S.L. 549.62 Art. 9Monitoring programs.

(1) On the basis of the initial assessment made pursuant to regulation 6(1), the competent authority 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 Schedule II and the list set out in Schedule IV, and by reference to the environmental targets established pursuant to regulation 8.

(2) 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 legislation, including the Habitats and Birds Directives, or under international agreements.

(3) The competent authority shall, in the interest of coherence and coordination, endeavour to ensure that:

(a) monitoring methods are consistent across the Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea marine subregion so as to facilitate comparability of monitoring results;

(b) relevant transboundary impacts and transboundary features are taken into account.