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Annex V of the WFD specifies how Member States are to monitor and present ‘status’ classification. The European Commission needs to ensure that ‘good status/potential’ has been defined according to the provisions of the Directive, and in a consistent and comparable way throughout the EU. The status requirements refer to all QEs in the Directive, chemical and biological. The normative provisions of Annex V provide a starting point. However, interpretation and application of these definitions may differ which may lead to a wide range of variation between the Member States. In this respect, it is important to compare the criteria and thresholds that Member States have set. Whilst it is recognised that the intercalibration exercise has set out to ensure that the definition of high and good ecological status is consistent, the intercalibration exercise will not result in the findings of whether the Member States have followed the results of intercalibration or whether class boundaries have been established for all required water body types and quality elements. However, the intercalibration exercise has provided a useful template for the collection of such information which has been used in the development of this WFD Reporting Guidance.