Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2013)743 - EU position on amending the Protocol concerning Special Protected Areas and Biological Biodiversity in the Mediterranean and on the Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter

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dossier COM(2013)743 - EU position on amending the Protocol concerning Special Protected Areas and Biological Biodiversity in the Mediterranean and ...
source COM(2013)743 EN
date 25-10-2013
1. The EU is a Party to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (the 'Barcelona Convention')[1], and its Protocols. Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus and Croatia are also Parties to the Convention and its Protocols, together with 13 non EU Mediterranean countries.

2. The Eighteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention (MOP) will take place 3-6 December 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey.

3. The Meeting of the Parties will be asked to decide, i.a. on two acts having legal effects:

– A proposal to adopt a Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, under the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution for Land Based Sources ("the LBS Protocol")

– A proposal to amend the annexes II and III to the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean[2] (the 'SPA and Biodiversity protocol')

4. On the proposal to adopt a Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter:

(a) The LBS Protocol provides for the adoption by the Convention of regional action plans to eliminate pollution from land-based sources and activities. Once the plans are adopted, their measures and timetables become legally binding, in the framework of the implementation of Article 15 of the Land-based Sources Protocol.

(b) A new proposal for a Marine Litter Regional Action Plan has been formulated by the Secretariat of the Convention and was approved within MEDPOL, the relevant technical body of the Convention, in June 2013. This proposal is in line with EU legislation on waste and water[3], and the Rio+20 commitment to significantly reduce marine litter i. It should also be enhanced by a few additional technical adaptations at the MOP 18. Enhanced cooperation with third countries for the protection of the marine environment is necessary to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC[5].

(c) The Marine Litter Regional Action Plan is, as stated in its article 5 'without prejudice to stricter provisions, respecting marine litter management measures contained in other existing or future national, regional or international instruments or programmes'. It invites Parties to elaborate, as appropriate, relevant measures and programmes to target marine litter.

5. On the proposal to amend the SPA Biodiversity Protocol, in order to upgrade five coral species from Annex III to Annex II and to include six other species directly into annex II to the SPA and Biodiversity Protocol

(a) The proposal was discussed in the relevant technical body of the Convention: the focal points meeting of the SPA Biodiversity Protocol. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) has taken part in the meeting. In accordance with Article 17 of the Convention and Article 14(1) of the SPA and Biodiversity Protocol, an amendment to the annexes to the Protocol will become effective for all Contracting Parties to the Protocol on the expiry of a period determined by the Contracting Parties concerned when adopting the amendment, except for those Contracting Parties which have opted out by notifying the Depositary.

(b) The coral species concerned are included in Annex I to the Habitats Directive[6] as natural habitat types of community interest whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation[7]. Five of these coral species (Callogorgia verticillata, Cladocora caespitosa, Ellisella paraplexauroides, Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata) are explicitly mentioned in the interpretation manual of EU habitats[8] and other species (Antipatella subpinnata, Antipathes dichotoma, Antipathes fragilis, Leiopathes glaberrima, Parantipathes larix, Cladocora debilis) are included as components of corallogenic reef concretions.

(c) The support of these proposals by the EU ensures consistency between its internal and external action. The EU is committed to international cooperation for the protection of biodiversity in line with Article 191 (1) TFEU and in accordance with Article 5 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the agreements made during the CBD Conference of the Parties in Nagoya, 2010, the concern expressed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 'on the significant vulnerability of coral reefs and mangroves to impacts, including from climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing, destructive fishing practices and pollution' the commitment “to support international cooperation with a view to conserving coral reef and mangrove ecosystems and realizing their social, economic and environmental benefits as well as facilitating technical collaboration and voluntary information-sharing" as well as the Aichi Biodiversity Target No 10 according to which 'by 2015, the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification are minimized, so as to maintain their integrity and functioning'.

6. The proposal for amendment of the SPA and Biodiversity Protocol and the proposal for a Marine Litter Action Plan under Article 15 of the LBS Protocol will not require any change to Union Law.

7. In view of the above, the European Union should support the proposal to adopt the Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter and the proposal to amend the annexes II and III to the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean.