Following Parliament's acceptance of a compromise deal agreed with the Council, rapporteur Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (PES, FR) expressed her satisfaction that "the definition of 'good environmental status' has been made stricter" in the directive.
The final text was agreed upon in conciliation between the Parliament, Council and Commission, after the institutions had failed to agree over contentious issues such as high implementation costs, precise exemption criteria and the definition of "good environmental status".
The directive foresees the creation of 'European Marine Regions' and 'Sub-Regions' to act as "management units" for its implementation, and obliges member states to cooperate on developing marine strategies for their waters that lie within such regions. Measures to "achieve or maintain good environmental status" must be developed by 2015, to enter into operation by 2016 "at the latest" if the 2020 targets are to be achieved.
Moreover, it provides the opportunity for member states to identify "pilot project regions" in which implementation of the directive could be speeded up and stricter protective measures could be applied, on the condition that these do not harm another marine region or sub-region.
Exemptions from the directive may be granted if a member state can prove that "there is no significant risk to the marine environment", or where the costs of compliance would be "disproportionate".
