The National Marine Waters Protection Programme (NMWPP) is a strategic document drafted obligatorily by all Member States in accordance with the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council 2008/56/EC of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for Community action in the field marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive).
The NMWPP’s goal is to determine the finest set of measures that will help to reach good environmental status of marine waters within specific period of time. Part of this programme, the basic measures shall cover the following categories: legal, administrative, economic, educational and control measures. Whereas the planning operations will help to review and in justified cases include measures put forward by the Ministers of: Economy, Agriculture and Rural Development, Infrastructure and Development, National Defence and Health as well as measures introduced by Poland as part of the works carried out by HELCOM Intersessional Group for MSFD Programme of Measures. Draft plans and programmes (including any modifications thereof), which may potentially have a significant impact on the environment, including humans and valuable species and habitats, undergo, among others, an assessment dedicated to the risk of significant cross-border impact on the environment, which is part of the strategic environmental assessment procedure. It is a requirement defined by the national law, resulting from the international laws – the UN ECE Espoo Convention of 25 February 1991 on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context (hereinafter referred to as the Espoo Convention) and the Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (hereinafter the SEA Directive).

How the programme was developed:

1. Program monitoringu wód morskich [Marine Waters Monitoring Programme]
2. Wstępna ocena stanu środowiska wód morskich [Preliminary Assessment of the Marine Waters Status]
3. Zestaw właściwości typowych dla dobrego stanu środowiska wód morskich [Set of features typical for the good status of marine waters]