H2020 Review Monitoring and Research sub-group and ENPI SEIS meeting

Activities under the RMR sub-group are now financialy supported by the European Commission. Within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy, a project was approved and funded under the ENPI (the European Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument[1]) covering monitoring, reporting and gradual extension of the Shared Environment Information System (SEIS) to European neighbours (South, East and Russia). The project will run over the coming 4 years and will build on available monitoring, data collection, institutional and infrastructural elements in the countries.

The coordination mechanism among partners in the region has been strengthened at many levels during this period:

-       With the countries: based on the ongoing initiatives (ENP, Horizon 2020) and on the European Commission Communication “Toward a Shared Environmental Information System” and on the EEA experience with the established EIONET network, the EEA and the European Commission have been developing a dialogue with the Partner Countries on the SEIS principles and their implementation in the ENP regions. Synergies between key holders of the environmental data and information are being developed in the framework of the ENPI-SEIS project, towards the gradual development of a SEIS compliant system in the ENP regions.

-       With the Horizon 2020 Sub-Groups and respective networks: based on the Horizon 2020 Steering Committee institutional mandate, the operational needs for the development and implementation of the three components (Capacity Building, Pollution Reduction and Review, Monitoring and Research) of the H2020 initiative have been set up.

-       With many other actors in the region potentially involved in the RMR sub-group activities: particular efforts have been put into the cooperation with UNEP/MAP. The Secretariat of the Barcelona convention, as unique holder of the reporting information provided by the Parties, has a crucial role, particularly in the area of indicators and related data flows under the Convention (going beyond the EU coverage by including North Africa and Balkan riparian countries) and covering the H2020 priority areas.

A dialogue has also been developed with the Partner Countries and main regional organisations on data and information sharing, to help frame the conditions for a Shared Environment Information System. The question of the access to a well developed and modern infrastructure and tools for the processing and exchange of data and information is particularly relevant for the RMR activity, and critical for the success of SEIS. EEA and UNEP/MAP, with its Regional Activity Centres, are working to ensure a clear common understanding of the SEIS principles and their implementation in the region, as a precondition for any data exchange; in particular, with respect to an agreed set of indicators in the three priority areas of relevance to H2020.

The ENPI-SEIS project is designed to improve monitoring, assessment and indicator-based environmental reporting capacities of the relevant authorities in the countries of the EU neighbourhood. Each ENP Partner Country has been invited to nominate two National Focal Points for the implementation of the ENPI SEIS project at the national level to represent both the environment and the statistical networks. A consultation meeting with all National Focal Points from partner countries for the South and East took place in Brussels on 11-12 November 2010 at the end of the inception phase of the ENPI-SEIS project.

Building on the agreements reached in the November Consultation meeting and moving step-wise towards implementation, the EEA is planning to organise the next meeting of an enlarged RMR sub-group, strongly embedded in both the H2020 initiative as well as in the European Neighbourhood Policy. The aim is to start discussing the activities/actions needed for streamlining the available indicators, assessing them against H2020 priorities and building a process of bringing together these initiatives into a SEIS sustainable system to support improved reporting and compliance. The RMR sub-group will serve as platform for annual dialogue and review with the countries on these issues and will represent a key tool for the implementation of the ENPI-SEIS project.

The "Horizon 2020 Initiative"aims to de-pollute the Mediterranean by the year 2020 by tackling the sources of pollution that account for around 80% of the overall pollution of the Mediterranean Sea: municipal waste, urban waste water and industrial pollution.

To implement and monitor actions three working groups were created to address:

• Investments for Pollution Reduction (PR);
• Capacity Building (CB) for achieving H2020 objectives;
• Review, Monitoring and Research (RMR).

Contact information	ENPI-SEIS (email: enpi-seis@eea.europa.eu)
Event type	Seminar
File link	http://coordination.h2020.net/rmr/meetings/2011-03-30-31-copenhagen-2nd-rmr-sub-group-meeting
File link copy	20110330_Agenda_H2020_EN-FR.pdf (PDF, 139 Kb)
Source	EEA
Subject(s)	ANALYSIS AND TESTS , CHARACTERISTICAL PARAMETERS OF WATERS AND SLUDGES , DRINKING WATER , DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION : COMMON PROCESSES OF PURIFICATION AND TREATMENT , ENERGY , HEALTH - HYGIENE - PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISM , INDUSTRY , INFRASTRUCTURES , MEASUREMENTS AND INSTRUMENTATION , NATURAL MEDIUM , POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT , PREVENTION AND NUISANCES POLLUTION , RIGHT , RISKS AND CLIMATOLOGY , SANITATION -STRICT PURIFICATION PROCESSES , SLUDGES , TOURISM - SPORT - HOBBIES , WATER QUALITY
Geographical coverage	Denmark,
Address	EEA premises in Copenhagen
Organizer	EEA
Target audience	International
Duration	2 days
Period	[30/03/2011 - 31/03/2011]
Status	Confirmed
Working language(s)	ENGLISH , FRENCH