Reference Portal for Art17 reporting period 2007-2012

This reference portal contains reference documents related to the information provided in the reporting formats under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive.

Methodological guidance

1) Reporting format for the period 2007-2012

The Article 17 Reporting format is available here

2) Explanatory Notes & Guidelines for the period 2007-2012

The Explanatory notes and guidelines for Article 17 are available here

  • Corrigenda to the Explanatory Notes & Guidelines are available here

To support Member States in preparing the Article 17 reports for the period 2007-2012 the Frequently asked questions service was put in place providing some additional guidance related to the questions from Member States. The answers to Member States questions can be viewed here: FAQ for Article 17 reporting.

Reference material

1) The country codes (ISO 3166 country-code)

The EU rule of the use of the 2-letter ISO 3166 country-code is applied in the Article 17 reports to identify the origin of the report (see iso.org) with an exception of United Kingdom, where UK is used instead of GB.

English Name ISO code English Name ISO code
Austria AT Latvia LV
Belgium BE Lithuania LT
Bulgaria BG Luxembourg LU
Cyprus CY Malta MT
Czech Republic CZ Netherlands NL
Denmark DK Poland PL
Estonia EE Portugal PT
Finland FI Romania RO
France FR Slovakia SK
Germany DE Slovenia SI
Greece GR Spain ES
Hungary HU Sweden SE
Ireland IE United Kingdom UK
Italy IT

2) Checklists for Habitats Directive Article 17 reporting

The habitat and species checklists list the habitat types and species occurring in Member States’ biogeographical and marine regions.

For information on these check lists, including the abbreviations used to indicate presence or occurrence of habitats and species in biogeographical regions, please read the following "Read me" note.

The checklists use the valid habitat and species codes and names provided in the following links:

For information on taxonomical treatment of some species in the checklist please read the following note.

Last updated: 06.05.2015

3) Biogeographical regions

The Article 17 conservation status is assessed separately for each biogeographical and marine region, where a habitat or species occurs. The EU has nine terrestrial biogeographical regions (Alpine, Atlantic, Black Sea, Boreal, Continental, Mediterranean, Macaronesia, Pannonian, Steppic). Due to practical reason five marine regions are used in the Article 17 reporting (Marine Atlantic, Marine Mediterranean, Marine Black Sea, Marine Macaronesian, Marine Baltic Sea). See here for more information on biogeographical and marine regions.

Name Abbreviation
Alpine ALP
Atlantic ATL
Black Sea BLS
Boreal BOR
Continental CON
Macaronesian MAC
Mediterranean MED
Pannonian PAN
Steppic STE
Marine Atlantic MATL
Marine Baltic MBAL
Marine Black Sea MBLS
Marine Macaronesian MMAC
Marine Mediterranean MMED

4) Marine area of pSCIs, SCIs and SACs reported in the Annex A: General report

For the calculation of marine area of sites the Mean High Water Mark was applied. However some Member States used a different definition due to national legislation.

5) Population units

The population size is estimated using the standard population units. Even though the Reporting format recommends the use of individuals as population size unit (or an agreed exception), for the latest reporting period Member State could use alternative units from the standard list of population units.

The standard list of population units and codes, can be found here.

The list of agreed upon exceptions, for species, where the use of recommended ‘individuals’ is not ecologically meaningful.

Last updated: 06.05.2015

6) List of Pre-dominant Marine Habitat Types (MSFD)

For optional reports for subtypes of marine habitat types (1110 and 1170) the 'Pre-dominant Habitat Types' under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive can be used.

See also Table 7 (benthic habitats) on page 18 of Commission Staff Working Paper of 14.10.2011., relationship between the initial assessment of marine waters and the criteria for good environmental status.

7) Threats & Pressures

The same list is used for the reporting under Article 12 of the Birds Directive and the Standard Data Form (SDF).

Last updated: 06.05.2015

8) List of conservation measures

The same list is used for the reporting under Article 12 of the Birds Directive.

Last updated: 06.05.2015

9) European grids

The European (ETRS) 10x10km² grids used for mapping the distribution and range are available on the 'Data and maps' section of the EEA website.

Last updated: 06.05.2015