Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
15.2 European Approach
In Europe, the European Union (EU) is addressing the harmonization of the manage-
ment of water quality among member nations. One aspect of the EU approach is deliv-
ered by REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemical
Substances), a regulation of June 2007, with the aim to improve the protection of human
and environmental health through better and earlier identification of the properties,
particularly toxic properties, of chemicals produced by industry. REACH puts greater
responsibility on industry to manage the risks from chemicals and provide safety infor-
mation on the potential hazard or toxicity of the chemical concerned, and information on
amounts emitted.
The second aspect of the EU management of water quality concerns the Water Framework
Directive (WFD), which addresses cumulative ecological risks from all stressors for each
watershed in member nations. The WFD is an EU Directive of 2000 that commits EU Mem-
ber States to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies (includ-
ing coastal marine waters up to 1 nautical mile from the shore) by 2015. Both ecological
status and chemical status need to be at least good to achieve this good water status. The
WFD relies on ambient environmental standards to classify water bodies on the basis of
chemical contamination. However, such directives can be more narrative than numerical
(Luoma and Rainbow 2008). The WFD, for example, sets a target of “progressive reduc-
tion” for emissions of the 33 priority substances [including the trace metals As, Cd, Cr, Cu,
Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn, and tributyltin (TBT)], but legally binding numerical criteria are retained in
member states. The WFD is in the process of implementation with details varying among
member states. It represents a watershed-by-watershed approach to risk assessment and
risk management as compared to a chemical-by-chemical approach, although chemical
loading data from REACH could ultimately be beneficial to evaluate potential loadings for
individual watersheds.
Complementarily, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC; MSFD) has
the objective of taking necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental
status in the marine environment by the year 2020 at the latest, not only in coastal waters
but also in marine waters defined as the waters, seabed, and subsoil on the seaward side
of the baseline from which the extent of territorial waters is measured extending to the
outmost reach of the area where a Member State has and/or exercises jurisdictional rights.
15.2.1 OSPAR and the Marine Environment
The OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the northeast
Atlantic is the mechanism by which 15 western European nations cooperate to protect
the waters of the northeast Atlantic. The convention was opened for signature in 1992 and
entered into force in 1998. By 2007, the OSPAR Convention had been ratified by Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and approved by the European
Union and Spain. The resulting OSPAR Commission is guided by an ecosystem approach
to an integrated management of human activities in the marine environment through the
application of best available techniques and best environmental practice.
The OSPAR Convention requires Contracting Parties to “cooperate in carrying out
monitoring programs,” to develop quality assurance methods, and assessment tools
and to “carry out…research which is considered necessary…to increase knowledge and
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