CHAPTER II

MARINE STRATEGIES: PREPARATION

Monitoring programmes
Article 11
1
On the basis of the initial assessment made pursuant to Article 8(1), Member States shall establish and implement coordinated monitoring programmes for the ongoing assessment of the environmental status of their marine waters on the basis of the indicative lists of elements set out in Annex III and the list set out in Annex V, and by reference to the environmental targets established pursuant to Article 10.
Monitoring programmes shall be compatible within marine regions or subregions and shall build upon, and be compatible with, relevant provisions for assessment and monitoring laid down by Community legislation, including the Habitats and Birds Directives, or under international agreements.
2
Member States sharing a marine region or subregion shall draw up monitoring programmes in accordance with paragraph 1 and shall, in the interest of coherence and coordination, endeavour to ensure that:
a
monitoring methods are consistent across the marine region or subregion so as to facilitate comparability of monitoring results;
b
relevant transboundary impacts and transboundary features are taken into account.
3
Member States shall notify the Commission of the monitoring programmes within three months of their establishment.
4
Specifications and standardised methods for monitoring and assessment which take into account existing commitments and ensure comparability between monitoring and assessment results, and which are designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 25(3).