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EUROPEAN

COMMISSION

Brussels, 3.2.2017

SWD(2017) 54 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

The EU Environmental Implementation Review

Country Report - PORTUGAL

Accompanying the document

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the

European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

The EU Environmental Implementation Review: Common Challenges and how to

combine efforts to deliver better results

{COM(2017) 63 final}

{SWD(2017) 33 - 53 final}

{SWD(2017) 55 - 60 final}

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This report has been written by the staff of the Directorate-General for Environment, European

Commission. Any comments are welcome to the following e-mail address:

[email protected]

More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu).

Photographs: p.9 – ©LIFE05 ENV/P/000369; p.13 – ©saiko3p/iStock; p.21 – ©jmorse2000/iStock;

p.28 – ©Sergey Kelin/iStock

For reproduction or use of these photos, permission must be sought directly from the copyright

holder.

©European Union, 2017

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

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Table of Content

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 4

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS ............................................................................................................................... 6

TURNING THE EU INTO A CIRCULAR, RESOURCE-EFFICIENT, GREEN AND COMPETITIVE LOW-

CARBON ECONOMY............................................................................................................................... 6

Developing a circular economy and improving resource efficiency ..................................................... 6

Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 8

PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL..................................................... 11

Nature and Biodiversity....................................................................................................................... 11

Green Infrastructure ........................................................................................................................... 13

Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 14

Marine protection ............................................................................................................................... 15

ENSURING CITIZENS' HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE .......................................................................... 17

Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 17

Noise ................................................................................................................................................. 18

Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 18

Enhancing the sustainability of cities .................................................................................................. 21

International agreements ................................................................................................................... 22

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS ..................................................................... 23

MARKET BASED INSTRUMENTS AND INVESTMENT ............................................................................ 23

Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 23

Green Public Procurement .................................................................................................................. 24

Investments: the contribution of EU funds ......................................................................................... 25

EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE AND KNOWLEDGE...................................................................................... 28

Effective governance within central, regional and local government................................................. 28

Compliance assurance......................................................................................................................... 29

Public participation and access to justice ........................................................................................... 31

Access to information, knowledge and evidence................................................................................ 32

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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Executive summary

About the Environmental Implementation Review

In May 2016, the Commission launched the

Environmental Implementation Review (EIR), a two-year

cycle of analysis, dialogue and collaboration to improve

the implementation of existing EU environmental policy

and legislation

. As a first step, the Commission drafted

28 reports describing the main challenges and

opportunities on environmental implementation for each

Member State. These reports are meant to stimulate a

positive debate both on shared environmental challenges

for the EU, as well as on the most effective ways to

address the key implementation gaps. The reports rely on

the detailed sectoral implementation reports collected or

issued by the Commission under specific environmental

legislation as well as the 2015 State of the Environment

Report and other reports by the European Environment

Agency. These reports will not replace the specific

instruments to ensure compliance with the EU legal

obligations.

The reports will broadly follow the outline of the 7th

Environmental Action Programme

and refer to the 2030

Agenda for Sustainable development and related

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

to the extent to

which they reflect the existing obligations and policy

objectives of EU environmental law

The main challenges have been selected by taking into

account factors such as the importance or the gravity of

the environmental implementation issue in the light of

the impact on the quality of life of the citizens, the

distance to target, and financial implications.

The reports accompany the Communication "The

Environmental Implementation Review 2016: Common

challenges and how to combine efforts to deliver better

results",

which identifies challenges that are common to

several Member States, provides preliminary conclusions

on possible root causes of implementation gaps and

proposes joint actions to deliver better results. It also

groups in its Annex the actions proposed in each country

report to improve implementation at national level.

General profile

During the last decades, the implementation of the EU

environmental law and policy has contributed to

preserve and to improve the environment in Portugal,

thanks also to the significant assistance from EU funding.

Nevertheless, Portugal still faces considerable challenges

in the areas of water and waste management, air quality

and nature conservation. Furthermore, environmental

implementation and enforcement represent overall a

challenge for Portugal.

Main Challenges

The three main challenges with regard to

implementation of EU environmental policy and law in

Portugal are:



Improving waste management and developing the

potential of the circular economy.



Enhancing the effective protection of the Natura

2000 network.



Following up on the implementation of marine

strategies to meet a good environmental status of

marine waters.

Main Opportunities

Portugal could perform better on topics where there is

already a good knowledge base and good practices. This

applies in particular to:



Using the experience already gained over the past

few years to improve compliance with the Air Quality

Directive, in particular for NO2.



Improving efficiency, effectiveness and coordination

in the public environmental sector implementing

recent initiatives such as the Single Environment

Permit (SEP) scheme, the Unique Platform for

Inspection and Monitoring in the areas of

agriculture, sea and environment and the National

Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of

Environmental Law (IMPEL).



Taking advantage of the opportunities for greening

the first pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy

(CAP) and making further use of the rural

development measures under the second pillar.

Communication "Delivering the benefits of EU environmental policies

through a regular Environmental Implementation Review"

(COM/2016/

316 final)

Decision No. 1386/2013/EU of 20 November 2013 on a General Union

Environmental Action Programme to 2020 "Living

well, within the

limits of our planet".

United Nations, 2015.

The Sustainable Development Goals

This EIR report does not cover climate change, chemicals and energy.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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Points of Excellence

Where Portugal leads in environmental implementation,

it could share its innovative approaches more widely

among other countries. Good examples are:



The creation of a "Commission for Green Tax

Reform" in 2014 and the subsequent reform of the

Portuguese tax system in 2015 in order to foster

environmental taxation.



The national strategy "Commitment for Green

Growth" adopted by the Portuguese government in

2015.



The improvements in the quality of the drinking

water supply systems experienced over the last

decade.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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Part I: Thematic Areas

1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and

competitive low-carbon economy

Developing a circular economy and improving

resource efficiency

The 2015 Circular Economy Package emphasizes the need

to move towards a lifecycle-driven ‘circular’ economy,

with a cascading use of resources and residual waste that

is close to zero. This can be facilitated by the

development of, and access to, innovative financial

instruments and funding for eco-innovation.

SDG 8 invites countries to promote sustained, inclusive

and sustainable economic growth, full and productive

employment and decent work for all. SDG 9 highlights

the need to build resilient infrastructure, promote

inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster

innovation. SDG 12 encourages countries to achieve the

sustainable management and efficient use of natural

resources by 2030.

Figure 1: Resource productivity 2003-15

Measures towards a circular economy

Transforming our economies from linear to circular offers

an opportunity to reinvent them and make them more

sustainable and competitive. This will stimulate

investments and bring both short and long-term benefits

for the economy, environment and citizens alike

A number of studies have shown at European level the

positive link between environmental performance and

job creation

Pressure on material resources is one of the long-term

trends affecting job creation and growth in the EU.

In terms of resource productivity (how efficiently the

economy uses material resources to produce wealth),

Portugal has the 17

place in the EU (according to the

resource productivity indicator) with 1.10 EUR/kg (EU

average is 2.0 EUR/kg) in 2015

Figure 1 shows that while the resource productivity has

increased overall since 2007, it is slightly decreasing in

2015 compared to 2014. Therefore, there is clear room

for improvement in this field.

From 2013 to 2015 several national plans were revised

(waste, water), placing strong emphasis on efficiency and

meeting EU targets in the most cost-effective way, and

new types of policies were introduced (e.g. Green

Taxation Reform). It can be specially highlighted the

Green Growth Commitment, a national strategy adopted

with the purpose of reorienting the country's economic

development which is now focusing on the circular

economy. These initiatives will be developed in next

sections of this EIR country report.

SMEs and resource efficiency

Portuguese SMEs account for more than two thirds of

total value added (compared with an average of 57 % in

the EU) and nearly four out of five jobs (against two out

of three jobs in the EU on average). Despite a more

positive outlook since 2013, the recession period of 2008

continues to have an impact

The performance of Portuguese SMEs is above EU

average on several indicators on resource efficiency and

green markets. 58% of Portugal's SMEs have invested up

to 5% of their annual turnover in their resource efficiency

actions (EU28 average 50%), 26 % of them are currently

offering green products and services, 74% took measures

to save energy (EU28 average 59%), 62% to minimise

waste (EU28 average 60%), 66% to save water (EU28

average 44%), and 74% to save materials (EU28 average

54%). From a circular economy perspective, 63% took

European Commission, 2015.

Proposed Circular Economy Package

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/studies.htm

Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic

product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC).

Eurostat,

Resource productivity,

accessed October 2016.

European Commission,

SMEs country sheets 2016

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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measures to recycle by reusing material or waste within

the company, 51% to design products that are easier to

maintain, repair or reuse and 30% were able to sell their

scrap material to another company

The EU Roadmap on Resource Efficiency outlines how we

can transform Europe's economy into a sustainable one

by 2050

Investments in innovative, cost-saving measures by SMEs

to reduce resource- and energy use have the potential to

result in high cost savings. Thus, according to a study, for

only four SME sectors (food & beverages; energy, power

& utilities; environmental technologies; construction) the

savings that would strengthen their competitiveness

could already amount to EUR 882 million in Portugal

Another recent study offers a detailed analysis of the

level of application of business support measures to

improve resource efficiency applied in the EU Member

States

. This study shows that Portugal has implemented

a few resource efficiency measures for businesses. In this

sense, it appears that measures supporting Industrial

Symbiosis have been more successful as there is an

electronic negotiation platform promoting the

interaction between supply and demand of waste.

Further measures identified, reflect the concentrated

efforts in supporting voluntary agreements, providing

targeted resource efficiency information and building

resource efficiency skills within business.

Initiatives such as the Ecopol project are fundamental to

kick start the necessary network and interaction among

different stakeholders to identify the eco-innovation

champions, initiatives, products and services, and to

demonstrate the benefits for business and the society.

This 2014 project brought together public institutions

and the private sector in the sustainable habitat cluster,

to propose policy instruments and tools specifically

aimed at improving the use of sustainable construction

materials by public institutions and the community.

At the industry level, several initiatives were launched in

2015 specifically targeting resource efficiency through

eco-innovation in industry, serving as “living labs” to pilot

technologies, sharing of best practices and providing a

platform to raise awareness on circular economy and the

future of the industry. Three such initiatives were

streamlined by the Portuguese Companies Association

the Efinerg

project, aimed at energy efficiency practices

and technologies in industry; Ecoprodutin

, aimed at

material and water efficiency; and Interambinerg

aiming to support the internationalisation of the

Portuguese sector for environmental and energy goods

and services.

Eco-innovation

In a 2013 eco-innovation scoreboard, Portugal ranked

below the EU-28 average (14

place) with an overall

score of 79 (EU-28 average is 100) as shown in Figure 2.

The following two years saw Portugal strengthening its

position in the compound EIO score in comparison to

previous years, improving to 101.6 and the 12

place in

the EU ranking. These results are supported by other

indicators and reports, such as the Innovation

Scoreboard (EC, 2015) index, which shows an

improvement from 0.396 in 2013 to 0.4 in 2014 and

0.403 in 2015.

Figure 2: Eco-Innovation Index 2015 (EU=100)

European Commission, 2015.

Flash 426 Eurobarometer

"SMEs,

resource efficiency and green markets

Communication COM(2011) 571.

The Resource Efficiency Roadmap

part of the Resource Efficiency Flagship of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

RPA, 2015.

Assessing the Potential Cost Savings and Resource Savings

of Investments in 4 SME sectors,

study for the European Commission.

Ecologic Institute, IEEP, BIO by Deloitte, 2015.

A framework for

Member States to support business in improving its resource

efficiency.

Study for the European Commission.

AEP:

Associação Empresarial de Portugal.

Efinerg project

http://efinerg.aeportugal.pt/Projeto.aspx

Ecoprodutin project

http://ecoprodutin.aeportugal.pt/Projeto.aspx

Interambinerg project

http://interambinerg.aeportugal.pt/Projeto.aspx

Eco-Innovation Observatory,

Country Brief 2013 Portugal,

Eco-innovation Observatory:

Eco-Innovation scoreboard 2015

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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Portugal has a number of clusters in which strategies are

being developed and that are very committed to eco-

innovation as a differentiation factor: “HABITAT”: the

Portuguese Sustainable Habitat Cluster, “Energy IN”: the

Portuguese Energy Cluster and “PRODUTECH”: the

Portuguese Production Technologies Cluster.

Nevertheless, resource efficiency targets and innovation

policies in Portugal have not been well connected,

missing a cross-cutting integration and incentives for

synergies. To remediate this, the Portuguese

Government adopted in June 2016 the "Commitment to

Knowledge and Science: Commitment with the Future".

This is a new Agenda for the period 2016-2020, calling for

coherence and coordination between different policy

areas, promoting a new policy framework for the role of

knowledge in the development of the country, based on

different strategic dimensions, namely in the promotion

of thematic research and innovation agendas and of

territorial dimension stimulating the development of

cities/regions.

As of May 2016, Portugal has 56 EMAS registered

organisations, which is a low compared to the total of

4034 organisations that hold a registration in the EU. The

number of EU Ecolabel licenses in Portugal is also low.

The progress towards reaching recycling targets and the

adoption of adequate WMP/WPP

are key tools to

assess the performance of Member States. This section

focuses on management of municipal waste for which EU

law sets mandatory recycling targets.

The generation of municipal waste

in Portugal has

decreased in the recent years to 453 kg/year/inhabitant

and is below the EU average (475 kg/year/inhabitant) as

shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 depicts the municipal waste by treatment in

Portugal in terms of kg per capita, which shows a slight

increase in recycling and composting and a small shift

away from incineration and landfilling. Incineration (with

energy recovery) represents 21%; while landfilling

represents 49% (much higher than the EU average of

28%). In this context, managing waste efficiently remains

a challenge in Portugal.

Figure 3: Municipal waste by treatment in Portugal

2007-14

Suggested actions



Implement a better monitoring of the circular economy

policy tools in order to assess their effectiveness and

be able to revise them.

Waste management

Turning waste into a resource requires:



Full implementation of Union waste legislation,

which includes the waste hierarchy; the need to

ensure separate collection of waste; the landfill

diversion targets etc.



Reducing per capita waste generation and waste

generation in absolute terms.



Limiting energy recovery to non-recyclable materials

and phasing out landfilling of recyclable or

recoverable waste.

SDG 12 invites countries to substantially reduce waste

generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and

reuse by 2030.

The EU's approach to waste management is based on the

"waste hierarchy" which sets out an order of priority

when shaping waste policy and managing waste at the

operational level: prevention, (preparing for) reuse,

recycling, recovery and, as the least preferred option,

disposal (which includes landfilling and incineration

without energy recovery).

Portugal achieved the 2006 target for diversion of

biodegradable waste from landfill (75%). However, the

biodegradable municipal waste landfilled has increased

since then. Portugal has benefited from a four year

derogation targets for 2009 (50%) and 2016 (35%),

deferring these to 2013 and 2020 respectively. Portugal

reported meeting the deferred 50% landfill target in

2015.

Waste Management Plans/Waste Prevention Programmes

Municipal waste consists of waste collected by or on behalf of

municipal authorities, or directly by the private sector (business or

private non-profit institutions) not on behalf of municipalities.

Eurostat,

Municipal waste and treatment, by type of treatment

method,

accessed October 2016

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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Figure 4: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2007-14



Lack of incentives to manage waste according to the

waste hierarchy;

Lack of co-ordination between the different

administrative levels;

Insufficient (door-to-door) separate collection of

waste;

Insufficient extended producer responsibility (EPR)

systems.

In order to face these gaps, Portugal has been actively

developing the following initiatives:



has recently reviewed its landfill tax establishing a

gradual increase untill 2020;

is channelling EU funds from operational programs

to coordinate efforts between agents in the waste

management chain. Projects are positively valued if

they integrate measures and organisations aiming at

the compliance of targets.

is enhancing all efforts aiming at the separate

collection of waste. Also operational programs are

financing dedicated projects on door to door and

PAYT collection.

has 12 EPR systems and as of September 2016 will

soon licence one more on packaging waste. All

country is covered by these schemes in ELV,

packaging waste, WEEE, batteries and accumulators,

mineral oils and tyres. Portugal is complying with the

targets established for these waste streams. A new

set of EPR licences are now being established already

having in mind new challenges arising as well as the

increase of transparency in the management of

these schemes.

Portugal has made progress in terms of increases of

recycling rate and diversion of municipal waste from

landfilling in the course of the past decade. However, the

recycling rate for municipal waste in 2014 was at 30% (of

which 16% recycling and 14% composting), markedly

below the EU average of 44%. Figure 4 shows that

Portugal must further invest in recycling in the coming

years in order to reach the EU 2020 recycling target

Portugal approved in 2014 the National Waste

Management Plan 2014-2020

, as well as the Strategic

Plan for Municipal Solid Waste for the mainland (PERSU

2020)

The main objective of the PERSU 2020 is to set

the roadmap to meet the 2020 EU targets for municipal

waste, namely the 50% objective for preparation for

reuse and recycling. To help meet the targets, PERSU

2020 proposes a large set of measures aligned with eight

strategic objectives.

At present, the opportunities for waste prevention and

recycling are not yet fully developed in Portugal, and a

still high proportion of incinerated and landfilled

municipal waste is preventing transition to a circular

economy. In order to help bridge the implementation gap

in Portugal, the Commission has delivered a roadmap

with recommendations for compliance

The underlying causes for the current distance to EU

waste targets are:



Still, there is clear scope to develop specific policy

instruments that support the transition to a more circular

economic model, which would improve resilience and

competitiveness of the Portuguese economy, based in

resource efficiency and productivity.

Eurostat,

Recycling rate of municipal waste,

accessed October 2016

Member States may choose a different method than the one used by

ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates

and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50% recycling of

municipal waste.

Plano Nacional de Gestao de Residuos para o horizonte 2014-2020.

Diário da República 16.03.2015.

Plano Estratégico para os Residuos Urbanos (PERSU 2020) para o

Portugal continental. Diário da República 17.09.2014.

European Commission, 2016.

Support to Implementation

–

The

Commission helps 8 Member States to improve their municipal waste

management.

Fact sheet for

Portugal.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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As a consequence of the green taxation reform, a tax on

plastic bags has been approved in Portugal, in force from

January 2015.

The implementation of the measures foreseen in the

PERSU 2020 is crucial to improve the current situation on

waste management.

Full implementation of EU waste legislation could create

more than 14,900 jobs in Portugal and increase annual

turnover of the waste sector by over EUR 1,560 million.

Moving towards the targets of the Roadmap on resource

efficiency could create over 18,200 additional jobs and

increase the annual turnover of the waste sector by over

EUR 1,910 million

Suggested action



Provide the right economic incentives to implement

further the waste hierarchy: i.e. promote prevention,

make reuse and recycling more economically

attractive, and shift reusable and recyclable waste

away from incineration (e.g. increasing landfill and

incineration charges, consider introduction of a

residual waste tax).



Focus on implementation of the separate collection

obligation to increase recycling rates (e.g. expand door-

to-door collection systems, through PAYT systems).



Undertake a review of treatment infrastructure

requirements, taking into account the changes in waste

collection.



Extend and improve the cost-effectiveness, monitoring

and transparency of existing EPR schemes, eliminate

free-riding and promote competition in order to

increase efficiency of national waste management

systems.

Bio Intelligence service, 2011.

Implementing EU Waste legislation for

Green Growth,

study for European Commission. The breakdown per

country on job creation was made by the consultant on Commission

demand but was not included in the published document.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital

Nature and Biodiversity

The EU Biodiversity Strategy aims to halt the loss of

biodiversity in the EU by 2020, restore ecosystems and

their services in so far as feasible, and step up efforts to

avert global biodiversity loss. The EU Birds and Habitats

Directives aim at achieving favourable conservation

status of protected species and habitats.

SDG 14 requires countries to conserve and sustainably

use the oceans, seas and marine resources, while SDG 15

requires countries to protect, restore and promote the

sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably

manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and

reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

The 1992 EU Habitats Directive and the 1979 Birds

Directive are the cornerstone of the European legislation

aimed at the conservation of the EU's wildlife. Natura

2000, the largest coordinated network of protected areas

in the world, is the key instrument to achieve and

implement the Directives' objectives to ensure the long-

term protection, conservation and survival of Europe's

most valuable and threatened species and habitats and

the ecosystems they underpin.

The adequate designation of protected sites as Special

Ares of Conservation (SAC) under the Habitats Directive

and as Special Protection Areas (SPA) under the Birds

Directive is a key milestone towards meeting the

objectives of the Directives. The results of Habitats

Directive Article 17 and Birds Directive Article 12 reports

and the progress towards adequate Sites of Community

Importance (SCI)-SPA and SAC designation

both in land

and at sea, should be the key items to measure the

performance of Member States.

Portugal hosts 99 habitat types and 325 species covered

by the Habitats Directive. The country also hosts

populations of 80 bird species listed in the Birds Directive

Annex I.

By early 2016, 20.6% of the national land area of Portugal

was covered by Natura 2000 (EU average 18.1%), with

Birds Directive SPAs covering 10% (EU average 12.3%)

and Habitats Directive SCIs covering 17 % (EU average

13.8%). The latest assessment of the SCI part of the

Natura 2000 network shows that there are insufficiencies

in designation, especially for the marine components of

the network

, as shown in Figure 5

Figure 5: Sufficiency assessment of SCI networks in

Portugal based on the situation until December 2013

(%)

The 6-year deadline set by the Habitats Directive to

designate SAC and establish appropriate conservation

objectives and measures has expired. Portugal has

already designated the Macaronesian Biogeographical

region SCIs as SACs. Nevertheless, no SACs have yet been

designated for the SCIs of the Atlantic and Mediterranean

Biogeographical regions, and it has defined management

plans only for 3 SCIs.

According to the latest report on the conservation

status

of habitats and species covered by the Habitats

Directive

, 29% of the habitats biogeographic

Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) are designated pursuant to the

Habitats Directive whereas Special Areas of Protection (SPAs) are

designated pursuant to the Birds Directive; figures of coverage do not

add up due to the fact that some SCIs and SPAs overlap. Special Areas

of Conservation (SACs) means a SCI designated by the Member States.

For each Member State, the Commission assesses whether the

species and habitat types on Annexes I and II of the Habitats Directive,

are sufficiently represented by the sites designated to date. This is

expressed as a percentage of species and habitats for which further

areas need to be designated in order to complete the network in that

country.

The current data,

which were assessed in 2014-2015, reflect

the situation up until December 2013.

The percentages in Figure 5 refer to percentages of the total number

of assessments (one assessment covering 1 species or 1 habitat in a

given biographical region with the Member State); if a habitat type or a

species occurs in more than 1 Biogeographic region within a given

Member State, there will be as many individual assessments as there

are Biogeographic regions with an occurrence of that species or

habitat in this Member State.

European Commission, internal assessment.

Conservation status is assessed using a standard methodology as

being either ‘favourable’, ‘unfavourable-inadequate’ and

‘unfavourable-bad’, based on four parameters as defined in Article 1 of

the Habitats Directive.

The core of the ‘Article 17’ report is the assessment of conservation

status of the habitats and species targeted by the Habitats Directive.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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Portugal

assessments were favourable in 2013 (EU 27: 16%).

Furthermore, 58% are considered to be unfavourable–

inadequate (EU27: 47%) and 8% are unfavourable – bad

(EU27: 30%).

Figure 6: Conservation status of habitats and species in

Portugal in 2007/2013 (%)

During the last years, CAP and particularly the Rural

Development pillar has been the most important

financial instrument available for managing nature and

biodiversity farmland and forest areas.

Figure 7: Short-term population trend of breeding and

wintering bird species in Portugal in 2012 (%)

As for the species, 19% of the assessments were

favourable in 2013 (EU 27: 23%), 31% at unfavourable-

inadequate (EU27: 42%) and 10% unfavourable-bad

status (EU27: 18%). This is depicted in Figure 6

. 8% and

5.7% of the unfavourable assessments respectively for

species and habitats were showing a positive trend in

2013. However, the conservation status between 2007

and 2013 does not seem to be on a positive trend.

Figure 7 shows that as far as birds are concerned, 43% of

the breeding species showed short-term increasing or

stable population trends (for wintering species this figure

was 57%).

As regards forests, Portugal faces challenges related to

the fact that most

of the forest land is privately owned,

the intensive agriculture, the spreading of the pine wood

nematode, the intensive and the forest fire risk.

At the same time, consistent policies were adopted to

promote sustainable forest management to face small

scale land property and the abandonment of rural

communities, namely in Northern and Central Portugal. It

has also aimed at providing a better response to the need

for ongoing and active forest (and environmental)

management, which is also essential for preventing the

high pressure posed by forest fires risk and the

establishment and spread of harmful biotic agents.

Suggested action



Complete the Natura 2000 designation process, in land

and at sea, and put in place clearly defined

conservation

objectives

and

the

necessary

conservation measures for the sites and provide

adequate resources for their implementation in order

to maintain/restore species and habitats of community

interest to a favourable conservation status across

their natural range.



Continue to develop and promote smart and

streamlined implementation approaches, in particular

as regards site and species permitting procedures,

ensuring the necessary knowledge and data

availability.

Strengthen

communication

with

stakeholders.



Strengthen capacity building in order to improve

management of Natura 2000 sites and species

protection regimes and to ensure full integration with

other policies and their associated funds.

These figures show the percentage of biogeographical assessments in

each category of conservation status for habitats and species (one

assessment covering 1 species or 1 habitat in a given biographical

region with the Member State), respectively. The information is based

on Article 17 of the Habitats Directive reporting -

national summary of

Portugal

Please note that a direct comparison between 2007 and 2013 data is

complicated by the fact that Bulgaria and Romania were not covered

by the 2007 reporting cycle, that the ‘unknown’ assessments have

strongly diminished particularly for species, and that some reported

changes are not genuine as they result from improved data /

monitoring methods.

These figures show the percentage of biogeographical assessments in

each category of conservation status for habitats and species,

respectively. The information is based on Article 12 of the Birds

Directive reporting -

national summary of Portugal

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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

Continue the efforts to improve the mainstreaming of

nature targets, namely Natura 2000 implementation, in

cross-cutting and sectoral policies, programmes and

strategies, particularly in the areas of agriculture,

forestry, fisheries, energy, climate, land and marine

spatial planning.

The importance of ecosystem services and natural capital

for growth and jobs has been addressed in government

initiatives on the green economy, green tax reforms,

TEEB approaches and ecosystem services assessments,

and included in the programming of ESIF 2014-2020.

A kick-off MAES conference was held in Portugal in

December 2015 to debate with the scientific community,

decision-makers and private stakeholders on the views

and perspectives of a national MAES Portugal and the

foreseen outcomes for policy making up to 2020.

Portugal is now preparing a long term process, aiming at

covering the mainland Portugal territory.

Portugal co-led the MAES EU pilot study on forest

ecosystems in 2014 and participates in the MAES EU pilot

study on marine ecosystems. It has also taken part in the

EU MAES pilot study on urban ecosystem services

(involving the municipalities of Lisbon, Oeiras and

Cascais) launched in 2015.

Estimating Natural Capital

The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 calls on the Member

States to map and asses the state of ecosystems and

their services in their national territory by 2014, assess

the economic value of such services, and promote the

integration of these values into accounting and reporting

systems at EU and national level by 2020.

Portugal completed in 2009 a national ecosystem

assessment following the conceptual framework of the

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Several local scale

and thematic (montado ecosystems) assessments have

been developed in last years. In 2014 a short term pilot

MAES

was carried out in the south of Portugal which

tested, at a regional level (NUTS II Alentejo),

methodologies and indicators for mapping ecosystems,

assessing their condition and mapping ecosystem

services

, particularly those connected to agriculture and

forest ecosystems. The project provided highlights on the

added value of the ecosystem services within the broader

economy of the region.

Suggested action



Continue supporting the mapping and assessment of

ecosystems and their services, and the valuation and

development of natural capital accounting systems,

through appropriate indicators for monitoring

economic progress and further developing ecosystem

accounts.

Green Infrastructure

The EU strategy on green infrastructure

promotes the

incorporation of green infrastructure into related plans

and programmes to help overcome fragmentation of

habitats and preserve or restore ecological connectivity,

enhance ecosystem resilience and thereby ensure the

continued provision of ecosystem services.

Green Infrastructure provides ecological, economic and

social benefits through natural solutions. It helps to

understand the value of the benefits that nature provides

to human society and to mobilise investments to sustain

and enhance them.

Portugal has incorporated ecological systems in spatial

land planning since 1999, namely at municipality (Master

Plans) and regional scales, and also at sector scale (forest

management plans). An inter-ministerial coordination

mechanism is in charge of promoting the integration of

conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity into

various sectoral policies

, including considerations in

ecological network planning.

Since 1983, the most sensitive biophysical areas across

A process is planned for the development of a MAES

networking platform for relevant scientific projects, data

and information sources and for engaging other relevant

stakeholders and public authorities. Portuguese research

teams are involved in various research projects

OpenNESS, OPERA, ESMERALDA and within IPBES global

and regional assessments.

Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services.

Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food,

clean water and pollination on which human society depends.

European Union, Green Infrastructure — Enhancing Europe’s Natural

Capital,

COM/2013/0249

Council of Ministers Resolution Nº 41/99 of 17 May 1999.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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the country's territory have been identified and mapped

according to structural and functional criteria defined by

the National Ecological Reserve Act (REN) integrated into

the national network for the conservation of nature in

2008.

The REN supports inter alia biodiversity objectives at

landscape level and the establishment of a functional

network of core areas for nature conservation and

biodiversity.

A review of this regime is ongoing in order to further

develop the services pillar of REN (e.g. risk management,

soil erosion, landslides, coastal erosion, climate

adaptation).

In the REN, various Green Infrastructure elements are

planned, including protected areas, sustainable use areas

and natural connectivity features, risk mitigation and

management areas. The Portuguese land use planning

policy is based on a hierarchical system of territorial

management, which operates at national, regional and

municipal level. At the national level, the REN aims to: 1)

Protect water and soil resources and ensure

environmental goods and services essential to the

development of human activities; 2) Prevent and reduce

the effects of degradation of groundwater recharge,

flood risk maritime, drought, soil erosion and mass

movements on slopes contributing to the adaptation of

the effects of climate changes ensuring environmental

sustainability; and 3) Contribute to the connectivity and

ecological coherence of areas and natural connectivity

features. The REN thereby also relates to policies on

water (including the EU Water Framework Directive),

agriculture and adaptation to climate change.

Examples of good operational approaches to Green

Infrastructure in Portugal include the Green Corridor in

Lisbon

; the green roof of the waste water treatment

plant in Alcântara, Lisbon

; or the Ecological Restoration

and Conservation of Praia da Vitória Coastal Wetland

Green Infrastructure (Azores)

There is scope for demonstrating the socio-economic

growth benefits of GI, in urban, peri-urban, coastal and

rural context while promoting territorial cohesion.

A good focus would be to develop a Green Infrastructure

approach at national, regional and local level (including in

urban areas), coordinated with ecosystem and ecosystem

services assessments and ecosystem restoration

planning, taking into account the elements already

available (e.g. REN, spatial plans, assessments) and new

and innovative solutions on nature-based approaches.

Soil protection

The EU Soil Thematic Strategy highlights the need to

ensure a sustainable use of soils. This requires the

prevention of further soil degradation and the

preservation of its functions, as well as the restoration of

degraded soils. The 2011 Road Map for Resource-

Efficient Europe, part of Europe 2020 Strategy provides

that by 2020, EU policies take into account their direct

and indirect impact on land use in the EU and globally,

and the rate of land take is on track with an aim to

achieve no net land take by 2050.

SDG 15 requires countries to combat desertification,

restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by

desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve

a land-degradation-neutral world by 2030.

Soil is an important resource for life and the economy. It

provides key ecosystem services including the provision

of food, fibre and biomass for renewable energy, carbon

sequestration, water purification and flood regulation,

the provision of raw and building material. Soil is a finite

and extremely fragile resource and increasingly

degrading in the EU. Land taken by urban development

and infrastructure is highly unlikely to be reverted to its

natural state; it consumes mostly agricultural land and

increases fragmentation of habitats. Soil protection is

indirectly addressed in existing EU policies in areas such

as agriculture, water, waste, chemicals, and prevention

of industrial pollution.

Artificial land cover is used for settlements, production

systems and infrastructure. It may itself be split between

built-up areas (buildings) and non-built-up areas (such as

linear transport networks and associated areas).

The annual land take rate (growth of artificial areas) as

provided by CORINE Land Cover was 0.52% in Portugal

over the period 2006-12, just above the EU average

(0.41%). It represented 1853 hectares per year and

mainly driven by housing, services and recreation as well

as transport and infrastructures

The percentage of built up land in 2009 was 2.83%, below

the EU average (3.23%)

The soil water erosion rate in 2010 was 2.31 tonnes per

ha per year, close to EU-28 average (2.46 tonnes)

Figure 8 shows the different land cover types in Portugal

in 2012.

http://www.lisboadiariodebordo.com/#!corredor-verde-lisboa/cg9d

http://www.adp.pt/pt//?id=61&img=39&bl=6

http://cmpv.pt/minisites/life/index.php?op=textos&codtexto=5

European Environment Agency

Draft results of CORINE Land Cover

(CLC) inventory 2012;

mean annual land take 2006-12 as a % of 2006

artificial land.

European Environment Agency, 2016.

Imperviousness and

imperviousness change

Eurostat,

Soil water erosion rate,

Figure 2, accessed November 2016

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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Figure 8: Land Cover types in Portugal 2012

of soil protection policy instruments in Portugal and

other EU Member States is being performed by the EU

Expert Group on Soil Protection.

Marine protection

The EU Coastal and Marine Policy and legislation require

that by 2020 the impact of pressures on marine waters is

reduced to achieve or maintain good environmental

status and coastal zones are managed sustainably.

SDG 14 requires countries to conserve and sustainably

use the oceans, seas and marine resources for

sustainable development.

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)

aims

to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of the EU's

marine waters by 2020 by providing an ecosystem

approach to the management of human activities with

impact on the marine environment. The Directive

requires Member States to develop and implement a

marine strategy for their marine waters, and cooperate

with Member States sharing the same marine region or

subregion.

As part of their marine strategies, Member States had to

make an initial assessment of their marine waters,

determine GES

and establish environmental targets by

July 2012. They also had to establish monitoring

programmes for the on-going assessment of their marine

waters by July 2014. The next element of their marine

strategy is to establish a Programme of Measures (2016).

The Commission assesses whether these elements

constitute an appropriate framework to meet the

requirements of the MSFD.

Portuguese marine waters are part of the North-East

Atlantic Ocean marine region and are divided into four

subdivisions: the continental subdivision, the Acores and

Madeira subdivisions and the 'extended continental

shelf'. Portugal is party to the Convention for the

protection of the marine environment of the North-East

Atlantic (OSPAR Convention). In the open ocean areas of

the Atlantic the main threats to biodiversity are

potentially: overfishing, bottom-trawling (note that

Portugal decided to ban bottom-trawling for its national

fleet and is seeking to ban it for all EU fleet), discards,

and pollution resulting from accidents (e.g. oil spills).

In 2014 Portugal reported only for its continental sub-

division (mainland waters) and partially for its extended

continental shelf area beyond 200 nm and completed the

reporting exercise in 2015 for Macaronesia. Portugal did

In 2014, the National Action Program to Combat

Desertification (PANCD)

was updated (building on a

previous version of 1999). PANCD is fully aligned with the

vision, the mission, and the strategic and operational

objectives and goals of the 10 Year Strategy of the

UnitedNations Convention to Combat Desertification.

PANCD is a cornerstone Strategy for the protection and

recovery of affected soil in Portugal defining the

institutional framework responsible for ensuring

implementation and establishing a desertification

monitoring system to assess its effects and trends. It

defines a strategic vision, setting four strategic

objectives: 1) To promote the improvement of living

conditions of the populations of susceptible areas; 2) To

promote the sustainable management of ecosystems of

susceptible areas and the recovery of affected areas; 3)

Generate global benefits and potential synergies with the

processes of climate change and biodiversity in sensitive

areas; 4) To promote and mobilize resources to

implement the UNCCD and PANCD) and associated

specific objectives, lines of action and indicators.

There are still not EU-wide datasets enabling the

provision of benchmark indicators for soil organic matter

decline, contaminated sites, pressures on soil biology and

diffuse pollution. An updated inventory and assessment

European Environment Agency, Land cover 2006 and changes country

analysis [publication forthcoming]

Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 78/2014

https://dre.pt/application/file/65985917

European Union,

Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC

The MSFD defines Good Environmental Status (GES) in Article 3 as:

“The environmental status of marine waters where these provide

ecologically diverse and dynamic oceans and seas which are clean,

healthy and productive”

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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not provide a clear determination of GES. Portugal also

provided insufficient details to evaluate if and when GES

was achieved

It is therefore too early to say whether Portugal's waters

are in good status as there were weaknesses in

determining what GES is the in first place.

Portugal also established a monitoring programme of its

marine waters in 2014 for all descriptors, except for

eutrophication and hydrographic changes. It seems that

its monitoring programmes for all descriptors except

commercial fisheries need further refinement and

development to constitute an appropriate framework to

monitor progress towards GES. It is also not clear from

Portugal's reporting whether its monitoring programme

is already being implemented or whether it will come

into force at a later date

In 2016 Portuguese marine protected areas (both Natura

2000 sites and national designations) covered 113 107

km² of which 536 km² were designated in the continental

subdivision, 112 334 km² were designated around the

Azores and 237 km² around Madeira.

The Commission's reports on the implementation of the

MSFD

provide guidance to assist Portugal in its

implementation of the MSFD.

without delay, addresses all descriptors and is

appropriate to monitor progress towards its GES.

Suggested action



Continue work to improve the definitions of Good

Environmental Status (GES) in particular for

biodiversity descriptors, including through regional

cooperation by using the work of the relevant Regional

Sea Convention.



Address knowledge gaps.



Continue to integrate existing monitoring programmes

required under other EU legislation and to implement

joint monitoring programmes, where they exist,

developed at (sub) regional level.



Enhance comparability and consistency of monitoring

methods within the Portuguese marine region.



Ensure that its monitoring programme is implemented

Commission Staff Working Document Accompanying the Commission

Report on "The first phase of implementation of the Marine Strategy

Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) - The European Commission's

assessment and guidance" (SWD(21014)

049 final

and

COM(2014)097

final)

Commission Staff Working Document Accompanying the Commission

Report on "The first phase of implementation of the Marine Strategy

Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) - The European Commission's

assessment and guidance" (SWD(21014)

049 final

and

COM(2014)097

final)

Report from the Commission "The first phase of implementation of

the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) - The European

Commission's assessment and guidance"

COM(2014)097

Commission Staff Working Document Accompanying the Commission

Report assessing Member States' monitoring programmes under the

Marine Strategy Framework Directive (COM(2017)3 and SWD(2017)1

final).

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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3. Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life

Air quality

EU Clean Air Policy and legislation require that air quality

in the Union is significantly improved, moving closer to

the WHO recommended levels. Air pollution and its

impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity should be further

reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding critical

loads and levels. This requires strengthening efforts to

reach full compliance with Union air quality legislation

and defining strategic targets and actions beyond 2020.

The EU has developed an extensive body of legislation

which establishes health based standards and objectives

ceilings

At the same time, air quality in Portugal continues to give

cause for concern. For the year 2013, the European

Environment Agency estimated that about

6 070

premature deaths were attributable to fine particulate

matter concentrations

, 420 to ozone concentration and

150 to nitrogen dioxide

concentrations

. This is due

also to exceedances above the EU air quality standards

such as shown in Figure 9

For 2014, exceedances above the EU air quality standards

have been registered for nitrogen dioxide (NO

) in three

air quality zones (Porto, Braga and Lisbon). Furthermore,

Figure 9: Attainment situation for PM10, NO2 and O3 in 2014

for a number of pollutants in air. Member States are

required to ensure that up-to-date information on

ambient concentrations of the different pollutants is

routinely made available to the public. The National

Emission Ceilings Directive provides for emission

reductions at national level that should be achieved for

six main pollutants.

The emission of several air pollutants has decreased

significantly in Portugal

. Reductions between 1990 and

2014 for sulphur oxides (-89%), nitrogen oxides (-33%),

ammonia (-31%) as well as volatile organic compounds

(-37%) ensure air emissions for these pollutants are

within the currently applicable national emission

for several air quality zones the target values and long-

European Commission, 2016.

Air Quality Standards

See

EIONET Central Data Repository

and

Air pollutant emissions data

viewer (NEC Directive)

The current national emission ceilings apply since 2010 (Directive

2001/81/EC);

revised ceilings for 2020 and 2030 have been set by

Directive (EU) 2016/2284

on the reduction of national emissions of

certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 2003/35/EC and

repealing Directive 2001/81/EC.

Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and

liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions.

PM10 (PM2.5) refers to particles with a diameter of 10 (2.5)

micrometres or less. PM is emitted from many human sources,

including combustion.

NOx is emitted during fuel combustion e.g. from industrial facilities

and the road transport sector. NOx is a group of gases comprising

nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

European Environment Agency, 2016.

Air Quality in Europe – 2016

Report.

(Table 10.2, please see details in this report as regards the

underpinning methodology)

Based on European Environment Agency, 2016.

Air Quality in Europe

– 2016 Report.

(Figures 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1)

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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term objectives regarding ozone

concentration are not

being met.

The persistent breaches of air quality requirements (for

and NO

), which have severe negative effects on

health and environment, are being followed up by the

European Commission through infringement procedures

covering all the Member States concerned, including

Portugal. The aim is that adequate measures are put in

place to bring all zones into compliance.

To address the air quality problems Portugal has recently

approved the National Strategy for Air (ENAR 2020

which proposes actions concerning transport, industrial,

agricultural and domestic heating to reduce air emissions

and should be applied at local, regional and national

level. It remains to be seen how these actions will be

implemented in practice.

It is estimated that the health-related external costs from

air pollution in Portugal are above EUR 4 billion/year

(income adjusted, 2010), which include not only the

intrinsic value of living a full health life but also direct

costs to the economy. These direct economic costs relate

to 1.7 million workdays lost each year due to sickness

related to air pollution, with associated costs for

employers of EUR 159 million/year (income adjusted,

2010), for healthcare of above EUR 14 million/year

(income adjusted, 2010), and for agriculture (crop losses)

of EUR 46 million/year (2010)

Noise

The Environmental Noise Directive provides for a

common approach for the avoidance, prevention and

reduction of harmful effects due to exposure to

environmental noise.

Excessive noise is one of the main causes of health

issues

. To alleviate this, the EU

acquis

sets out several

requirements, including assessing the exposure to

environmental noise through noise mapping, ensuring

that information on environmental noise and its effects is

made available to the public, and adopting action plans

with a view to preventing and reducing environmental

noise where necessary and to preserving the acoustic

environment quality where it is good.

Portugal's implementation of the Environmental Noise

Directive

is significantly delayed. The noise mapping for

the most recent reporting round, for the reference year

2011, is only 33% complete for agglomerations, 68% for

major roads and 47% for major railways. Noise mapping

for major airports is 100% complete. Action plans for

noise management in the current period have been

adopted for only 17% of agglomerations, 5% of major

roads and 0% of major railways. For airports, the

Portuguese authorities have fulfilled all their obligations.

The European Commission has contacted the Portuguese

authorities with regard to the missing noise maps and

action plans, and continues to follow up on the situation.

Suggested action



Maintain downward emissions trends of air pollutants

in order to achieve full compliance with air quality limit

values - and reduce adverse air pollution impacts on

health, environment and economy.



Reduce nitrogen oxide (NO

) emissions to comply with

currently applicable national emission ceilings

and/or

to reduce nitrogen dioxide (NO

) (and ozone

concentrations), inter alia, by reducing transport

related emissions - in particular in urban areas.

Suggested action



Complete noise mapping and action plans for noise

management in urban areas.

Water quality and management

The EU water policy and legislation require that the

impact of pressures on transitional, coastal and fresh

waters (including surface and ground waters) is

significantly reduced to achieve, maintain or enhance

good status of water bodies, as defined by the Water

Framework Directive; that citizens throughout the Union

benefit from high standards for safe drinking and bathing

water; and that the nutrient cycle (nitrogen and

phosphorus) is managed in a more sustainable and

resource-efficient way.

Low level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution

and it is also a greenhouse gas.

See

The EEA/Eionet Air Quality Portal

and the related Central Data

Repository

Resolução do Conselho de Ministros n.º 46/2016, de 26 de Agosto de

2016

These figures are based on the

Impact Assessment

for the European

Commission Integrated Clean Air Package (2013).

Under the provisions of the revised National Emission Ceilings

Directive, Member States now may apply for emission inventory

adjustments. Pending evaluation of any adjustment application,

Member States should keep emissions under close control with a view

to further reductions.

WHO/JRC, 2011, Burden of disease from environmental noise,

Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds),

World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe,

Copenhagen,

Denmark

The Noise Directive requires Member States to prepare and publish,

every 5 years, noise maps and noise management action plans for

agglomerations with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and for major

roads, railways and airports.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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SDG 6 encourages countries to ensure availability and

sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

The main overall objective of EU water policy and

legislation is to ensure access to good quality water in

sufficient quantity for all Europeans. The EU water

acquis

seeks to ensure good status of all water bodies

across Europe by addressing pollution sources (from e.g.

agriculture, urban areas and industrial activities), physical

and hydrological modifications to water bodies) and the

management of risks of flooding.

River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) are a

requirement of the Water Framework Directive and a

means of achieving the protection, improvement and

sustainable use of the water environment across Europe.

This includes surface freshwaters such as lakes and rivers,

groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters up to one

nautical mile.

Portugal has provided information to the Commission

from its second generation of RBMPs. However, as the

Commission has not yet been able to validate this

information for all Member States, it is not reported

here.

In its first generation of RBMPs Portugal reported the

status of 1705 rivers, 122 lakes (of which 97 are

reservoirs), 53 transitional, 65 coastal and 149

groundwater bodies. 57% of natural surface water bodies

achieve a good or high ecological status

and only 28%

of heavily modified or artificial water bodies achieve a

good or high ecological potential. Only 27% of surface

water bodies (while the status of 72% is unknown), 30%

of heavily modified and artificial water bodies (70%

unknown) and 83% of groundwater bodies achieve good

chemical status

. 98% of groundwater bodies are in

good quantitative status.

The main pressure on the Portuguese surface waters is

diffuse pollution

that affects 46% of water bodies. Point

sources of pollution affect 27% of water bodies followed

by flow regulation and morphological alterations that

affect 26%. There are some regional differences, e.g.

diffuse sources of pollution affect all water bodies in the

Guadiana river basin district but only 27% in the Douro

river basin district.

The Portuguese RBMPs Plans have some deficiencies that

result in uncertainties about the status and effectiveness

of Programmes of Measures. In particular there are

weaknesses in monitoring, methodologies for status

assessment and the link between pressures and

Programmes of Measures. The planned measures are

expected to result in improvement of ecological and

chemical status of surface water bodies by 7% and 31%

respectively. The measures should also bring

improvement of ecological potential of artificial and

heavily modified water bodies

by 14% and chemical

status by 11%. The chemical status of groundwater

should improve by 2%

The Commission is assessing on a regular basis the

implementation of the Water Framework Directive by the

Member States

As regards drinking water, Portugal reaches now very

high compliance rates of 99-100% for microbiological,

chemical and indicator parameters laid down in the

Drinking Water Directive

As shown in Figure 10, in 2015, in Portugal, out of 569

bathing waters, 84.5 % were of excellent quality, 9.7 % of

good quality, 2.1 % of sufficient quality (548 in total, all

coastal bathing waters). 3 bathing waters were of poor

quality or non-compliant while it was not possible to

assess the remaining 18 bathing waters. This was mainly

due to the fact that the 2014-2015 season registered

precipitation values below average, thereby causing

dryness in some bathing sites (inland bathing waters).

Since 1993 the quality of bathing water has improved

mainly due to the control of faecal pollution sources

existing in the areas of influence, as a result of

considerable investments in the implementation of waste

water treatment infrastructure and the approval of

several instruments for territorial management. In inland

waters the percentage rose from 69% in 2000 to 83% in

2015 and in coastal transition waters from 92% to 97%.

More concretely in 2015, the last available year, the rate

of bathing waters with at least sufficient quality

increased from 94.3 % to 96.3% since bathing season

2014

This includes the

Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC);

the

Urban

Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC)

concerning discharges

of municipal and some industrial waste waters; the

Drinking Water

Directive (98/83/EC)

concerning potable water quality; the

Water

Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)

concerning water resources

management; the

Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC)

and the

Floods

Directive (2007/60/EC)

Good ecological status is defined in the Water Framework Directive,

in terms of the quality of the biological community, the hydrological

characteristics and the chemical characteristics.

Good chemical status is defined in the Water Framework Directive in

terms of compliance with all the quality standards established for

chemical substances at European level.

Diffuse pollution comes from widespread activities with no one

discrete source.

Many European river basins and waters have been altered by human

activities, such as land drainage, flood protection and building of dams

to create reservoirs.

For groundwater, a precautionary approach has been taken that

comprises a prohibition on direct discharges to groundwater, and a

requirement to monitor groundwater bodies.

More information on the implementation status of the Water

Framework Directive can be found

here

Commission's Synthesis Report on the Quality of Drinking Water in

the Union

examining Member States' reports for the 2011-2013

period, foreseen under Article 13(5) of Directive 98/83/EC;

COM(2016)666

State of bathing waters 2015-National Report Portugal

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Figure 10: Bathing water quality 2012 – 2015

of the EU against Portugal, including financial sanctions,

which execution is closely followed-up by the European

Commission. Therefore, further efforts are needed.

It should be noted that Portugal is the only EU Member

State which has identified "less sensitive" areas

, or

areas in principle not adversely affected by waste water

discharges due to their intrinsic features

The estimated investment needs (reported under article

17 of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive) to

reach full compliance with the Directive in Portugal are of

EUR 183 million

Finally, natural water retention measures for flood

prevention are often disregarded, despite being

sometimes more cost-effective than hard infrastructure

for flood prevention, as well as being cheaper than the

costs of flood recovery

Nitrate pollution in Portugal is an issue especially in

livestock intensive areas. According to the last report on

the implementation of the Nitrates Directive, referring to

the period 2008-2011, nitrate levels in groundwater have

remained steady over the last years, with high levels in

around 20% of monitoring stations.

Several measures of the nitrates action programmes

were reinforced through the different revisions in the

past years. As regards controls, the most challenging

measures in terms of compliance related to storage

capacity and balanced fertilisation, including the respect

of 170 Kg/ha/year obligation.

In Portugal, around 80% of the overall water

consumption is used by agriculture and livestock farming.

Although the amount of water used in the agricultural

sector has been reduced in the last years, there is still an

important water saving potential, related to a better

water pricing policy. The potential for innovation leading

to water savings is also big.

Regarding the implementation of the Urban Waste Water

Treatment Directive (reported in 2014), in Portugal,

99.8% of the waste water load is collected, 88.6% is

submitted to secondary treatment of which 77.3% is

compliant with the requirements of the Directive (the

target is 92.5%) and 73% of the waste water load

receives treatment more stringent than secondary. It

must also be highlighted the difference in compliance

rates at regional level, especially regarding treatment

(e.g. "Norte", with higher values than "Alentejo" or

"Madeira").

Despite the improvement in compliance throughout the

years, for which the use of EU funding has been

fundamental, the incomplete implementation of the

Directive has led to several rulings of the Court of Justice

Suggested action



Portugal should improve its water policy in line with

the intervention logic of the Water Framework

Directive (WFD), i.e. a detailed assessment of pressures

to design effective Programmes of Measures

addressing these pressures and the implementation

gaps. The assessment methods should improve to

provide more certainty about the water status and the

Programmes of Measures should be adequately

funded.



New physical modifications of water bodies should be

assessed in line with Article 4(7) of the WFD. In these

assessments alternative options and adequate

mitigation measures have to be considered.



Agricultural developments should be duly taken into

account in the implementation of the nitrates action

programmes. Address the issues of compliance on the

ground, especially with reference to the measures on

balanced fertilisation and storage capacity.



Efforts should be done to improve the coordinated

implementation between water, marine and nature

policies.



Complete implementation of the Urban Waste Water

Treatment Directive for all agglomerations, by building

up the necessary infrastructure.

European Environment Agency,

State of bathing water,

2016

E.g.: open bays, estuaries and other coastal waters with a good water

exchange

Portugal reports regularly to the Commission on its areas identified as

"less sensitive areas" : "Cabo da Roca/Estoril” and “Madeira

(vertentesul)”.

European Commission, 2016.

Urban waste water, 8th implementation

reports.

RPA, 2014. Study on Economic and Social Benefits of Environmental

Protection and Resource Efficiency Related to the European Semester.

Study for the European Commission,

Annex 1: Country fiches

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Enhancing the sustainability of cities

The EU Policy on the urban environment encourages

cities to implement policies for sustainable urban

planning and design, including innovative approaches for

urban public transport and mobility, sustainable

buildings, energy efficiency and urban biodiversity

conservation.

SDG11 aims at making cities and human settlements

inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Europe is a Union of cities and towns; around 75% of the

EU population are living in urban areas.

The urban

environment poses particular challenges for the

environment and human health, whilst also providing

opportunities and efficiency gains in the use of resources.

The Member States, European institutions, cities and

stakeholders have prepared a new Urban Agenda for the

EU (incorporating the Smart Cities initiative) to tackle

these issues in a comprehensive way, including their

connections with social and economic challenges. At the

heart of this Urban Agenda will be the development of

twelve partnerships on the identified urban challenges,

including air quality and housing

The European Commission will launch a new EU

benchmark system in 2017

The EU stimulates green cities through awards and

funding, such as the EU Green Capital Award aimed at

cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants and the EU

Green Leaf initiative aimed at cities and towns, with

between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants.

In the case of Portugal, it should be highlighted that the

city of Torres Vedras was one of the two cities winning

the inaugural EU Green Leaf in 2015

Oriented towards the promotion of a sustainable urban

development and in line with the European mainstream

strategies and programmes, Portugal approved in 2015

the ‘Sustainable Cities 2020’ strategy, a guiding

document offering the municipalities, the inter-municipal

entities and other urban stakeholders a roadmap on

urban sustainability for the next European funding cycle,

until 2020. This document outlines a set of non-binding

strategic guidelines to be adopted by the Portuguese

cities, laying the foundations for its effective application,

through the launch of a range of tools that promote its

implementation

This strategy seeks to reinforce the strategic dimension

of the role of cities in various areas, namely urban

regeneration and restoration, urban environment, low

carbon, climate change and risks, anchored on the

paradigm of sustainable urban development, for which

the involvement and commitment of a multiplicity of

agents is a fundamental condition for the focus of

interventions not to be limited to the physical dimension

of the urban space, but rather, seek to achieve purposes

such as economic development, social inclusion,

education, participation and environmental protection.

European Environment Agency,

Urban environment

http://urbanagendaforthe.eu/

The Commission is developing an

Urban Benchmarking and

Monitoring ('UBaM') tool

to be launched in 2017. Best practices

emerge and these will be better disseminated via the app featuring the

UBaM tool, and increasingly via e.g. EUROCITIES, ICLEI, CEMR,

Committee of the Regions, Covenant of Mayors and others.

European Commission Press Release, 18th June 2015,

Torres Vedras

wins inaugural European Green Leaf 2015

Personal transport exacerbates seasonal problems with

air quality and traffic congestion

in the major

metropolitan areas in Portugal, namely Lisbon and Porto,

leading to health and economic costs. A comprehensive

approach is needed to tackle this matter, bringing

environmental as well as economic and social benefits.

The "Green Growth Commitment" defines a target to

increase the use of public transport and points out

several paths to meet this target, such as the

Council of Ministers Resolution No. 61/2015, August 11

INRIX, 2015.

Key Findings: INRIX 2015 Traffic Scoreboard

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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modernization of public transport, including rail

transport, the development of mobility plans for major

large public and private employers, the promotion of less

pollutant vehicles (including electric vehicles and the use

of biofuels) and the promotion of soft transport modes.

It is also important to consider the development of new

solutions for urban logistics that have the potential to

allow the reduction of the number of trucks in urban

centers, and on this matter it is important to point out

the participation of the Lisbon & Tagus Valley region on

Project

Dorothy

that aims “to enhance the distribution

process of urban goods by reducing the number of

vehicles and enhancing environmental standards”.

Another relevant issue is the decentralization

implemented by the new legal framework for public

transport services

which has the potential to promote a

better planning and management of these services, at

regional and local level, allowing higher efficiency levels

that are expected to reduce the environmental impacts

of public transport.

The 'Green corridor Lisbon' initiative should be

commended in this context as an example of green

infrastructure benefitting a metropolitan area. The

Lisbon Strategy for 2010-2024 identified three main

objectives for the city: (1) City regeneration –

rehabilitation of vacant buildings and degraded city

districts and green spaces, to reverse the depopulation

process; (2) Climate change adaptation – focus on the

challenges of climate change and the consequent natural

vulnerabilities (such as flooding), as well as on energy

efficiency, reducing the number of vehicles in circulation

and increasing the area of green spaces; and (3)

Connectivity of green spaces – implementation of a

network of green spaces and corridors for recreational

activities and protection, appreciation and promotion of

biodiversity and of natural and cultural landscapes. As a

result of the strategy, the size, quality and connectivity of

green spaces in Lisbon increased. Elements include

bicycle lanes, bicycle-friendly streets, ecological corridors

and allotment gardens. The Green corridor networks and

informal open spaces such as allotment gardens provide

wider accessibility to urban residents, workers and

tourists. Other benefits are a positive impact on health by

promoting

active

transport

(walking/cycling),

environmental impact gains and additional income (and

jobs) from an increased number of visitors.

The good practices of sustainable urban development

could be spread across the country.

International agreements

The EU Treaties require that the Union policy on the

environment promotes measures at the international

level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental

problems.

Most environmental problems have a transboundary

nature and often a global scope and they can only be

addressed effectively through international co-operation.

International environmental agreements concluded by

the Union are binding upon the institutions of the Union

and on its Member States. This requires the EU and the

Member States to sign, ratify and effectively implement

all relevant multilateral environmental agreements

(MEAs) in a timely manner. This will also be an important

contribution towards the achievement of the SDGs,

which Member States committed to in 2015 and include

many commitments contained already in legally binding

agreements.

The fact that some Member States did not sign and/or

ratify a number of MEAs compromises environmental

implementation, including within the Union, as well as

the Union’s credibility in related negotiations and

international

meetings

where

supporting

the

participation of third countries to such agreements is an

established EU policy objective. In agreements where

voting takes place it has a direct impact on the number of

votes to be cast by the EU.

Currently, Portugal has signed but not yet ratified two

agreements under the Convention on Long-range

Transboundary Air Pollution: the Persistent Organic

Pollutions Protocol and the Heavy Metals Protocol. The

same applies to the Nagoya Protocol

http://www.clusterdorothy.com

http://www.imtt.pt/sites/IMTT/Portugues/RJSPTP/Paginas/RJSPTP.as

Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable

Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on

Biological Diversity.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

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Part II: Enabling Framework: Implementation Tools

4. Market based instruments and investment

Green taxation and environmentally harmful

subsidies

The Circular Economy Action Plan encourages the use of

financial incentives and economic instruments, such as

taxation to ensure that product prices better reflect

environmental costs. The phasing out of environmentally

harmful subsidies is monitored in the context of the

European Semester and in national reform programmes

submitted by Member States.

Taxing pollution and resource use can generate increased

revenue and brings important social and environmental

benefits. Moreover, environmentally-related taxation is

one of the few taxes that are generally not detrimental to

growth.

Shifting taxation away from labour towards taxes less

harmful to growth remains a key challenge in Portugal.

Following the work carried-out during 2014 by the

"Commission for Green Tax Reform" and some of its

recommendations, Portugal adopted in 2015 a green

taxation reform, aiming to promote a more sustainable

economic development model, which is a positive step.

The additional revenue raised by this green taxation

reform is to be allocated to reduce the tax burden on

labour, assuming a revenue-neutrality. The effects of this

reform have still to be assessed.

There is still scope for considering further measures that

were not assumed in this green taxation reform. A more

stable and growth-friendly tax system would help foster

confidence and encourage private investment.

The 2016 Annual Growth Survey highlights the need to

shift taxes away from labour to create efficient and

growth-friendly tax systems contributing significantly to

increasing employment and adaptability of the labour

market

Environmental tax reform can play an important part in

sustaining economic growth. Taxing pollution and

resource use would bring in additional revenues, and at

the same time it would help discouraging activities that

will bring additional cost in the future in terms of clean

up, health costs, etc. This additional revenue could also

substitute for cuts in spending, therefore help achieving a

similar net budgetary outcome.

At 2.25% of GDP in 2014, Portugal's level of

environmental taxes is below the EU-28 average of

2.46%

. This rate has slightly increased from 2.19% in

2013 and 2.14% in 2012. However, the 2012–2014 levels

are below the 2002–2005 values (2.9% of GDP). In fact,

revenues from environmental taxes have significantly

decreased in Portugal during the last decade. Although

the effects of the recent green taxation reform have still

to be perceived, there is still clear scope to increase

environmental taxes and alleviate the burden on labour.

Portugal with 6.59% of GDP is around the EU average

(6.35%) regarding the share of environmental taxation in

revenues from taxes and social contributions, as shown

below.

Figure 11: Environmental tax revenues as a share of

total revenues from taxes and social contributions

(excluding imputed social contributions) in 2014

As recognized in 2014

, the Commission for Green Tax

Reform created by the Portuguese Government has been

a positive initiative in order to improve environmental

taxation in Portugal and the work of this committee of

independent experts should be commended. Its objective

was to review environmental and energy taxation

Annual Growth Survey 2016, p. 14.

Eurostat,

Environmental tax revenues,

accessed October 2016

Eurostat,

Environmental tax revenues,

accessed October 2016

SWD(2014) 423 final, 2 June 2014.

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regimes with a view to promoting a new green fiscal

framework which incentivises eco-innovation and the

efficient use of resources, as well as mechanism for the

internalisation of environmental externalities. It also

included the potential contribution to reducing external

energy dependence and to inducing more sustainable

production and consumption patterns.

The final report of this Commission, issued in September

2014, includes an in-depth analysis on this matter, with

interesting findings and a series of recommendations on

different sectors: energy, transport, water, waste, land

planning, forests, biodiversity, etc. It also proposes global

tax neutrality, aiming at ensuring tax progressivity,

developing green accounting, boosting environmental

information, developing helpful tools for the decision

making process, enhancing environmental policies and

streamlining environmental funding

A limited number of these recommendations were taken

on board by the Portuguese Government in its

subsequent legislative proposal to the Portuguese

Parliament.

In this respect, a 2016 study suggests that there is

considerable potential for additional revenue from

environmental taxes in Portugal

. Under a good practice

scenario

these taxes could generate an additional EUR

1.39 billion in 2018, rising to EUR 2.24 billion in 2030

(both in real 2015 terms). This is equivalent to 0.73% and

0.96% of GDP in 2018 and 2030, respectively.

The reduction of environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS)

is another key challenge. Portugal is still subsidising fossil

fuels, company cars, or diesel compared to petrol when

the policy objectives could be achieved in a less

environmentally harmful way.

The European Commission has highlighted the different

challenges that Member States, including Portugal, face

in relation to environmentally-related taxation

In 2013 all Member States agreed to phase out EHS

'without delay'

100

. Moving away from EHS can deliver

economic, social and environmental benefits, allow for

improved competitiveness and support budget

consolidation

101

. It is important to ensure that energy tax

rates become more consistent across fuels and uses, and

that the tax system does not unduly favour fossil-based

solutions.

Furthermore, according to OECD, Portugal has a

considerable potential for reducing a wide range of tax

exemptions and reductions and phasing out EHS

102

There is scope to address the preferential treatment of

diesel compared with petrol. The diesel-petrol

differential is not justified from an environmental

perspective: diesel emits higher levels of a number of air

pollutants and should be taxed higher. The diesel

differential in Portugal is 53% (a figure of 0% means the

same level of taxation for petrol and diesel cars, i.e. no

diesel differential)

103

. Lower diesel tax led to

"dieselisation" of the fleet in Europe.

The Report of the Commission for Green Tax Reform also

identifies many EHS that need to be phased out.

However, the pressure from the different interest groups

benefiting from these EHS makes more difficult taking

effective measures in this regard, and therefore the

effects of such a reform need to be duly considered

together with suitable alternatives for the disadvantaged

categories.

In 2016, the Ministry of the Environment has created a

working group to further develop the green taxation

reform approved in 2014. This work should aim to deliver

more incentives to green behaviour from 2017 onwards

as well as to increase the share of environmental taxes,

namely in fossil fuels.

Therefore, there is scope to continue the implementation

of the "Green Tax Reform" and further develop the

potential for environmental taxation and the reduction of

EHS in Portugal.

Green Public Procurement

The EU green public procurement policies encourage

Member States to take further steps to reach the target

of applying green procurement criteria to at least 50% of

public tenders.

Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a process whereby

public authorities seek to procure goods, services and

works with a reduced environmental impact throughout

their life-cycle when compared to goods, services and

works with the same primary function that would

101

Final Report

"Projeto de Reforma da Fiscalidade Verde",

15.09.2014.

Eunomia Research and Consulting, IEEP, Aarhus University, ENT,

2016.

Study on Assessing the Environmental Fiscal Reform Potential for

the EU28.

N.B. National governments are responsible for setting tax

rates within the EU Single Market rules and this report is not

suggesting concrete changes as to the level of environmental taxation.

It merely presents the findings of the 2016 study by Eunomia

et al

the potential benefits various environmental taxes could bring. It is

then for the national authorities to assess this study and their concrete

impacts in the national context. A first step in this respect, already

done by a number of Member States, is to set up expert groups to

assess these and make specific proposals.

The good practice scenario means benchmarking to a successful

taxation practice in another Member State.

European Commission, 2015.

Tax Reforms in EU Member States 2015,

Institutional Paper 008 Sept. 2015.

100 th

7 EU Environmental Action Programme.

See 2020 Milestone on phasing out EHS in the Roadmap to a

Resource Efficient Europe (COM(2011) 571 final).

102

OECD

Companion to the Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil

Fuels 2015

103

European Environment Agency 2016,

Environmental taxation and EU

environmental policies,

Table 4.3, p.24.

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otherwise be procured.

The purchasing power of public procurement equals to

approximately 14% of GDP

104

. A substantial part of this

money is spent on sectors with high environmental

impact such as construction or transport, so GPP can help

to significantly lower the impact of public spending and

foster sustainable innovative businesses.The Commission

has proposed EU GPP criteria

105

In Portugal GPP policy has been institutionalised since

the introduction of the National Strategy for Green Public

Procurement 2008-2010, which was adopted by the

Council of Ministers in 2007.

A new national strategy for GPP (ENCPE 2020) has been

approved by the Portuguese Government in July 2016

106

This strategy defines more precisely its scope, intending

to have a broader and effective impact from the previous

strategy, covering more acquisition procedures and thus

potentiating its effect.

GPP criteria will be progressively developed at the

national level on the basis of national and European

studies on GPP criteria and products, taking into account

Portugal’s environmental objectives such as reducing

greenhouse gas emissions.

The environmental criteria for 21 priority product groups

constitute the main tools for the purposes of meeting the

objectives of the strategy, and include these product

groups: office buildings, electricity, imaging equipment,

electrical and electronic equipment used in the health

care sector, office IT equipment, indoor lighting, street

lighting and traffic signals, waste water infrastructure,

road design, construction and maintenance, furniture,

wall panels, copying and graphic paper, combined heat

and power (CHP), food and catering services, gardening

products and services, cleaning products and services,

water-based heaters, toilets and urinals, textiles, sanitary

tapware and transport.

The 2020 National Strategy establishes targets applicable

to the National System for Public Procurement,

concerning most of the public bodies. For this group a

target was set out, of integrating by 2020 environmental

criteria in 60% of contracts as well as 60% of

procurement value. In addition, the same targets are also

established for the state owned companies, at a level of

40%.

Investments: the contribution of EU funds

European Structural and Investment Funds Regulations

provide that Member States promote environment and

climate objectives in their funding strategies and

programmes for economic, social and territorial

cohesion, rural development and maritime policy, and

reinforce the capacity of implementing bodies to deliver

cost-effective and sustainable investments in these areas.

Making good use of the European Structural and

Investment Funds (ESIF)

107

is essential to achieve the

environmental goals and integrate these into other policy

areas. Other instruments such as the Horizon 2020, the

LIFE programme and the EFSI

108

may also support

implementation and spread of best practice.

Portugal is traditionally an important beneficiary of the

EU Cohesion Policy.

Current data suggest that the EU funds for the 2007-2013

period were almost fully spent

109

For the 2014-2020 programming period Portugal will also

receive an important contribution from the 5 ESI Funds

(see Figure 12, current prices):



From the ERDF: EUR 10 773 million.

From the Cohesion Fund: EUR 2 862 million.

From the ESF: EUR 7 546 million.

From the EARDF: EUR 4 058 million.

From the EMFF: EUR 392 million.

The support of the EU funding has significantly

contributed to improve the implementation of the EU

environmental law and policy and Portugal.

The environmental investments have a similar weight

within the EU Cohesion Policy in the current

programming period compared to the previous one.

There is a national OP dedicated to environment:

"Sustainability and Efficiency in the Use of Resources"

(POSEUR), amounting to EUR 2.6 billion

110

and

concentrating environmental investments through the

Cohesion Fund in Portugal. This OP aims to anticipate and

adapt to the global changes in the field of energy, climate

change and more efficient use of resources along a

dynamic perspective that links competitiveness to

sustainability, in accordance with the Europe 2020

strategy.

107

104

105

European Commission, 2015.

Public procurement

In the Communication “Public procurement for a better

environment”

(COM (2008)400)

the Commission recommended the

creation of a process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic

concept of GPP relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and

ambitious environmental criteria for products and services, based on a

life-cycle approach and scientific evidence base.

106

Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 38/2016 of 29 July.

ESIF comprises five funds – the European Regional Development

Funds (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Social Fund (ESF),

the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), and

the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The ERDF, the CF

and the ESF together form the Cohesion Policy funds.

108

European Investment Bank, 2016

European Fund for Strategic

Investments

109

Final data for the period 2007-2013 will only be available at the end

of 2017.

110

Including the national co-financing part.

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Figure 12: European Structural and Investment Funds

2014-2020: Budget Portugal by theme, EUR billion

111

The two thematic environmental ex ante conditionalities

(EAC) on Water and Waste were only partially fulfilled by

Portugal at the moment of adoption of the Partnership

Agreement 2014-2020 and therefore Action Plans were

agreed with the Portuguese authorities in order to

comply with all the criteria by end-2016

112

The general environmental EAC on EIA/SEA (looking into

the legal framework and the effective arrangements to

comply with the environmental impact assessment rules)

was considered as fulfilled by Portugal.

Portugal should take advantage of the ESIF available for

the programming period 2014-2020 in order to improve

the compliance with the EU environmental law and

policy, as well as to use the potential of the green

economy for competitiveness and job creation.

It is too early to draw conclusions as regards the use and

results of ESIF for the period 2014-2020, as the relevant

programmes are still in an early stage of their

implementation.

With regard to the integration of environmental concerns

into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the two key

areas are, first, using Rural Development funds to pay for

environmental

land

management

and

other

environmental measures, while avoiding financing

measures which could damage the environment; and

second, to, ensuring an effective implementation of the

first pillar of the CAP with regard to cross compliance and

1st pillar 'greening'. 30 % of direct payment envelope is

allocated to greening practices beneficial for the

environment.

environmentally

ambitious

implementation of 1st pillar greening would clearly help

to improve the environmental situation in areas not

covered by rural development, including intensive area.

For the Rural Development Programme of Mainland

Portugal, the total EAFRD budget is some EUR 3584

million, with around 11.7% of budget allocated to the

agri-environment-climate measure, much less than for

the less environmentally focused Natural Constraints

measure (20%). Natura 2000 land areas management

relies largely on traditional and low intensive

management either in agriculture, grazing or forestry, the

comprehensive application of sound, effective and

targeted support to specific farming and forestry

practices is required and there is a potential risk to

nature and biodiversity from afforestation, and from the

large budgetary allocation for farm investments.

Therefore this programme could be much better targeted

on the environment.

For the Rural Development Programme of Madeira, the

total EAFRD budget is EUR 180 million of which only 4.8%

is allocated to the agri-environment-climate measure.

Very low uptake for this measure on small farms was a

112

There are also two other national OPs on

"Competitiveness and Internationalisation" and on

"Technical Assistance". Moreover, there are seven

regional OPs, which in this period are multi-funding,

covering both ERDF and ESF, where environmental

actions are also envisaged.

Moreover, it should be highlighted the various territorial

cooperation ERDF OPs (transnational and cross-border

cooperation) with the participation of Portugal where the

environmental investments have a considerable weight.

In terms of environmental sectors, the main priorities in

Portugal for ERDF 2014-2020 are: water (EUR 628

million), adaptation to climate change (EUR 415 million),

waste (EUR 313 million), and rehabilitation of industrial

sites and contaminated land (EUR 152 million).

The environmental integration has been ensured in the

Partnership Agreement 2014-2020 and the different

Operational Programmes for the five ESIF through the

application of the Strategic Environmental Assessment

(SEA) Directive and by other means.

111

European Commission,

European Structural and Investment Funds

Data By Country

The EAC Waste has already been fulfilled by Portugal.

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problem from the past which does not appear to have

been overcome; and problems with pesticides appear to

remain. Afforestation using non-native species may be

also a cause for environmental concern.

As to the Rural Development Program of Azores, its

EARDF part, amounts to around EUR 295 million, out of

which agri-environmental-climate measures represent

19.6%. Though having a higher proportion in the EARDF

than for the rest of Portugal, the problems of invasive

species are still of concern with prevalence of large areas

of invasive flora in Natura 2000 areas putting pressure in

their conservation objectives to achieve the favourable

conservation status of protected species and habitats.

Yet, the support under the main forestry measure aims at

supporting well established industries of Cryptomeria

and Eucalyptus species and other non-native species

(Sequioadendron, Sequoia etc). Contribution of RDP

towards environmental objectives is non-targeted, non-

ambitious, very limited and does not follow the

intervention logic based on threats and weaknesses in

environmental sphere. The forestry measure might

represent, based on its implementation, environmentally

harmful investments.

Portugal also benefits from the EU LIFE Programme, with

numerous and interesting projects. It should be noted

that Portugal has currently a LIFE capacity building

project aiming to improve the overall Portuguese

capacity for participation and use of the LIFE Programme,

by increasing the number and quality of projects that are

yearly presented to the Calls for Proposals.

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5. Effective governance and knowledge

SDG 16 aims at providing access to justice and building

effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all

levels. SDG 17 aims at better implementation, improving

policy coordination and policy coherence, stimulating

science, technology and innovation, establishing

partnerships and developing measurements of progress.

Effective governance of EU environmental legislation and

policies requires having an appropriate institutional

framework, policy coherence and coordination, applying

legal and non-legal instruments, engaging with non-

governmental stakeholders, and having adequate levels

of knowledge and skills

113

. Successful implementation

depends, to a large extent, on central, regional and local

government fulfilling key legislative and administrative

tasks, notably adoption of sound implementing

legislation, co-ordinated action to meet environmental

objectives correct decision-making on matters such as

industrial permits. Beyond fulfilment of these tasks,

government must intervene to ensure day-to-day

compliance by economic operators, utilities and

individuals ("compliance assurance"). Civil society also

has a role to play, including through legal action. To

underpin the roles of all actors, it is crucial to collect and

share knowledge and evidence on the state of the

environment and on environmental pressures, drivers

and impacts.

Equally, effective governance of EU environmental

legislation and policies benefits from a dialogue within

Member States and between Member States and the

Commission on whether the current EU environmental

legislation is fit for purpose. Legislation can only be

properly implemented when it takes into account

experiences at Member State level with putting EU

commitments into effect. The Make it Work initiative, a

Member State driven project, established in 2014,

organizes a discussion on how the clarity, coherence and

structure of EU environmental legislation can be

improved without lowering existing protection standards.

Capacity to implement rules

It is crucial that central, regional and local

administrations have the necessary capacities and skills

and training to carry out their own tasks and co-operate

and co-ordinate effectively with each other, within a

system of multi-level governance.

The 2013 European Quality of Government Index puts

Portugal in 16

place out of the 28 Member States.

114

Environmental policy developments in Portugal are

mainly driven by EU Directives and Regulations, and the

relevant EU rules are generally transposed in time. The

number of complaints and infringements in the

environmental field can be considered in the EU average.

Overall, during the last decade an improvement in the

implementation of EU environmental law in the different

sectors can be observed. For instance, there has been

progress regarding the implementation of the

environmental assessments. However a recent package

of legislation aimed at speeding-up the licencing of the so

called projects of national interest needs to be tested,

mainly because it provides very tight deadlines for the

carrying out of the assessment and the possibility of tacit

approval of some procedural acts.

Effective governance within central, regional

and local government

Those involved in implementing environment legislation

at Union, national, regional and local levels need to be

equipped with the knowledge, tools and capacity to

improve the delivery of benefits from that legislation,

and the governance of the enforcement process.

113

Coordination and integration

The Portuguese Government adopted in April 2015 the

"Green Growth Commitment" (GGC). This strategy has its

origin in the "Coalition for Green Growth" launched in

February 2014. With a broad social support, the GGC

encompasses the entire scope of components pertaining

to green growth (16 sectors), underpinned by

quantitative targets for 2020 and 2030, and an extensive

range of measures (111 measures).

The Commission has work ongoing to improve the country-specific

knowledge about quality and functioning of the administrative systems

of Member States.

114

Charron N., 2013.

European Quality of Government Index (EQI)

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

kom (2017) 0063 - Ingen titel

Portugal

The GGC initiated the discussion on the need to achieve a

new national development model, aiming to comply with

three major objectives by 2020: 1) to position Portugal as

a global benchmark for green growth; 2) to promote a

low-carbon economy, highly efficient in resource use;

and 3) to produce more wealth and jobs by investing in

sustainability of industries and territories.

The GGC brings stakeholders together in encouraging a

transition to a more resource efficient and low-carbon

economy. It is now essential to implement the numerous

measures it includes

115

An evolution of the GGC was recently undertaken,

bringing stakeholders to focus on the core of green

growth: the Circular Economy. In this context, a new

orientation was issued to the Coalition, to work on 5

sectors (industry, agriculture & forestry, built

environment, transport and procurement) and on 5

strategies (dematerialization, eco-design and lifecycle

extension,

resource

efficiency,

symbiosis

and

recovery/recycling). Stakeholders were called to interact

and build collaborative projects, intended to

demonstrate the advantages and barriers in pursuing

these initiatives. Coalition members welcomed this

approach and the first results are expected by end-2017.

Regarding the implementation of EU environmental law,

the competences are shared between the national

administration

and

the

regional

and

local

administrations. The insular regions of Azores and

Madeira have a special autonomy also in this field.

Impact assessments are important tools to ensure

environmental integration in all government policies

116

In the last years, Portugal has taken various measures to

streamline the EIA process. The transposition of the

revised EIA Directive

117

will be also an opportunity to

streamline the regulatory framework on environmental

assessments. The Commission encourages the

streamlining of the environmental assessments to avoid

overlaps in environmental assessments and accelerate

decision-making, without compromising the quality of

the environmental assessment procedure. The

Commission has issued a guidance document in 2016

118

regarding the setting up of coordinated and/or joint

procedures that are simultaneously subject to

assessments under the EIA Directive, Habitats Directive,

Water Framework Directive, and the Industrial Emissions

115

116

Directive.

Portugal has recently created the Single Environment

Permit (SEP) scheme

119

, which covers all main permits on

the environment domain. The SEP aims to integrate,

harmonise and simplify processes and procedures in

order to facilitate their interpretation and application by

interested parties and the administration itself, thus

helping to minimise the impact of the dispersion of

legislation and also to reduce bureaucracy related costs.

It is also aims to strengthen cooperation between various

bodies and services of the public administration which

are legally competent in environmental matters. In any

case, this new scheme must ensure high standards of

environmental protection.

Suggested action



The experience obtained on the definition and

implementation of the mitigation and compensation

measures regarding the dam projects should be

extended to other infrastructure likely to have

significant impacts on the Natura 2000 network. The

composition of follow-up commissions for these

projects should be as broad as possible and include

representative NGOs.



Effectively implementing and making use of the

recently created initiatives in order to improve

efficiency, effectiveness and coordination of the public

sector in the environmental domain, namely improving

information sharing and documentation exchange

between public entities that are responsible for

inspection and monitoring in the areas of Agriculture,

Sea and Environment, with an operational platform.

Compliance assurance

EU law generally and specific provisions on inspections,

other checks, penalties and environmental liability help

lay the basis for the systems Member States need to

have in place to secure compliance with EU

environmental rules.

Public authorities help ensure accountability of duty-

holders by monitoring and promoting compliance and by

taking credible follow-up action (i.e. enforcement) when

breaches occur or liabilities arise. Compliance monitoring

can be done both on the initiative of authorities

themselves and in response to citizen complaints. It can

involve using various kinds of checks, including

inspections for permitted activities, surveillance for

possible illegal activities, investigations for crimes and

audits for systemic weaknesses. Similarly, there is a range

of means to promote compliance, including awareness-

raising campaigns and use of guidance documents and

119

European Semester 2016 Portugal Country Report,

p. 58.

Article 11 of the TFEU provides that "Environmental protection

requirements must be integrated into the definition and

implementation of the Union's policies and activities, in particular with

a view to promoting sustainable development."

117

The transposition of Directive 2014/52/EU is due in May 2017.

118

European Commission, 2016. Commission notice —

Commission

guidance document on streamlining environmental assessments

conducted under Article 2(3) of the Environmental Impact Assessment

Directive (Directive

2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the

Council, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU).

Decree-Law 75/2015

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

kom (2017) 0063 - Ingen titel

Portugal

online information tools. Follow-up to breaches and

liabilities can include administrative action (e.g.

withdrawal of a permit), use of criminal law

120

and action

under liability law (e.g. required remediation after

damage from an accident using liability rules) and

contractual law (e.g. measures to require compliance

with nature conservation contracts). Taken together, all

of these interventions represent "compliance assurance"

as shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Environmental compliance assurance

of implementation of the ELD based on the Commission's

recently published implementation report and REFIT

evaluation

126

Over the last decade, Portugal has improved the

effectiveness of environmental compliance assurance, in

particular inspections. The implementation of the

Portugal's administrative simplification programme has

led to a greater use of risk-based approaches and more

systematic data collection

127

. The IMPEL IRAM risk

assessment methodology is widely used

128

. Some

compliance promotion campaigns have been organized.

The General Inspection for Agriculture, Sea, Environment

and Spatial Planning (IGAMAOT)

129

established a

database on regulated industrial installations and

relevant inspection activities that include also other

sectors that have to comply with environmental

obligations such as animal farms (intensive livestock),

infrastructures and constructions, hospitals, waste

management sites and transportation, wastewater

treatment plants, agriculture

130

and uses a geographic

information system for analyzing, planning and

prioritizing inspections

131

. There is a system for

performance evaluation which uses not only input and

output indicators but also some outcome indicators

related to state of the environment parameters

132

Some reports have shown that there are shortcomings in

relation to:



data-collection arrangements to track the use and

effectiveness of different compliance assurance

interventions outside the area of industrial

installations;



the extent to which risk-based methods are used to

126

Best practice has moved towards a risk-based approach

at strategic and operational levels in which the best mix

of compliance monitoring, promotion and enforcement is

directed at the most serious problems. Best practice also

recognises the need for coordination and cooperation

between different authorities to ensure consistency,

avoid duplication of work and reduce administrative

burden. Active participation in established pan-European

networks of inspectors, police, prosecutors and judges,

such as

IMPEL

121

, EUFJE

122

, ENPE

123

and EnviCrimeNet

124

is a valuable tool for sharing experience and good

practices.

Currently, there exist a number of sectoral obligations on

inspections and the EU directive on environmental

liability (ELD)

125

provides a means of ensuring that the

"polluter-pays principle" is applied when there are

accidents and incidents that harm the environment.

There is also publically available information giving

insights into existing strengths and weaknesses in each

Member State.

For each Member State, the following were therefore

reviewed: use of risk-based compliance assurance;

coordination and co-operation between authorities and

participation in pan-European networks; and key aspects

120

121

European Union,

Environmental Crime Directive 2008/99/EC

European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement

of Environmental Law

122

European Union Forum of judges for the environment

123

The European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment

124

EnviCrimeNet

125

European Union,

Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/CE

COM(2016)204 final

and

COM(2016)121 final

of 14.4.2016. This

highlighted the need for better evidence on how the directive is used

in practice; for tools to support its implementation, such as guidance,

training and ELD registers; and for financial security to be available in

case events or incidents generate remediation costs.

127

OECD Environmental Performance Report Portugal 2011, p. 64.

128

Portugal indicated that risk assessment is applied in sectors such as

wastewater treatment plants (taking into account water quality),

Seveso and IPPC installations (taking into account its location in or

nearby sensitive areas, which includes nature protected sites) and that

IGAMAOT is currently expanding its use to other areas such as trans-

boundary shipments of wastes.

129

Together with the Service for Nature and Environmental Protection

(SEPNA) which is part of the Internal Administration Ministry,

IGAMAOT is the main authority in charge of assuring compliance with

environmental obligations.

130

This database (GESTIGAOT) includes inter alia inspections reports

which are available for internal consultation but in general not to the

wider public. A compilation of the main findings of inspections to

sectors are available on the Annual Activity reports but also specific

reports, available to the public at

https://www.igamaot.gov.pt/relatorios/. IGAMAOT transferred this

information to a new database named SGI. According to the type of

installations the inspection reports are sent to public authorities that

have competences on assuring compliance with environmental

obligations or its permitting..

131

IMPEL IRI Portugal, p. 33.

132

IMPEL IRI Portugal, p. 31.

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

kom (2017) 0063 - Ingen titel

Portugal

direct compliance assurance at the strategic level

and in relation to critical activities outside of

industrial installations

133

, in particular in specific

problem-areas highlighted elsewhere in this Country

Report, i.e. the threats to protected habitat types

and species, poor air quality and the pressures on

water quality from diffuse and point sources of

pollution;

how the Portuguese authorities ensure a targeted

and proportionate response to different types of

non-compliant behaviour, given evidence of the

limited effectiveness of sanctions

134

programme for the Directive). Portugal has established

mandatory financial security and the country reports that

the Directive contributes to operators being more aware

of environmental risks and of the importance of reducing

them.

Suggested action



Improve transparency on the organisation and

functioning of compliance assurance and on how

significant risks are addressed.



Encourage greater participation of competent

authorities in the activities of ENPE, EUFJE and

EnviCrimeNet.



To remediate the above-mentioned gaps, the IGAMEOT is

putting in place different measures, like a new data-base,

new units and various publications.

Portugal is active within IMPEL and has undergone an

IMPEL peer review.

Although the added value of cooperation and

coordination with other authorities with relevant

functions is recognized and some formal cooperation

agreements are in place, there is a perception of need for

more systematic use of joint inspections and for

measures to ensure effective inter-action between

environmental inspectors and prosecutors

135

. In this

context, Portuguese authorities namely the Portuguese

Environment Agency, the Institute of Nature

Conservation and Forests, the IGAMAOT, the Secretary-

General of the Environment Ministry, the Public

Prosecutor’s Office, the Regional Direction of

Environment and Spatial Planning of the Madeira and the

Regional Inspection for Environment of the Azores, have

created a Portuguese IMPEL Network, with the aim to

contribute to the improvement of implementation of

environmental law.

For the period 2007-2013, Portugal reported two

confirmed cases of environmental damage dealt with

under the Environmental Liability Directive, and several

cases where preventive measures were applied. It has

established several support mechanisms, including

guidance, a consultative council and a standing

committee. It is actively promoting the Directive via

awareness-raising and information campaigns for

stakeholders and training for competent authorities (it

participates extensively in the Commission's training

133

Public participation and access to justice

The Aarhus Convention, related EU legislation on public

participation and environmental impact assessment, and

the case-law of the Court of Justice require that citizens

and their associations should be able to participate in

decision-making on projects and plans and should enjoy

effective environmental access to justice.

Citizens can more effectively protect the environment if

they can rely on the three "pillars" of the Convention on

Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-

making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

("the Aarhus Convention"). Public participation in the

administrative decision making process is an important

element to ensure that the authority takes its decision on

the best possible basis. The Commission intends to

examine compliance with mandatory public participation

requirements more systematically at a later stage.

Access to justice in environmental matters is a set of

guarantees that allows citizens and their associations to

challenge acts or omissions of the public administration

before a court. It is a tool for decentralised

implementation of EU environmental law.

For each Member State, two crucial elements for

effective access to justice have been systematically

reviewed: the legal standing for the public, including

NGOs and the extent to which prohibitive costs represent

a barrier.

Portugal grants the public, notably individuals and NGOs,

a very broad access to justice in environmental cases. The

costs for bringing a case to a court are also not

prohibitively high. This guarantees that members of the

public are provided with good conditions for asking for a

judicial review in environmental matters. However, the

court procedures, including environmental cases in

Portugal are rather long

136

Portugal's progress on risk-based compliance assurance focuses

primarily on industrial inspections; risk assessment is not always

aligned with strategic environmental objectives and does not cover all

relevant environmental policy subject-areas, see IMPEL IRI Portugal, p.

36 and 38.

134

In terms of response to detected non-compliance, the focus is mainly

on administrative procedures and sanctions in respect of which

problems with collection of imposed fines and lack of sufficient

resources has been observed see OECD Environmental Performance

Report Portugal 2011, p. 66-67.

135

OECD Environmental Performance Report Portugal 2011, p. 65 and

IMPEL IRI Portugal, p. 37.

136

See

Study on access to justice in environmental matters 2012/2013

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal

kom (2017) 0063 - Ingen titel

Portugal

Access to

evidence

information,

knowledge

and

The Aarhus Convention and related EU legislation on

access to information and the sharing of spatial data

require that the public has access to clear information on

the environment, including on how Union environmental

law is being implemented.

It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public

and business that environmental information is shared in

an efficient and effective way. This covers reporting by

businesses and public authorities and active

dissemination to the public, increasingly through

electronic means.

The Aarhus Convention

137

, the Access to Environmental

Information Directive

138

and the INSPIRE Directive

139

together create a legal foundation for the sharing of

environmental information between public authorities

and with the public. They also represent the green part of

the ongoing EU e-Government Action Plan

140

. The first

two instruments create obligations to provide

information to the public, both on request and actively.

The INSPIRE Directive is a pioneering instrument for

electronic data-sharing between public authorities who

can vary in their data-sharing policies, e.g. on whether

access to data is for free. The INSPIRE Directive sets up a

geoportal which indicates the level of shared spatial data

in each Member State – i.e. data related to specific

locations, such as air quality monitoring data. Amongst

other benefits it facilitates the public authorities'

reporting obligations.

For each Member State, the accessibility of

environmental data (based on what the INSPIRE Directive

envisages) as well as data-sharing policies ('open data')

have been systematically reviewed.

Portugal's performance on the implementation of the

INSPIRE Directive as enabling framework to actively

disseminate environmental information to the public

leaves room for improvement. Portugal has indicated in

the 3-yearly INSPIRE implementation report

141

that the

necessary data-sharing policies allowing access and use

of spatial data by national administrations, other

Member States' administrations and EU institutions

without procedural obstacles are available but not fully

implemented. Portugal has no common data-sharing

137

policy and several licenses are being used to regulate the

access and use to spatial information. In many cases fees

are applied. Portugal has expressed the ambition to work

on a simplified data-sharing policy promoting the free

access to and use of public sector spatial data. The need

for recoverability of investments in data acquisition and

management in many public administrations is the

biggest bottleneck to address on the way to open data.

Assessments of monitoring reports

142

issued by Portugal

and the spatial information that Portugal has published

on the INSPIRE geoportal

143

indicate that not all spatial

information needed for the evaluation and

implementation of EU environmental law has been made

available or is accessible. The larger part of this missing

spatial information consists of the environmental data

required to be made available under the existing

reporting and monitoring regulations of EU

environmental law.

Moreover, the new Single Environment Permit (SEP)

scheme could help to strengthen the transparency and

responsibility of business owners and other intervening

bodies by organising and standardising all the

environmental

information

applicable

establishment or activity.

Suggested action



Critically review the effectiveness of its data policies

and amend them, taking 'best practices' into

consideration.



Identify and document all spatial data sets required for

the implementation of environmental law, and make

the data and documentation at least accessible 'as is'

to other public authorities and the public through the

digital services foreseen in the INSPIRE Directive.

UNECE, 1998.

Convention on Access to Information, Public

Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in

Environmental Matters

138

European Union,

Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to

environmental information

139

European Union,

INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC

140

European Union, EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 -

Accelerating the digital transformation of government

COM(2016) 179

final

141

European Commission,

INSPIRE reports

142

143

Inspire indicator trends

Inspire Resources Summary Report

Environmental Implementation Report – Portugal