| Summary: | The valuation of ecological services in European aquatic ecosystems is increasingly deemed to be an essential element for the integrated management concept pursued by the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). However, the assessment methods are often doubted for their objectivity and transparency when based on the elicitation of stated preferences. The current research attempted to explicitly focus on the biases linked with the stakeholders participating in assessing methods operating with stated preferences. The most significant stakeholder groups were classified in three broad teams of Experts, DecisionMakers and Affected Professions. The three teams' preferences were in turn assessed in economic and non-economic terms for the accentuation of the high fluctuation among the findings, and the threatening biases emerged in the sourcing of stated preference methods. The wastewater treatment plant in Athens, Greece and Saronikos Bay offered a sound case study.
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