The EEA marine assessment areas are defined as the maritime area (water column and seabed) surrounding the EU countries whose outer limit is defined by the 200 NM boundary from the coast (possibly coinciding with formally recognised EEZ boundaries) or the equidistance (in cases of opposite neighbouring EU countries), or by the presence of a boundary defined by an agreed treaty. Landwards the dataset is harmonised with the "EEA coastline for analysis". Inner boundaries are based on the "EEA Marine waters for analysis" dataset, which is a harmonised version of the marine waters reported by EU Member States under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Information about MSFD regions and subregions was assigned to the attributes of the assessment areas. National boundaries are omitted from the dataset and gaps and overlaps removed, resulting in 10 units that are named according to the assigned MSFD regions and subregions:
- Adriatic Sea
- Aegean-Levantine Sea
- Baltic Sea
- Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast
- Black Sea
- Celtic Seas
- Greater North Sea, incl. the Kattegat and the English Channel
- Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea
- Macaronesia
- Western Mediterranean Sea.
Remarks in the delineation of this dataset compared to the previous version (one of the layers in "Europe Seas - version 1, Dec. 2018" dataset):
- The boundary between Greater North Sea, incl. the Kattegat and the English Channel and Baltic Sea follows the delineation in the MSFD regions and subregions dataset version 2.
- Outer (seaward) boundary is harmonised with the latest Bulgaria Marine Waters submission under MSFD Art.4 reporting.
- United Kingdom marine waters are not part of this dataset following Brexit.
The dataset was assembled by ETC/ICM.
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