Directive 2000/60/EC requires the Member States to protect enhance and restore all bodies of surface waters with the aim of achieving good ecological and chemical status. It furthermore requires Member States to protect and enhance all artificial and heavily modified bodies of water, with the aim of achieving good ecological potential and good chemical status.

In accordance with Directive 2000/60/EC the intercalibration exercise is to be carried out at biological element level, comparing the classification results of the national monitoring system for each biological element and for each common surface water body type among Member States and ensuring the consistency of the results with the normative definitions set out in Section 1.2 of Annex V to that Directive.

A third phase of the intercalibration exercise was therefore necessary in order to close these gaps and improve the comparability of the intercalibration results in time for the third river basin management plans due in 2021. The results of this third phase of the intercalibration exercise are included in the Annex to this Decision.

The Annex to this Decision sets out the results of the intercalibration exercise. For the results in Part 1 of the Annex all steps of the intercalibration process set out in the guidance documents have been fully completed. Part 2 of the Annex contains the national classification methods and their respective boundary values for which it has not been technically feasible to complete the comparability assessment due to a lack of common types, different pressures addressed or different assessment concepts. Since the results set out in Part 1 and Part 2 of the Annex are consistent with the normative definitions set out in Section 1.2 of Annex V to Directive 2000/60/EC, the respective boundary values should be used in Member States monitoring systems classifications.

Where water bodies corresponding to the intercalibrated types are designated as artificial or heavily modified water bodies in accordance with Article 4(3) of Directive 2000/60/EC, Member States should be allowed to use the results presented in the Annex to this Decision to derive their good ecological potential, taking into account their physical modifications and their associated water use in accordance with the normative definitions in point 1.2.5 of Annex V to Directive 2000/60/EC.

Member States should apply the results of the intercalibration exercise to their national classification systems in order to set the boundaries between high and good status and between good and moderate status for all their national types.

The information that is made available through the establishment of the monitoring programmes provided for in Article 8 of Directive 2000/60/EC and the review and update of the characteristics of river basin districts provided for in Article 5 of that Directive could bring new evidence that may lead to the adaptation to scientific and technical progress of the Member States’ monitoring and classification systems. Member States may also develop new national classification methods covering biological quality elements or sub biological quality elements and respective boundary values for which the consistency with the normative definitions set out in Section 1.2 of Annex V to Directive 2000/60/EC should be assessed. These matters may lead to a review of the results of the intercalibration exercise to close gaps and improve the quality and comparability of the intercalibration results which in turn may warrant an update of the results contained in the Annex to this Decision.

Decision 2013/480/EU should therefore be repealed and replaced accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee referred to in Article 21(1) of Directive 2000/60/EC,