Clarifying the limits of European coastal waters

Researchers attempting to establish the limits of coastal waters in Europe have found thatnational  declarations  of coastal  waters  contain  a number  of  inconsistencies  regarding thedefinition from the Water  Framework  Directive.  In particular,  the national  declarations  overestimated the area of coastal waters by almost 12% overall, which could affect the results of ecological assessments required by several major EU environmental policies.A consistent and accurate definition of ‘coastal waters’ would help researchers and policymakers carry out theecological assessment  of national marine  environments required  by the Water Framework Directive (WFD) andthe Marine Strategy Framework Directive  (MSFD).