This European Standard is based on the analytical procedure of the standard settling technique as defined by Utermöhl (1958). It describes a general procedure for the estimation of abundance and taxonomical composition of marine and freshwater phytoplankton by using inverted light microscopy and sedimentation chambers, including the preceding steps of preservation and storage. Emphasis is placed on optimizing the procedure for the preparation of the microscopic sample. Many of the general principles of the approach described may also be applied to other techniques of enumerating algae (or other entities) using a (conventional) microscope, some of which are described in Annex E. This guidance standard does not cover field collection of samples or the analysis of picoplankton, quantitative analysis of free-floating mats of cyanobacteria or specific preparation techniques for diatoms.