Implication of the Environmental Liability Directive for General Surveillance – What to Protect?

• Published in: Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit 2009-02, Vol.3 (Suppl 2), p.8-11
• Main Authors: Bartsch, Detlef, Gathmann, A., Koziolek, C., Vaasen, A., Buhk, H.-J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Chemistry/Food Science; Food Science; Life Sciences; Plant Genetics and Genomics
• ISSN: 1661-5751; 1661-5867
• DOI: 10.1007/s00003-009-0355-y

: It is important that objectives and implementation of general surveillance plans are linked to targets and goals of ‘what to protect’ in line with national and EU wide environmental protection goals. The determination of protection targets in general should practically be based on existing legal frameworks. In particular, the EU Directive 2004/35/EC (EC, 2004) puts emphasis on three environmental compartments: biodiversity, water and land. Environmental damage is defined as a measurable adverse change in a natural resource or measurable impairment of a natural resource service which may occur directly or indirectly. There is a need to look for quantifiable monitoring parameters for finalizing the assessment, since ‘damage’ means a measurable adverse change. Then, the significance of any damage should be assessed e. g. in view of the population (size) of any protected species. As EU member states are required to monitor the favourable condition of certain protected areas (e. g. EU Directive 1992/43/EC) and other protection goals, the use of existing environmental surveillance should – if available – be integrated into GMO monitoring plans.