Recent conclusions on GMES adopted by the European Council
On December 2 the European Council on competitiveness adopted
the conclusions on the Global Monitoring for Environment and
Security (GMES), based on the EC communication of 12.11.2008
entitled "Global Monitoring for Environment and Security: for a
safer planet".
The conclusions of the Council include specific guidelines, through
which the EC and the Member States are invited in particular
to:define roles and mutual responsibilities in the GMES governance
process; estimate costs, including those charged to EU with
eventualcontributions from Member States; define a strategy of
international cooperation, especially in reference to the GEO
(Group of Earth Observation).
The Council also requires to the EC the preparation of a report
within the first semester of 2009, to describe the progress of a
legislative proposal for the program GMES.
In order to improve the accessibility of GMES, the European Council
invited the EC to establish a transparent mechanism to involve the
users of GMES, taking into account their needs, both at European
and national level.
Public authorities, the research community and the industries will
benefit from GMES, in particular small and medium enterprises,
since its implementation will also stimulate competitiveness and
innovation and lead to the creation of large markets for
high-value-added services.