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Building the analytical framework for the Europe’s coastal assessmentAndrus Meiner & Johnny RekerEuropean Environment Agency, Copenhagen, 1050, DenmarkAndrus.Meiner@eea.europa.eu, Johnny.Reker@eea.europa.euAbstractThe continuous degradation of coastal ecosystems threatens the living conditions and livelihoods of Europeansthroughout the European coastal regions. There is a need for new analytical approaches to support integrated assessmentof coastal areas in trans-boundary and ecosystem-based context. The presentation will review three methodsthat demonstrate the potential of emerging tools of spatial integration and GIS analysis: the spatial analysis ofcumulative pressures and impacts, coastal ecosystem capital accounts and assessment of coastal vulnerability —methodologies that cover more than the waters of a single state and which can help taking the next step towards atrue ecosystem-based approach to management of the European coasts.However, future work should be putting even more focus on supporting the ecosystem based approach to themanagement of human activities occurring in the European marine and coastal environment and better assess thestatus of key coastal habitats and their services.IntroductionThe analytical framework of an assessment of Europe’s coastal areas is defined by the following boundary conditions: relevancy to European Union policies, directly or indirectly aiming at the sustainability of the coasts andprinciples of Integrated Coastal Management; exploring options for assessment of ecosystems and ecosystem-based management approaches; added value by integration of spatial data sets and other coastal indicators (research, statistics) allowingrepeatable evaluations.Regional delineation of Europe's marine waters also influences the analytical framework of coastal zone assessment.European assessment has to present the trends along Europe's coasts aggregating them for the Baltic Sea, theNorth-East Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea i.e. marine regions provided by European UnionMarine Strategy Framework Directive. Where possible this division is broken further down to marine subregionsi.e. the Greater North Sea or Western Mediterranean.Towards an ecosystem assessmentThe coasts and sea play an essential role in supporting our well-being. They provide food, livelihoods and recreationalopportunities, and contribute to the climate regulation of the Earth. The EU Member states have, with theassistance of the EU Commission, through the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020 committed to map and assess the stateof the ecosystems and their related services.The sufficient integration of environmental concerns into social and economic policies, supported by effectivespatial planning and intra-regional, transboundary integration remains a challenge, especially if an ecosystem-basedapproach to management of human activities on the coast and at sea, is the goal.Informed management aimed at providing a sustainable long-term use of coastal and marine resources, whileachieving healthy, productive and resilient European coasts and seas, requires a comprehensive and reliable informationbase. It also depends on repetitive and quantitative methods to monitor and measure human impacts on thecoastal/marine ecosystems.Such information and methodologies has to address questions such as: The current state and trends of the (coastal) ecosystems; the emerging trends and projected future state of EU´s ecosystems;53