a framework for community action in the field of marine
environmental policy” and is addressed to the Member States.
This directive requires the submission of an assessment of:
• the initial environmental status of marine regions (Article 8)
• The determination of good environmental status (Article 9 and
Annexe I)
• The establishment of targets (Article 10), and of
• Monitoring programmes (Article 11)
The information reported by the Member States, namely characteristics,
pressures and impacts (Annexe III), as well as the
guidelines for monitoring programmes (Annexe V) and the type
of measures (Annexe VI), could facilitate the process and help reduce
the cost to Developers of environmental impact assessments
for ORED projects.
It should be noted that in the biological features section of
Annexe III, the fauna and flora described in seabed and water
column habitats include:
• Phytoplankton and zooplankton
• Marine algae and bottom fauna
• Fish, mammals and reptiles
• Seabirds
• Other species as well as non-indigenous and exotic species
It is a requirement that biodiversity impacts on these species
should be described in both an EIA or an SEA.
Good environmental status, as described in this directive, is contingent
on respecting existing EU legislation, such as:
• The EU directive on the conservation of wild birds (Directive
79/409/EEC)
• The conservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora
(Directive 92/43/EEC), and
• The regional and international sea and wildlife protection
conventions, such as:
• OSPAR
• MAP and BSC,
• Bonn, Bern and Helsinki (HELCOM)
• Ramsar
• AEWA
• Eurobats
• ASCOBANS and ACCOBAMS conventions.
Identifying and managing biodiversity risks and opportunities of offshore renewable energy - GREENING BLUE ENERGY 67