1.6: Marine
To support European and international marine‑related policies and implementation by providing integrated EEA marine assessments,
covering inter alia linkages between marine ecosystem health and human well-being, supported by up-to-date data, indicators,
models and analyses.
Other Information:
Analysis - The sum of human pressures on the marine environment from fishing, energy and resource exploration and exploitation,
tourism, shipping and pollution is increasing, and the general state of marine ecosystems across Europe is poor. Climate change
is adding to the pressures, leading to impacts such as higher temperatures, ocean acidification, which are already decreasing
the ability of seas and oceans to absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and for some marine biota to function. EU policy
has now adopted an 'ecosystem approach' to the management of human activities on the marine environment through its strategies
and directives. Successful implementation at the pan-European scale will require a far better characterisation of the current
situation, past trends and outlooks via comparable data and information, including socio‑economic drivers and pressures and
an improved view of the options for and environmental consequences of current and future uses of the marine environment and
regional seas. Action - We will achieve our objective by: • providing support, via SEIS, the EEA Water Data Centre and the
Water Information System for Europe (WISE), for the clarification of needs for monitoring and assessments, establishment,
streamlining and improved access to new marine data flows, information and indicators under relevant EU legislation, particularly
for the EU Marine Strategy Framework and the Water Framework (coastal waters) Directives; • strengthening the framework of
EEA integrated marine assessments by enhanced coverage of the DPSIR components, using improved indicators, as well as by integrating
aspects of the ecosystem services approach (e.g. economic valuation), the Maritime policy initiative of a European Marine
Observation and Data Network (EMODNET), Inspire, outlooks and scenarios; • contributing to the establishment of the GMES marine
core services; • increasing our synergies with the UN and regional marine conventions, the scientific community and organised
civil society in the development of EEA integrated marine assessments to ensure that these better reflect the conditions in
each European regional sea; and • producing integrated assessments of the marine environment and the effectiveness of EU policies,
including biodiversity, water quality, fisheries and maritime issues, and the state and value of marine ecosystem goods and
services under different policy-relevant scenarios, and contributing to marine assessments for the Baltic under the Swedish
Presidency in 2009, the Spanish Presidency in 2010, for Horizon 2020 in the Mediterranean, on the Arctic for the EC and Arctic
and Nordic Councils and for Eureca 2012.
Indicator(s):
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