Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

In responding to the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, it seemed to me that these amendments were, perhaps, probing as one amendment in some ways duplicates the other’s effect. We on these Benches agree with the noble Lord; we should comply with EU and international law and meet the target given by the EU directive of "good environmental status" by 2020—we come back to that point. Nevertheless, as we have said, we should achieve that not simply because of the target from the EU directive but as a matter of course from the provisions in the Bill. Furthermore, while it seems sensible that any further steps necessary to achieve compliance with our EU or international obligations are laid out in the report, we would argue that those obligations should be met from the beginning, because they are not objectives or aims but legal requirements. The obligations that would be required for the report proposed by the noble Lord’s second amendment are really covered by the first in the group. I look forward to the Minister’s response.