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The legislation covering the assessment of chemical status is presented in detail in the introduction to Section 2.5.

Annex V of the WFD specifies how Member States are to monitor and present chemical status classification. The European Commission needs to ensure that chemical status has been addressed according to the provisions of the Directive, and in a consistent and comparable way throughout the EU. The normative provisions of Annex V provide a starting point. However, interpretation and application of these provisions may differ, which may lead to a wide range of variation between the Member States. It is, therefore, important to be able to compare the criteria and thresholds that Member States have applied.

The RBMPs should include information at RBD level on trend monitoring according to Article 3(3) of the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (Directive 2008/105/EC) and on the designation of mixing zones according to Article 4. Where a Member State has designated mixing zones, the RBMP must include a description of:

• The approaches and methodologies applied to define such zones.
• The measures taken with a view to reducing the extent of the mixing zones in the future.