1. General overview of the INSPIRE
Directive and relations to other
policies
Hugo.De-Groof@ec.europa.eu
European Commission
Directorate-General Environment
Governance, Information and Reporting Unit
EC/EEA INSPIRE Team

2. An INfrastructure for SPatial
INformation in the Eu - INSPIRE
does it ....
Serve society ?
Stimulate innovation ?
Support legislation ?
Training: INSPIRE Basics
EC JRC
2/3

3. INSPIRE Policy Foundations
The EU 6th Environmental Action Programme 2002-2012
Seven Thematic Strategies
Four Priorities
1. Climate Change
2. Nature and Biodiversity
3. Environment and Health
4. Natural resources and waste
1. Clean Air For Europe
2. Soil protection
3. Sustainable use of pesticides
4. Marine environment
5. Waste prevention and recycling
6. Sustainable use of natural resources
7. Urban environment
+ Mitigation of natural and man-made hazards leading to disasters
Emphasis on « Risk & Knowledge-based » policy making, assessment
and implementation
3

4. Environment in Europe ?
Climate change
Natural resources and waste
Global mean temperature change
L
Decoupling use - growth
K
Greenhouse gas emissions
J
Waste generation
L
Energy efficiency
K
Waste management
J
Renewable energy sources
K
Water stress
K
Nature and biodiversity
Environment and health
Pressure on ecosystems
L
Water quality
K
Conservation status
K
Water pollution
J
Biodiversity
L
Transboundary air pollution
K
Soil degradation
L
Urban air quality
L
•
Source: EEA – State Of Environment Report 2010

6. Spatial Data
Infrastructure
Institutional Technical
framework standards
Data
Spatial data Services

7. Spatial Data

8. EU Status
1. Data policy restrictions
– pricing, copyright, access
rights, licensing policy
2. Lack of co-ordination
– across boarders and
between levels of
government
3. Lack of standards
– incompatible information
and information systems
4. Existing data not re-usable
– fragmentation of
information, redundancy,
inability to integrate
5. Missing data
6. Data quality
• Not comparable, not timely
available, …
NOT
INSPIRE
2002
EU has islands of
information &
data of different
standards and
quality...
8

9. INSPIRE &
Environmental
acquis
Environment &
Health
Assessment of Health Impacts
Geographical data
Environmental data
Health Data
Directive on Ambient Air Quality
Exposure Data
―Atmospheric modelling Socio-economic data
and measurements
of air pollution demonstrate beyond doubt
that the pollution emitted in one Member
State contributes to measured pollution in
other Member States.
This shows that individual Member States
cannot solve the problems alone and
concerted action at the EU scale is
required.”
Air Pollution
Cancer Cases

10. INSPIRE DATA Themes and Air Quality – Impact Information System
III – 7 Environmental Monitoring Facilities
III-8 Production and industrial facilities
III-1 Statistical units
III – 14
Meteorological
geographical
features
III – 13
Atmospheric
conditions
III – 13 Atmospheric conditions
III-11 Area management/restriction
/regulation zones & reporting units
Source: GMES BICEPS Report
III – 5 Human health and safety
III – 18 Habitats and biotopes
III – 19 Species distribution
III-10 Population distribution — demography
III- 6 - Utility and governmental services
Etc.
I-2
Elevation
II – 2
Landcover

11. Health &
Air Quality
GAF AG

12. 2009 Pesticides Directive
• Specific measures to protect the aquatic
environment
– Buffer zones – defined as a function of the risk of
pollution (soil, climate, etc.)
• Measures to limit aerial drift (hedge rows etc.)
• Reduction of pesticide use in sensitive areas
– Identify and list sensitive areas
• Non-agricultural areas with high run-off risk or leaching.
• Reporting – info exchange
– Through RISK INDICATORS

13. Soils (pesticides etc.)
Data & Information Requirements
Source: GMES BICEPS Report

14. 2007 Directive on the
Assessment and Management of Floods
• A preliminary flood risk assessment
– Including art.4 a-f
• (e) Likelihood of future floods and projected impact
of climate change and land use trends
• Prepare flood risk maps by 2013 – with 6
yearly updates
• Flood risk management plans by 2015
14

15. Floods
Source: GMES BICEPS Report

16. Floods
INSPIRE Data Themes
III – 3
Soils
III – 14
Meteorological
geographical features
III – 13
Atmospheric conditions
Environmental Monitoring
Facilities
III - 12
Natural Risk Zones
III – 4
Land-use
II – 2
Landcover
I-8
Hydrography
I- 2
Elevation
III – 7
Environmental Monitoring Facilities
III – 11
Area management/restriction
/regulation zones & reporting units
III – 18 Habitats and biotopes
III – 19 Species distribution
III-10 Population distribution — demography
III- 6 - Utility and governmental services
Source: GMES BICEPS Report

17. More Challenges …
EU 2020 Strategy
• growth strategy 2010-20
• EU to become a:
• smart,
• sustainable and
• inclusive economy

18. Deliver the Strategy
The 7 Flagship initiatives
• Smart growth
1. Digital agenda for Europe
2. Innovation Union
3. Youth on the move
• Sustainable growth
4. Resource efficient Europe
5. An industrial policy for the globalisation era
• Inclusive growth
6. An agenda for new skills and jobs
7. European platform against poverty

19. Increasing demand for resources
better understanding and managing resources

20. Resource efficient Europe
• 20 key policy proposals
• Areas:
• energy, transport, resource efficiency, agriculture,
fisheries, cohesion, biodiversity, …
•
Example:
• Roadmap for a resource-efficient Europe

21. The Roadmap to a Resource Efficient
Europe COM(2011) 571
A framework for future actions
Key resources are analysed
from a life-cycle and valuechain perspective.
Nutrition, housing and mobility are the sectors
responsible for most environmental impacts
Actions in these areas …

23. Action on : SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND
PRODUCTION
• Building the Single Market
for Green Products
• Measure environmental
performance throughout
the lifecycle
1. The Product
Environmental Footprint
(PEF)
2. The Organisation
Environmental Footprint
(OEF).
Source: "Communication on Building the Single Market for Green Products"
"Recommendation on the use of the methods"

24. A ‗sustainable‘ cadastre – ideas...
„Greening‟ the valuation of property
Increase benefits for society

25. Geospatial & INSPIRE

26. Geospatial technology needs INSPIRE

27. INSPIRE & Geospatial Technology Industry
• Top 10 fastest growth employment sectors
• 30 billion revenue/year (in US)
• BUT ...
• biggest challenge before the industry is the
availability and quality of geospatial data
• shortage of skilled human resources
• ―restrictive practices of some organizations and
governments in terms of making their geospatial
information publicly available has been a great
concern‖ Source: Ed Parsons - Google

28. Source: TOWARD A NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL STRATEGY
Recommendations from the National Geospatial Advisory Committee
December 2012
• Stimulate Economic Growth through Geospatial
Technology
• Using Geospatial Information to Control Costs
and Save Taxpayer Money
• More efficient response to disasters
• Enable more effective decision making
• Better services to the public
• Apply Geospatial Tools to Ensure Public Safety
and Decision-Support

29. What is needed ?
• multi-agency approach for:
• ‗shared‘ creation and collection of data
• cost and resource savings
• greatly increases the value of returns
• The development and implementation of a ‗shared‘
geospatial technology infrastructure for use by all
partners offers great promise as a model for costeffective, efficient government.
Source: TOWARD A NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL STRATEGY
Recommendations from the National Geospatial Advisory Committee
December 2012

30. Public – Private – Partnership (technology)

31. Public – Private – Partnership (spatial data)
LIABILITY
OPERATIONS
RISKS

32. EU Environment Action Programme to 2020 (7th EAP)
• "Living well, within the limits
of our planet", will guide
environment policy up to 2020

33. EU Environment Action Programme to 2020 (7th EAP)
•
Three thematic priority objectives
•
•
•
•
Supported by enabling framework
•
•
•
•
•
Protect nature and strengthen ecological resilience
Boost sustainable resource-efficient low-carbon growth
Effectively address environment-related threats to health.
promote better implementation of EU environment law
ensure that policies benefit from state of the art science
secure the necessary investments
improve the way environmental concerns and requirements are
reflected in other policies.
Two more priority objectives
•
•
enhancing the sustainability of EU cities
improving the EU's effectiveness in addressing regional and global
challenges related to the environment and climate change.

34. Better Implementation of EU environmental law
• Preventing damage to the environment can cost
far less than long-term remediation.
• Failing to implement environment legislation is
thought to cost the EU economy around €50
billion every year in health costs and direct costs
to the environment.
• Full implementation of EU waste legislation would
generate an additional 400,000 jobs, for
example, with net costs that are €72 billion less
than the alternative scenario of nonimplementation

35. Governance ...
• Member States are responsible for ensuring that
the EU's environment laws are implemented in
their countries.
• The Commission's role is to check that Member
States' commitments are respected and take
action if they are not.
• Better and more accessible information at
national, regional and local levels would
allow major environmental problems to be
identified earlier, saving costs in the longer
term.

36. Better Implementation
can be...
• Powered by geospatial technologies
• Powered by INSPIRE

37. Status of our INSPIRE building site ?

38. Policy Co-ordination ?
All EU 28 have national/regional INSPIRE law
All 4 EEA/EFTA (+ 3 years for implementation)
Almost all Candidate countries – Western-Balkans
EU Digital Agenda (reviewed PSI directive,...)
Buy-in other EU policies (transport,space,health,...)
Environmental directives & initiatives demand INSPIRE
Recognised globally as “best practice” example of
„good governance‟ (World Bank, UN)
• Dedicated EU coordination team JRC+EEA+EC ENV+Eurostat
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

39. Policy Co-ordination ?
• Late and incomplete national/regional INSPIRE law
• Because its law does not mean it happens
• EU Digital Agenda
• does ‗Open Data‘ initiative remove the obstacles ?
• Enough support for ‗environment‘ ? (beyond low carbon)
• Some other (EU) policies see INSPIRE as purely
„environmental‟ –> risk of „duplication‟
• Environmental directives need INSPIRE faster than
INSPIRE implementation roadmap demands
• “New policy initiatives” – “Lost in acronyms‟

40. Spatial data & services?
• INSPIRE technical framework now adopted
(almost complete) and some deadlines reached
• Steep increase in spatial data „published‟ and
„documented‟ – many PORTALS
• Progress on removing data policy obstacles for
several INSPIRE themes in several countries
• Several „good practice‟ and „pilot‟ projects using
INSPIREd spatial data for environment from local
to EU scale
• Evidence of cross-border INSPIREd spatial data
and service sharing for different applications

41. Spatial data & services?
• INSPIRE technical is not „simple‟ ?
• Do you need an ‗Einstein‘ brain? ...tools and money
• Are the „portal‟ shops inter-connected ?
• You got to shop around ...
• How easy is it to fill your shopping basket ?
• Be ready to sign many agreements and ‗pay‘ ...
• Too many shops are still closed or poor service ...
• Can you find and get all you need ?
• Most likely some ingredients will be missing ...
• Are you happy with the „quality‟ ?
• You are still on the pursuit of happiness ...

42. National Portals
http://catalogue.isde.ie/#/
Thematic Portals
http://gis.epa.ie/GetData

43. Building INSPIRE is like ...

44. Status of implementation 2013
2007
Policy Evaluation 2014
INSPIRE
2013
Implementation
Be aware of the risks & opportunities
2020
Let Your
Voice be
Heard

45. A European agenda
• Geospatial technology, information, and services can
help address some of the major priorities of the EU
2020 strategy
• Develop and implement in Europe
coordinated/collaborative national and regional
Geospatial Policies
• INSPIRE – Copernicus – Galileo are European building
blocks
• Top–Down meets Bottom-up
• Public – Private - Partnerships

46. ‗SHARING IS EVERYTHING‘
Source: Clare Hadley, INSPIRE Conference,2010