UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.387/22 23 September 2013 Original: ENGLISH MEDITERRANEAN ACTION PLAN Meeting of the MAP Focal Points Athens, Greece, 10-12 September 2013 REPORT MEETING OF THE MAP FOCAL POINTS UNEP/MAP Athens, 2013 UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.387/22 Page 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Report ANNEX I Compliance Committee including renewal of members, the modification of the rules of procedure and the Programme of Work of the Compliance Committee ANNEX II Reporting format to comply with the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols; and, the new reporting format for the ICZM Protocol ANNEX III Ecosystems Approach including adopting definitions of Good Environmental Status (GES) and targets ANNEX IV Action Plans under the Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity Protocol including Monk Seal, Marine Turtles, Birds, Cartilaginous Fishes, and Dark Habitats ANNEX V Identification and Conservation of sites of particular ecological interest in the Mediterranean ANNEX VI Amendments of the Annexes II and III to the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean ANNEX VII Draft Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management ANNEX VIII Follow up actions regarding the Offshore Protocol Action plan ANNEX IX Establishment of a Mediterranean Network of Law Enforcement Officials relating to MARPOL within the framework of the Barcelona Convention ANNEX X Development of an Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Mediterranean ANNEX XI Review of the Mediterranean Strategy on Sustainable Development (MSSD), proposed by the MCSD Steering Committee ANNEX XII Reforming of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD), proposed by the MCSD Steering Committee ANNEX XIII Governance ANNEX XIV Cooperation Agreements ANNEX XV Financial Regulations, Rules and Procedures applicable to the Barcelona Convention ANNEX XVI Draft resolution for consideration by the 18th Ordinary meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention concerning a Mediterranean Action Plan Phase III ANNEX XVII Statement during the meeting of MAP Focal Points, 10 to 12 September 2013 ANNEX XVIII Proposal for updating the name of the Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production according to its official mandate ANNEX XIX Agenda ANNEX XX List of Participants UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.387/22 Page 1 Introduction 1. In accordance with the programme of work adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) and its protocols at their seventeenth meeting, held in Paris in February 2012, a meeting of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) focal points was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Athens from 10 to 12 September 2013. Attendance 2. The following Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention were represented at the meeting: Algeria, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, European Union, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and Tunisia. 3. The following United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, convention secretariats and intergovernmental organizations were represented as observers: International Maritime Organization (IMO), General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), International Union for Conservation of Nature Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN) and the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean 4. The following non-governmental and other organizations were represented as observers: Centre Mediterraneen de l’Environnement (CME), Global Footprint Network, Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA), Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles (MEDASSET), Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE), Mediterranean Protected Areas Network (MedPAN), Mediterranean SOS Network (MED SOS) and Oceana. Agenda Item 1: Opening of the meeting 5. The meeting was opened at 9.15 a.m. on Tuesday, 10 September 2013, by Ms. Maria Luisa Silva Mejias, MAP Coordinator. Welcoming and opening statements were delivered by Ms. Nantia Giannakopoulou, Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Greece, and by the Coordinator. 6. In her remarks Ms. Giannakopoulou suggested that MAP was at a crossroads: at a crucial moment for many Contracting Parties facing significant economic, social and political challenges, it had to resolve serious institutional shortcomings in order to put the focus of efforts back on the environmental and ecological challenges facing the Mediterranean. Her country, she said, as host country of the MAP Coordinating Unit, had provided continuous support for MAP in the belief that MAP and the Barcelona Convention, as a creation of all the countries and people of the Mediterranean region, constituted an important vehicle for regional cooperation to achieve environmental protection, sustainable economic development and peace and stability. It was important to remember their achievements, including the development of the MEDPOL programme, the regional activity centres, the adoption of the 1995 amendments and the protocols to the Barcelona Convention, and the work of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development, including the adoption of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development. Noting the heavy agenda for the meeting, she said that it was important for the focal points, as well as the Contracting Parties at their eighteenth meeting, to push forward so that countries could again concentrate their efforts on the implementation of policies aimed at fulfilling the mandates of the Convention. 7. In her remarks the Coordinator welcomed the meeting participants, observing that meetings of the MAP focal points constituted an important part of the institutional framework UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.387/22 Page 2 of the Barcelona Convention, providing the opportunity for parties to review progress achieved and to discuss and endorse policies, priorities and methods of work in preparation for the meetings of the Contracting Parties. 8. Despite significant political and economic challenges, including the impairment of MAP funding as the result of late contributions, much had been achieved since the last meeting of the Contracting Parties through the concerted efforts of the Contracting Parties, the secretariat, the regional activity centres and the partners in many areas including universal ratification of the Convention and its protocols; ECAP targets and definitions of good environmental status; monitoring and assessment; sustainable development; and sustainable consumption and production; a regional action plan on marine litter; capacity-building and technical assistance aimed at reducing pollution of the Mediterranean Sea; national strategies for integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) and preparedness for pollution emergencies; partnerships with international and regional organizations; proposals on institutional reform as requested by the Contracting Parties at their seventeenth meeting; and management of MAP finances with the aim of overcoming the current deficit. 9. At the current meeting, several of the 17 draft decisions on the agenda were aimed at achieving the institutional reform called for in the Paris Declaration adopted at the seventeenth meeting of the Contracting Parties. The importance of institutional reform was clear, she said, as it had long-lasting implications, and achieving consensus on it was accordingly difficult. The draft decisions before the focal points, however, had been carefully prepared to take into account extensive discussion by the focal points at their first meeting in 2013, by the members of the Bureau and by the Contracting Parties and other stakeholders through written submissions and bilateral consultations. She was confident, therefore, that if the focal points put the welfare of the Mediterranean region above national interests and took a long-term view the Contracting Parties at their eighteenth meeting could adopt a set of institutional reforms that, if put into effect gradually to avoid undue disruption, would not only result in rigorous financial management but would also correct the limited flexibility, imprecise priorities, cumbersome processes and unclear accountability that had at times hindered achievement in the past. Saying that business as usual was not an option, she called on the focal points to show the good will and commitment that they had demonstrated on many occasions to reach an agreement that would meet the expectations of the Contracting Parties and strengthen the effectiveness of the Barcelona Convention. 10. In closing, she led the meeting participants in applause to thank Mr. Abderrahmen Gannoun for his long and effective service as Director of the RAC/SPA, a post from which he would soon be retiring. Agenda Item 2: Organizational matters 2.1 Rules of procedure 11. The focal points agreed that the rules of procedure for meetings and conferences of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (UNEP/IG 43/6, annex XI, as amended by the Contracting Parties (UNEP(OCA)/MED IG.1/5 and UNEP(OCA)/MED IG.3/5)), would apply mutatis mutandis to their deliberations. 2.2 Election of officers 12. In accordance with rule 20 of the rules of procedure, the focal points unanimously elected the following Bureau: Chair: Mr. Ilias Mavroidis (Greece) Vice-Chairs: Mr. Admir Ceric (Bosnia and Herzegovina) UNEP(DEPI)/MED WG.387/22