Common Position (EC) No 5/2006 of  23 January 2006  adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)
Date: 2006-01-23
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU environmental policy, disclosure of information, environmental monitoring, geographical information system, information network

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COMMON POSITION (EC) No 5/2006

adopted by the Council on 23 January 2006

with a view to adopting Directive 2006/…/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of …
establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)

(2006/C 126 E/02)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO-
PEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity, and in particular Article 175(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (1),

(4)

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 251 of the Treaty (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Community policy on the environment must aim at a
high level of protection taking into account the diversity
of situations in the various regions of the Community.
Moreover, information, including spatial information, is
needed for the formulation and implementation of this
policy and other Community policies, which must inte-
grate environmental protection requirements in accord-
In order to bring
ance with Article 6 of the Treaty.
about such integration,
is necessary to establish a
measure of coordination between the users and provi-
ders of the information so that information and knowl-
edge from different sectors can be combined.

it

The Sixth Environment Action Programme adopted by
Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council (3) requires full consideration to be
given to ensuring that the Community's environmental
policy-making is undertaken in an integrated way, taking
into account regional and local differences. A number of
problems exist regarding the availability, quality, organi-
sation, accessibility and sharing of spatial
information
needed in order to achieve the objectives set out in that
programme.

The problems regarding the availability, quality, organi-
sation, accessibility and sharing of spatial
information
are common to a large number of policy and informa-
tion themes and are experienced across the various
levels of public authority. Solving these problems

(1) OJ C 221, 8.9.2005, p. 33.
(2) Opinion of

the European Parliament of 7 June 2005 (not yet
published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 23
January 2006 and Position of the European Parliament of … (not
yet published in the Official Journal).

(3) OJ L 242, 10.9.2002, p. 1.

requires measures that address exchange, sharing, access
and use of interoperable spatial data and spatial data
services across the various levels of public authority and
across different sectors. An infrastructure for spatial
information in the Community should therefore be
established.

The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the Euro-
pean Community (INSPIRE) should assist policy-making
in relation to policies and activities that may have a
direct or indirect impact on the environment.

INSPIRE should be based on the infrastructures for
spatial
information that are created by the Member
States and that are made compatible with common
implementing rules and are supplemented with measures
at Community level. These measures should ensure that
the infrastructures for spatial information created by the
Member States are compatible and usable in a Com-
munity and transboundary context.

for

spatial

infrastructures

information in the
The
Member States should be designed to ensure that spatial
data are stored, made available and maintained at the
most appropriate level; that it is possible to combine
spatial data from different sources across the Community
in a consistent way and share them between several
users and applications; that it is possible for spatial data
collected at one level of public authority to be shared
between other public authorities to the extent that this
Directive imposes on such public authorities a duty to
share spatial data; that spatial data are made available
under conditions which do not unduly restrict
their
extensive use; that it is easy to discover available spatial
data, to evaluate their suitability for the purpose and to
know the conditions applicable to their use.

(5)

(6)

(7)

There is a degree of overlap between the spatial informa-
tion covered by this Directive and the information
covered by Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public
information (4). This Directive
access to environmental
should be without prejudice to Directive 2003/4/EC.

(4) OJ L 41, 14.2.2003, p. 26.

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(8)

(9)

This Directive should be without prejudice to Directive
2003/98/EC of
the
Council of 17 November 2003 on the re-use of public
sector
the objectives of which are
complementary to those of this Directive.

the European Parliament and of

information (1),

(12)

This Directive should not set requirements for the collec-
tion of new data, or for reporting such information to
the Commission, since those matters are regulated by
other legislation related to the environment.

The establishment of INSPIRE will represent significant
added value for — and will also benefit from — other
Community initiatives such as Council Regulation (EC)
No 876/2002 of 21 May 2002 setting up the Galileo
Joint Undertaking (2) and the Communication from the
Commission to the European Parliament and the Council
and Security
‘Global Monitoring for Environment
(GMES): Establishing a GMES capacity by 2008 —
(Action Plan (2004 to 2008))’. Member States should
consider using the data and services resulting from
Galileo and GMES as they become available, in particular
those related to the time and space references from
Galileo.

(13)

the national

The implementation of
infrastructures
should be progressive and, accordingly, the spatial data
themes covered by this Directive should be accorded
different levels of priority. The implementation should
take account of the extent to which spatial data are
needed for a wide range of applications in various policy
areas, of the priority of actions provided for under Com-
munity policies that need harmonised spatial data and of
the progress already made by the harmonisation efforts
undertaken in the Member States.

a European pollutant

(10) Many initiatives are taken at national and Community
level to collect, harmonise or organise the dissemination
information. Such initiatives may be
or use of spatial
established by Community legislation, such as Commis-
sion Decision 2000/479/EC of 17 July 2000 on the
implementation of
emission
register (EPER) according to Article 15 of Council Direc-
tive 96/61/EC concerning integrated pollution preven-
tion and control (IPPC) (3) and Regulation (EC) No 2152/
2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
17 November 2003 concerning monitoring of forests
and environmental
in the Community
interactions
(Forest Focus) (4),
in the framework of Community
funded programmes (for example CORINE land cover,
European Transport Policy Information System) or may
emanate from initiatives taken at national or regional
level. This Directive will not only complement such
initiatives by providing a framework that will enable
them to become interoperable, but it will also build
upon existing experience and initiatives rather
than
duplicate the work that has already been done.

(14)

The loss of time and resources in searching for existing
spatial data or establishing whether they may be used
for a particular purpose is a key obstacle to the full
exploitation of the data available. Member States should
therefore provide descriptions of available spatial data
sets and services in the form of metadata.

(15)

Since the wide diversity of formats and structures in
which spatial data are organised and accessed in the
Community hampers the efficient formulation,
imple-
mentation, monitoring and evaluation of Community
legislation that directly or indirectly affect the environ-
ment, implementing measures should be provided for in
order to facilitate the use of spatial data from different
sources across
the Member States. Those measures
should be designed to make the spatial data sets intero-
perable, and Member States should ensure that any data
or information needed for the purposes of achieving
interoperability are available on conditions that do not
restrict their use for that purpose.

(11)

This Directive should apply to spatial data held by or on
behalf of public authorities and to the use of spatial data
by public authorities in the performance of their public
tasks. Subject to certain conditions, however, it should
also apply to spatial data held by natural or legal
persons other than public authorities, provided that
those natural or legal persons request this.

(1) OJ L 345, 31.12.2003, p. 90.
(2) OJ L 138, 28.5.2002, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 192, 28.7.2000, p. 36.
(4) OJ L 324, 11.12.2003, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 788/2004 (OJ L 138, 30.4.2004, p. 17).

(16) Network services are necessary for sharing spatial data
between the various levels of public authority in the
Community. Those network services should make it
transform, view and download
possible to discover,
spatial data and to invoke spatial data and e-commerce
services. The services of the network should work in
accordance with commonly agreed specifications and
minimum performance criteria in order to ensure the
interoperability of the infrastructures established by the
Member States. The network of services should also
include the technical possibility to enable public authori-
ties to make their spatial data sets and services available.

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(17)

(18)

(19)

(20)

(21)

(22)

Certain spatial data sets and services relevant to Com-
munity policies that directly or indirectly affect
the
environment are held and operated by third parties.
Member States should therefore offer third parties the
possibility of contributing to the national infrastructures,
provided that the cohesion and ease of use of the spatial
data and spatial data services covered by those infra-
structures is thereby not impaired.

duty placed on them to raise revenue, or for instance
whose data are only partially subsidised by the Member
State so that they have to recover the unsubsidised costs
by charging the users, or for instance to guarantee the
maintenance and update of those data.

(23)

(24)

(25)

spatial

Experience in the Member States has shown that it is
important, for the successful implementation of an infra-
structure for
that a minimum
number of services be made available to the public free
of charge. Member States should therefore make avail-
able, as a minimum and free of charge, the services for
discovering spatial data sets.

information,

In order to assist the integration of the national infra-
structures into INSPIRE, Member States should provide
access to their infrastructures through a Community
geo-portal operated by the Commission, as well as
through any access points they themselves decide to
operate.

In order to make information from various levels of
public authority available, Member States should remove
regard by
the practical obstacles
public authorities at national, regional and local
level
when performing their public tasks that may have a
impact on the environment. These
direct or indirect
practical obstacles should be removed at the point where
the information is to be used for the public task.

faced in that

The possibility for public authorities who supply spatial
data sets and services to license these sets and services
to, and require payment from, other public authorities
who use these spatial data sets and services could be
provided for in the measures adopted by Member States
in their transposition legislation.

and

should

The provisions of point (f) of Article 13(1) and of Article
in
implemented
be
17(1)
applied
full compliance with the principles
relating to the
protection of personal data in accordance with Direc-
tive 95/46/EC of
the European Parliament and of
the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of
individuals with regard to the processing of personal data
and on the free movement of such data (1).

Frameworks for the sharing of spatial data between
public authorities upon whom the Directive imposes a
duty to share should be neutral in respect of such public
authorities within a Member State, but also in respect of
such public authorities in other Member States and of
the Community institutions. Since the Community insti-
tutions and bodies frequently need to integrate and
information from all the Member States,
assess spatial
they should be able to gain access to and use spatial data
and spatial data services in accordance with harmonised
conditions.

Public authorities need to have smooth access to relevant
spatial data sets and services during the execution of
it
their public tasks. Such access can be hindered if
depends on individual ad hoc negotiations between
public authorities every time access is required. Member
States should take the necessary measures to prevent
such practical obstacles to the sharing of data, using for
example prior agreements between public authorities.

(26) With a view to stimulating the development of added-
value services by third parties, for the benefit of both
public authorities and the public, it is necessary to facili-
tate access to spatial data that extend over administrative
or national borders.

for

The mechanisms
sharing spatial data sets and
services between government and other public adminis-
trations and natural or legal persons performing public
administrative functions under national law may involve
laws, regulations, licensing or financial arrangements or
administrative procedures,
for instance to protect the
financial viability of those public authorities that have a

(27)

effective

infrastructures

implementation of

for
The
spatial
information requires coordination by all those
with an interest in the establishment of such infrastruc-
tures, whether as contributors or users. Appropriate
coordination structures should therefore be established
both in the Member States and at Community level.

(1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31. Directive as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1882/2003 (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

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(28)

(29)

(30)

(31)

(32)

(33)

In order to benefit from the state of the art and actual
experience of information infrastructures,
it is appro-
priate that the measures necessary for the implementa-
tion of this Directive should be supported by interna-
tional standards and standards adopted by European
standardisation bodies in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a
procedure for the provision of information in the field
of technical standards and regulations (1) and of rules on
Information Society services.

Since the European Environment Agency set up by
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990
on the establishment of
the European Environment
Agency and the European Environment Information and
Observation Network (2) has the task of providing the
Community with objective,
reliable and comparable
environmental
information at Community level, and
aims inter alia to improve the flow of policy-relevant
environmental information between Member States and
the Community institutions, it should contribute actively
to the implementation of this Directive.

In accordance with point 34 of the Interinstitutional
Agreement on better law-making (3), Member States are
encouraged to draw up, for themselves and in the inter-
ests of the Community, their own tables illustrating, as
far as possible, the correlation between this Directive
and the transposition measures, and to make them
public.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down
the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
conferred on the Commission (4).

Preparatory work for decisions concerning the imple-
mentation of this Directive and for the future evolution
of INSPIRE requires continuous monitoring of the imple-
mentation of the Directive and regular reporting.

Since the objective of this Directive, namely the estab-
lishment of INSPIRE, cannot be sufficiently achieved by
the Member States because of the transnational aspects
and the general need within the Community to coordi-
nate the conditions of access to, exchange and sharing
information, and can therefore be better
of spatial
achieved at Community level,
the Community may
in accordance with the principle of
adopt measures,
In
subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty.

(1) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37. Directive as last amended by the 2003

Act of Accession.

(2) OJ L 120, 11.5.1990, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 1641/2003 of the European Parliament and of the
Council (OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 1).

(3) OJ C 321, 31.12.2003, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

accordance with the principle of proportionality, as
set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond
what is necessary in order to achieve this objective,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

1.
The purpose of this Directive is to lay down general rules
aimed at the establishment of the Infrastructure for Spatial
Information in the European Community (hereinafter referred
to as ‘INSPIRE’), for the purposes of Community environmental
policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on
the environment.

INSPIRE shall build upon infrastructures for spatial infor-

2.
mation established and operated by the Member States.

Article 2

This Directive is without prejudice to Directives 2003/4/EC and
2003/98/EC.

Article 3

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions
shall apply:

(1) ‘infrastructure for spatial

information’ means metadata,
spatial data sets and spatial data services; network services
and technologies; agreements on sharing, access and use;
and coordination and monitoring mechanisms, processes
and procedures, established, operated or made available in
accordance with this Directive;

(2) ‘spatial data’ means any data with a direct or indirect refer-

ence to a specific location or geographical area;

(3) ‘spatial data set’ means an identifiable collection of spatial

data;

(4) ‘spatial data services’ means the operations which may be
performed, by invoking a computer application, on the
spatial data contained in spatial data sets or on the related
metadata;

(5) ‘spatial object’ means an abstract representation of a real-
world phenomenon related to a specific location or
geographical area;

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(6) ‘metadata’ means information describing spatial data sets
and spatial data services and making it possible to
discover, inventory and use them;

(d) they relate to one or more of the themes listed in Annex I,

II or III.

(7) ‘interoperability’ means the possibility for spatial data sets
to be combined, and for services to interact, without repe-
titive manual intervention, in such a way that the result is
coherent and the added value of the data sets and services
is enhanced;

(8) ‘INSPIRE geo-portal’ means an Internet site, or equivalent,
providing access to the services referred to in Article
11(1);

In cases where multiple identical copies of

2.
the same
spatial data set are held by or on behalf of various public
authorities,
this Directive shall apply only to the reference
version from which the various copies are derived.

3.
This Directive shall also cover the spatial data services
relating to the data contained in the spatial data sets referred to
in paragraph 1.

(9) ‘public authority’ means:

This Directive does not require collection of new spatial

4.
data.

(a) any government or other public

administration,
including public advisory bodies, at national, regional
or local level;

(b) any natural or legal person performing public adminis-
trative functions under national law, including specific
duties, activities or services in relation to the environ-
ment; and

(c) any natural or legal person having public responsibil-
ities or functions, or providing public services relating
to the environment under the control of a body or
person falling within (a) or (b);

Member States may provide that when bodies or institu-
tions are acting in a judicial or legislative capacity, they are
not to be regarded as a public authority for the purposes
of this Directive;

10) ‘third party’ means any natural or legal person other than

a public authority.

Article 4

This Directive shall cover spatial data sets which fulfil the

1.
following conditions:

(a) they relate to an area where a Member State has and/or

exercises jurisdictional rights;

(b) they are in electronic format;

(c) they are held by or on behalf of any of the following:

5.
In the case of spatial data sets which comply with the
condition set out in paragraph 1(c), but in respect of which a
the public
third party holds
authority may take action under this Directive only with the
consent of that third party.

intellectual property rights,

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, this Directive
6.
shall cover spatial data sets held by or on behalf of a public
authority operating at the lowest level of government within a
Member State only if the Member State has laws or regulations
requiring their collection or dissemination.

7.
The technical description of the data themes referred to
in Annexes I, II and III may be adapted in accordance with the
in order to take into
procedure referred to in Article 22(2),
account the evolving needs for spatial data in support of Com-
munity policies that affect the environment.

CHAPTER II

METADATA

Article 5

1. Member States shall ensure that metadata are created for
the spatial data sets and services corresponding to the themes
listed in Annexes I, II and III, and that those metadata are kept
up to date.

(i) a public authority, having been produced or received
by a public authority, or being managed or updated by
that authority and falling within the scope of its public
tasks;

2. Metadata shall include information on the following:

(a) the conformity of spatial data sets with the implementing

rules provided for in Article 7(1);

(ii) a third party to whom the network has been made

available in accordance with Article 12;

(b) conditions applying to access to, and use of, spatial data
sets and services and, where applicable, corresponding fees;

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(c) the quality of spatial data, including whether they are vali-

dated;

(d) the public authorities responsible for the establishment,
management, maintenance and distribution of spatial data
sets and services;

(e) limitations on public access and the reasons for such limita-

tions, in accordance with Article 13.

3. Member States shall
take the necessary measures to
ensure that metadata are complete and of a quality sufficient to
fulfil the purpose set out in point (6) of Article 3.

Rules for the implementation of

4.
this Article shall be
adopted by … (*) in accordance with the procedure referred to
in Article 22(2). These rules shall take account of relevant,
existing international standards and user requirements.

2.
As a basis for developing the proposals for such imple-
menting rules, the Commission shall undertake an analysis of
the feasibility and expected costs and benefits. Member States
shall, on request, provide the Commission with the information
necessary to enable it to prepare this analysis. When proposing
such rules, the Commission shall consult Member States within
the Committee referred to in Article 22(1) on the results of its
analysis. The adoption of such rules shall not result in excessive
costs to a Member State.

To the extent feasible, Member States shall ensure that all
3.
newly collected or updated spatial data sets and the corre-
sponding spatial data services are brought into conformity with
the implementing rules referred to in paragraph 1 within two
years of their adoption, and that other spatial data sets and
services are brought into conformity with the implementing
rules within seven years of their adoption.

Article 6

4.
Implementing rules referred to in paragraph 1 shall cover
the definition and classification of spatial objects relevant to
spatial data sets related to the themes listed in Annex I, II or III
and the way in which those spatial data are geo-referenced.

Member States shall create the metadata referred to in Article 5
in accordance with the following timetable:

(a) not later than two years after the date of adoption of imple-
menting rules in accordance with Article 5(4) in the case of
the spatial data sets corresponding to the themes listed in
Annexes I and II;

(b) not later than five years after the date of adoption of imple-
menting rules in accordance with Article 5(4) in the case of
the spatial data sets corresponding to the themes listed in
Annex III.

spatial

5.
Representatives of Member States at national, regional
and local level as well as other natural or legal persons with an
interest in the spatial data concerned by virtue of their role in
the infrastructure for
including users,
producers, added value service providers or any coordinating
body shall be given the opportunity, in accordance with applic-
able procedures, to participate in preparatory discussions on
the content of the implementing rules referred to in paragraph
1, prior to consideration by the Committee referred to in
Article 22(1).

information,

CHAPTER III

INTEROPERABILITY OF SPATIAL DATA SETS AND SERVICES

Article 8

Article 7

1.
Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements
for the interoperability and, where practicable, harmonisation
of spatial data sets and services shall be adopted in accordance
with the procedure referred to in Article 22(2). Relevant user
requirements, existing initiatives and international standards for
the harmonisation of spatial data sets, as well as feasibility and
cost-benefit considerations shall be taken into account in the
development of the implementing rules. Where organisations
established under international law have adopted relevant stan-
dards to ensure interoperability or harmonisation of spatial
data sets and services, these standards shall be integrated, and
the existing technical means shall be referred to, if appropriate,
in the implementing rules mentioned in this paragraph.

In the case of spatial data sets corresponding to one or
1.
more of the themes listed in Annex I or II, the implementing
rules provided for in Article 7(1) shall meet the conditions
laid down in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

The implementing rules

2.
aspects of spatial data:

shall address

the following

(a) solutions to ensure unambiguous identification of spatial
objects, to which identifiers under existing national systems
can be mapped in order to ensure interoperability between
them;

(*) One year following the date of entry into force of this Directive.

(b) the relationship between spatial objects;

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(c) the key attributes and the corresponding multilingual
thesauri commonly required for policies which may have
an impact on the environment;

which metadata have been created in accordance with this
Directive:

(d) information on the temporal dimension of the data;

(e) updates of the data.

(a) discovery services making it possible to search for spatial
data sets and services on the basis of the content of the
corresponding metadata and to display the content of the
metadata;

3.
The implementing rules shall be designed to ensure
consistency between items of information which refer to the
same location or between items of information which refer to
the same object represented at different scales.

(b) view services making it possible, as a minimum, to display,
navigate, zoom in/out, pan, or overlay viewable spatial data
sets and to display legend information and any relevant
content of metadata;

4.
The implementing rules shall be designed to ensure that
information derived from different spatial data sets is compar-
able as regards the aspects referred to in Article 7(4) and in
paragraph 2 of this Article.

(c) download services, enabling copies of spatial data sets, or
parts of such sets, to be downloaded and, where practic-
able, accessed directly;

Article 9

The implementing rules provided for in Article 7(1) shall be
adopted in accordance with the following timetable:

(a) no later than … (*) in the case of the spatial data sets corre-

sponding to the themes listed in Annex I;

(b) no later than … (**) in the case of the spatial data sets

corresponding to the themes listed in Annex II or III.

(d) transformation services, enabling spatial data sets to be
transformed with a view to achieving interoperability;

(e) services allowing spatial data services to be invoked.

Those services shall take into account relevant user require-
ments and shall be easy to use, available to the public and
accessible via the Internet or any other appropriate means of
telecommunication.

Article 10

2.
For the purposes of the services referred to in paragraph
1(a), as a minimum the following combination of search
criteria shall be implemented:

that

shall

ensure

1. Member States
any information,
including data, codes and technical classifications, needed for
in
compliance with the implementing rules provided for
Article 7(1)
is made available to public authorities or third
parties in accordance with conditions that do not restrict its
use for that purpose.

2.
In order to ensure that spatial data relating to a geogra-
phical feature, the location of which spans the frontier between
two or more Member States, are coherent, Member States shall,
where appropriate, decide by mutual consent on the depiction
and position of such common features.

CHAPTER IV

NETWORK SERVICES

Article 11

(a) keywords;

(b) classification of spatial data and services;

(c) the quality of spatial data, including whether they are vali-

dated;

(d) degree of conformity with the implementing rules provided

for in Article 7(1);

(e) geographical location;

(f) conditions applying to the access to and use of spatial data

sets and services;

(g) the public authorities responsible for the establishment,
management, maintenance and distribution of spatial data
sets and services.

1. Member States shall establish and operate a network of
the following services for the spatial data sets and services for

(*) Two years following the date of entry into force of this Directive.
(**) Five years following the date of entry into force of this Directive.

3.
The transformation services referred to in paragraph 1(d)
shall be combined with the other services referred to in that
paragraph in such a way as to enable all those services to be
operated in conformity with the implementing rules provided
for in Article 7(1).

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Article 12

Member States shall ensure that public authorities are given the
technical possibility to link their spatial data sets and services
to the network referred to in Article 11(1). This service shall
also be made available upon request to third parties whose
spatial data sets and services comply with implementing rules
laying down obligations with regard, in particular, to metadata,
network services and interoperability.

served by limiting or

interest
access.
Member States may not, by virtue of paragraph 1(a), (d), (f), (g)
and (h), limit access to information on emissions into the envir-
onment.

conditioning the

However, in cases where paragraph 1(d) or (f) is the ground for
limiting access, the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall
apply only when the access referred to in paragraph 1 concerns
environmental information as defined in Article 2(1) of Direc-
tive 2003/4/EC.

Article 13

3. Within this framework, and for the purposes of the appli-
cation of paragraph 1(f), Member States shall ensure that the
requirements of Directive 95/46/EC are complied with.

1.
By way of derogation from Article 11(1), Member States
may limit public access to spatial data sets and services through
the services referred to in points (a) to (e) of Article 11(1), or to
the e-commerce services referred to in Article 14(3), where
such access would adversely affect any of the following:

(a) the confidentiality of the proceedings of public authorities,

where such confidentiality is provided for by law;

(b) international relations, public security or national defence;

(c) the course of justice, the ability of any person to receive a
fair trial or the ability of a public authority to conduct an
enquiry of a criminal or disciplinary nature;

(d) the confidentiality of commercial or industrial information,
where such confidentiality is provided for by national or
Community law to protect a legitimate economic interest,
including the public interest in maintaining statistical confi-
dentiality and tax secrecy;

(e) intellectual property rights;

(f) the confidentiality of personal data and/or files relating to a
natural person where that person has not consented to the
disclosure of the information to the public, where such
confidentiality is provided for by national or Community
law;

(g) the interests or protection of any person who supplied the
information requested on a voluntary basis without being
under, or capable of being put under, a legal obligation to
do so, unless that person has consented to the release of
the information concerned;

Article 14

1. Member States shall ensure that:

(a) the services referred to in point (a) of Article 11(1) are

available to the public free of charge;

(b) the services referred to in point (b) of Article 11(1) are, as a
rule, available to the public free of charge. However,
in
cases where charges and/or licences are an essential precon-
dition for maintaining the spatial data sets and services or
for fulfilling the requirements of already existing interna-
tional spatial data infrastructure in a sustainable way,
Member States may apply charges and/or licences either to
the person providing the service to the public, or, where
the service provider chooses, to the public itself.

2.
Data made available through the view services referred to
in point (b) of Article 11(1) may be in a form preventing their
re-use for commercial purposes.

3. Where public authorities levy charges for the services
referred to in points (b), (c) or (e) of Article 11(1), Member
States shall ensure that e-commerce services are available. Such
services may be covered by disclaimers, click-licences or
licences.

Article 15

(h) the protection of the environment to which such informa-

tion relates, such as the location of rare species.

The Commission shall establish and operate an INSPIRE

1.
geo-portal at Community level.

2.
The grounds for limiting access, as provided for in para-
graph 1, shall be interpreted in a restrictive way, taking into
account for the particular case the public interest served by
the public
providing this access.
the
interest served by disclosure shall be weighed against

In every particular case,

2. Member States shall provide access to the services referred
to in Article 11(1) through the INSPIRE geo-portal referred to
in paragraph 1. Member States may also provide access to
those services through their own access points.

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Article 16

Rules for the implementation of this Chapter shall be adopted
in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 22(2),
and shall in particular lay down the following:

(a) technical specifications for the services referred to in Arti-
cles 11 and 12 and minimum performance criteria for
those services, taking account of existing reporting require-
ments and recommendations adopted within the frame-
work of Community environmental legislation, existing e-
commerce services and technological progress;

(b) the obligations referred to in Article 12.

CHAPTER V

DATA-SHARING

Article 17

Each Member State shall adopt measures for the sharing
1.
of spatial data sets and services between its public authorities
referred to in point (9)(a) and (b) of Article 3. Those measures
shall enable those public authorities to gain access to spatial
data sets and services, and to exchange and use those sets and
services, for the purposes of public tasks that may have an
impact on the environment.

The measures provided for in paragraph 1 shall preclude
2.
any restrictions likely to create, at the point of use, practical
obstacles to the sharing of spatial data sets and services.

6. Where the arrangements for the sharing of spatial data
sets and services provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 are
made available in accordance with paragraphs 4 and 5, these
arrangements may be accompanied by national requirements
conditioning their use.

By way of derogation from this Article, Member States
7.
may limit sharing when this would compromise the course of
justice,
or
international relations.

security,

national

defence

public

8. Without prejudice to paragraph 3, Member States shall
provide the institutions and bodies of the Community with
access to spatial data sets and services in accordance with
Implementing rules governing those
harmonised conditions.
conditions shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 22(2).

This Article does not affect the existence or ownership of

9.
public sector authorities' intellectual property rights.

CHAPTER VI

COORDINATION AND COMPLEMENTARY MEASURES

Article 18

Member States shall ensure that appropriate structures and
mechanisms for coordinating the contributions of all those
with an interest in their infrastructures for spatial information
are designated.

3.
The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not prevent public
authorities that supply spatial data sets and services from licen-
sing them to, and requiring payment from, the public authori-
ties or institutions and bodies of the Community that use these
spatial data sets and services.

These structures shall coordinate the contributions of, inter alia,
users, producers, added-value service providers and coordi-
nating bodies, concerning the identification of relevant data
sets, user needs, the provision of information on existing prac-
tices and the provision of feedback on the implementation of
this Directive.

4.
The arrangements for the sharing of spatial data sets and
services provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be open to
public authorities referred to in point (9)(a) and (b) of Article 3
of other Member States and to the institutions and bodies of
the Community, for the purposes of public tasks that may have
an impact on the environment.

5.
The arrangements for the sharing of spatial data sets and
services provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be open,
on a reciprocal and equivalent basis, to bodies established by
international
to which the Community and
Member States are parties, for the purposes of tasks that may
have an impact on the environment.

agreements

Article 19

1.
The Commission shall be responsible for coordinating
INSPIRE at Community level and shall be assisted for that
purpose by relevant organisations and,
in particular, by the
European Environment Agency.

2.
Each Member State shall designate a contact point,
usually a public authority, to be responsible for contacts with
the Commission in relation to this Directive.

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Article 20

The implementing rules referred to in this Directive shall take
due account of standards adopted by European standardisation
bodies in accordance with the procedure laid down in Direc-
tive 98/34/EC, as well as international standards.

CHAPTER VII

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 21

1. Member States shall monitor the implementation and use
of their infrastructures for spatial information. They shall make
the results of this monitoring accessible to the Commission and
to the public on a permanent basis.

No later than … (*) Member States shall send to the

2.
Commission a report including summary descriptions of:

(a) how public sector providers and users of spatial data sets
and services and intermediary bodies are coordinated, and
of the relationship with the third parties and of the organi-
sation of quality assurance, as far as practicable;

(b) the contribution made by public authorities or third parties
to the functioning and coordination of the infrastructure
for spatial information;

(c) information on the use of the infrastructure for spatial

information;

(d) data-sharing agreements between public authorities;

(e) the costs and benefits of implementing this Directive.

3.
Every three years, and starting no later than … (**),
Member States shall send to the Commission a report providing
updated information in relation to the items referred to in para-
graph 2.

4.
Detailed rules for the implementation of this Article shall
be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 22(2).

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 23

By … (***) and every six years thereafter the Commission shall
present to the European Parliament and to the Council a report
on the implementation of this Directive based,
inter alia, on
reports from Member States in accordance with Article 21(2)
and (3).

Where necessary, the report shall be accompanied by proposals
for Community action.

Article 24

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive by … (*).

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain
a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such
reference on the occasion of their official publication. The
methods of making such reference shall be laid down by
Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in
the field covered by this Directive.

Article 25

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 26

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 22

Done at Brussels, …

1.

The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

For the European Parliament

The President

…

For the Council

The President

…

(*) Three years following the date of entry into force of this Directive.
(**) Six years following the date of entry into force of this Directive.

(***) Seven years following the date of entry into force of this Direc-

tive.

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ANNEX I

SPATIAL DATA THEMES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLES 6(A), 8(1) AND 9(A)

1. Coordinate reference systems

Systems for uniquely referencing spatial information in space as a set of coordinates (x,y,z) and/or latitude and longi-
tude and height, based on a geodetic horizontal and vertical datum.

2. Geographical grid systems

Harmonised multi-resolution grid with a common point of origin and standardised location and size of grid cells.

3. Geographical names

Names of areas, regions, localities, cities, suburbs, towns or settlements, or any geographical or topographical feature
of public or historical interest.

4. Administrative units

Units of administration, dividing areas where Member States have and/or exercise jurisdictional rights, for local,
regional and national governance, separated by administrative boundaries.

5. Transport networks

Road, rail, air and water transport networks and related infrastructure. Includes links between different networks.
Also includes the trans-European transport network as defined in Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European trans-
port network (1) and future revisions of that Decision.

6. Hydrography

Hydrographic elements, including marine areas and all other water bodies and items related to them, including river
basins and sub-basins. Where appropriate, according to the definitions set out in Directive 2000/60/EC of the Euro-
pean Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field
of water policy (2) and in the form of networks.

7. Protected sites

Area designated or managed within a framework of international, Community and Member States' legislation to
achieve specific conservation objectives.

(1) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996, p. 1, corrected by OJ L 201, 7.6.2004, p. 1).
(2) OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1. Directive as amended by Decision No 2455/2001/EC (OJ L 331, 15.12.2001, p. 1).

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ANNEX II

SPATIAL DATA THEMES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLES 6(A), 8(1) AND 9(B)

1. Elevation

Digital elevation models for land, ice and ocean surface. Includes terrestrial elevation, bathymetry and shoreline.

2. Addresses

Location of properties based on address identifiers, usually by road name, house number, postal code.

3. Cadastral parcels

Areas defined by cadastral registers or equivalent.

4. Land cover

Physical and biological cover of the earth's surface including artificial surfaces, agricultural areas, forests, (semi-
)natural areas, wetlands, water bodies.

5. Orthoimagery

Geo-referenced image data of the Earth's surface, from either satellite or airborne sensors.

6. Geology

Geology characterised according to composition and structure. Includes bedrock, aquifers and geomorphology.

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ANNEX III

SPATIAL DATA THEMES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLES 6(B) AND 9(B)

1. Statistical units

Units for dissemination or use of statistical information.

2. Buildings

Geographical location of buildings.

3. Soil

Soils and subsoil characterised according to depth, texture, structure and content of particles and organic material,
stoniness, erosion, where appropriate mean slope and anticipated water storage capacity.

4. Land use

Territory characterised according to its current and future planned functional dimension or socio-economic purpose
(e.g. residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural, forestry, recreational).

5. Human health and safety

Geographical distribution of dominance of pathologies (allergies, cancers, respiratory diseases, etc.), information
indicating the effect on health (biomarkers, decline of fertility, epidemics) or well-being of humans (fatigue, stress,
etc.)
the ozone layer, noise, etc.) or indirectly (food,
genetically modified organisms, etc.) to the quality of the environment.

linked directly (air pollution, chemicals, depletion of

6. Utility and governmental services

Includes utility facilities such as sewage, waste management, energy supply and water supply, administrative and
social governmental services such as public administrations, civil protection sites, schools and hospitals.

7. Environmental monitoring facilities

Location and operation of environmental monitoring facilities includes observation and measurement of emissions,
of the state of environmental media and of other ecosystem parameters (biodiversity, ecological conditions of vege-
tation, etc.) by or on behalf of public authorities.

8. Production and industrial facilities

Industrial production sites, including installations covered by Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996
concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (1) and water abstraction facilities, mining, storage sites.

9. Agricultural and aquaculture facilities

Farming equipment and production facilities (including irrigation systems, greenhouses and stables).

10. Population distribution — demography

Geographical distribution of people, including population characteristics and activity levels, aggregated by grid,
region, administrative unit or other analytical unit.

11. Area management/restriction/regulation zones and reporting units

Areas managed, regulated or used for reporting at international, European, national, regional and local
levels.
Includes dumping sites, restricted areas around drinking water sources, nitrate-vulnerable zones, regulated fairways
at sea or large inland waters, areas for the dumping of waste, noise restriction zones, prospecting and mining
permit areas, river basin districts, relevant reporting units and coastal zone management areas.

12. Natural risk zones

Vulnerable areas characterised according to natural hazards (all atmospheric, hydrologic, seismic, volcanic and wild-
fire phenomena that, because of their location, severity, and frequency, have the potential to seriously affect
society), e.g. floods, landslides and subsidence, avalanches, forest fires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions.

13. Atmospheric conditions

Physical conditions in the atmosphere. Includes spatial data based on measurements, on models or on a combina-
tion thereof and includes measurement locations.

(1) OJ L 257, 10.10.1996, p. 26. Directive as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 of the European Parliament and of the

Council (OJ L 33, 4.2.2006, p. 1).

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14. Meteorological geographical features

Weather conditions and their measurements; precipitation, temperature, evapotranspiration, wind speed and direc-
tion.

15. Oceanographic geographical features

Physical conditions of oceans (currents, salinity, wave heights, etc.).

16. Sea regions

Physical conditions of seas and saline water bodies divided into regions and sub-regions with common characteris-
tics.

17. Bio-geographical regions

Areas of relatively homogeneous ecological conditions with common characteristics.

18. Habitats and biotopes

Geographical areas characterised by specific ecological conditions, processes, structure, and (life support) functions
that physically support the organisms that live there. Includes terrestrial and aquatic areas distinguished by geogra-
phical, abiotic and biotic features, whether entirely natural or semi-natural.

19. Species distribution

Geographical distribution of occurrence of animal and plant species aggregated by grid, region, administrative unit
or other analytical unit.

20. Energy resources

Energy resources including hydrocarbons, hydropower, bio-energy, solar, wind, etc., where relevant including depth/
height information on the extent of the resource.

21. Mineral resources

Mineral resources including metal ores, industrial minerals, etc., where relevant including depth/height information
on the extent of the resource.

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

On 26 July 2004, the Commission submitted to the Council its proposal for a Directive of the Euro-
pean Parliament and of the Council establishing an infrastructure for spatial information in the Com-
munity (INSPIRE). The proposal is based on Article 175(1) of the Treaty.

On 7 June 2005, the European Parliament adopted its opinion at first reading.

On 20 September 2004, the Committee of the Regions decided not to deliver an opinion.

On 9 February 2005, the Economic and Social Committee adopted its opinion.

On 23 January 2006., the Council adopted its common position in accordance with Article 251(2) of
the Treaty.

II. OBJECTIVE

The proposed Directive creates a legal framework for the establishment and operation of an infrastruc-
ture for spatial information in Europe for the purpose of formulating, implementing, monitoring and
evaluating Community policies at all levels and providing public information.

A key objective of INSPIRE is to reduce obstacles between public authorities in sharing data, especially
in the field of the environment and to make more and better spatial data available for Community
policy-making and implementation of Community policies in Member States at all levels. INSPIRE
focuses on environmental policy, but is open for use by and future extension to other sectors.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

General

The common position incorporates the majority of the European Parliament's first-reading amend-
ments, either verbatim, in part or in spirit. In particular, it includes modifications to the Commission' s
initial proposal regrouping Articles of the text, streamlining the definitions and clarifying the scope.
However, the common position includes a number of changes other than those envisaged in the Euro-
pean Parliament's Opinion at first reading and in the Commission' s initial proposal. The common
position:

— sets out the conditions for public access to spatial data sets and services and sharing of data

between public authorities in the framework of existing Community legislation;

— clarifies the possibility of licensing to and requiring payment from other public authorities for

spatial data sets and services; and

— introduces measures to reach the objectives of the Directive in a balanced and more effective way

(rationalisation of the provisions for monitoring and reporting, cost-benefit analysis).

The following sections describe the changes of substance.

General provisions, definitions, scope (Articles 1 to 4)

The common position does not follow EP amendment 6. The aim and scope of the Directive in Article
1 correspond with the Commission's initial proposal and its legal basis. The text of the common posi-
tion does not refer to ‘direct or indirect’ impact on the environment, however, additional recital 4
addresses this issue.

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The Council agrees with the substance of EP amendment 7 and related amendment 2. However, it
accepted the Commission' s view that it would not be legally sound to include obligations for Com-
munity institutions and bodies in a directive.

Article 2 states that the Directive would apply without prejudice to Directive 2003/4/EC on public
access to environmental information and 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information.

Article 3 introduces additional definitions of the terms ‘interoperability’, ‘INSPIRE geo portal’ and limits
the scope of the definition of ‘public authority’.

Paragraphs (2), (4), (5) and (6) of Article 4 clarify the scope of spatial data sets covered by the Directive.
Article 4(7) limits the extent of the competence of the committee to adapt the data themes in the
Annexes.

Amendments 9 and 10 were not accepted because the Council does not believe that they clarify the
text.

Metadata, interoperability of spatial data sets and services (Articles 5 to 10)

The components of the metadata are clarified in Article 5 of the common position as well as the imple-
mentation rules. The time schedule for creation of the metadata in Article 6 is consistent with the time-
table in EP amendment 15, taking into account the new wording of Article 5(4) of the common posi-
tion.

Article 7 introduces additional conditions for the drafting of the implementing rules laying down tech-
nical arrangements for interoperability, particularly the cost-benefit consideration, integration of stan-
dards and activities at international level and reference to existing technical means. Cost-benefit and
feasibility considerations are backed up by Article 7(2), which requires the Commission to undertake a
cost-benefit analysis prior to developing the proposals for the implementing rules. The adoption of
these rules shall not result in excessive costs to a Member State. Article 7(3) clarifies the adaptation of
newly collected and other spatial data sets and services.

Article 8(2)(a) replaces ‘a common system of unique identifiers’ by ‘solutions to ensure unambiguous
identification of spatial objects, to which identifiers under existing national systems can be mapped in
order to ensure interoperability between them’ in order to avoid the imposition of a particular tech-
nical solution.

Amendments 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 were taken on board either fully or in part within
reworded text.

Amendment 20 was not accepted since the reference to ‘indirect impact on the environment’ was
considered too vague (see Article 1).

Network services (Articles 11 to 16)

The extended list of grounds for limiting access set out in Article 13 is identical to that in Article 4(2)
of Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information to ensure consistence in the
implementation. Additional Article 13(3) provides that public access to spatial data complies with
Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and
on the free movement of such data.

In Article 14, the common position allows Member States to apply charges and/or licences for view
services, where this is necessary to maintain the spatial data sets and services or to fulfil requirements
of existing international spatial data infrastructures.

Amendments 24, 25, 26 and 27 were accepted within reworded text.

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Data-sharing (Article 17)

Article 17 of the common position clarifies the scope of data-sharing obligations between the public
authorities of one Member State, the public authorities of different Member States, the institutions and
bodies of the Community and the bodies established by international agreements. Article 17(2) seeks
to prevent practical obstacles at the point of use (for example, a public authority employee using the
data on their computer) while Article 17(3) allows data providers to recover their costs from the
public authorities of Member States and Community bodies, thus ensuring that the quality and
currency of the data are maintained. Where charging occurs, it is at the public authority level, not at
the point of use. Protection of intellectual property rights is ensured by Article 17(9). New recitals 22,
23 and 24 also address these issues. Amendment 28 is addressed in recital 21.

Amendment 29 was not accepted as redundantly extending the data-sharing requirements.

Amendment 30 is superseded by the new wording of Article 17.

The whole concept of the original Article 24 — common implementing rules for data-sharing —
(amendment 32) is not acceptable to the Council.

Coordination and complementary measures, final provisions (Articles 18 to 26)

There is no explicit stress on the distribution of powers and responsibilities within the Member States
in relation to their structures involved (amendments 33, 34 and 4) in Article 18 and 19(2) of the
common position, however, the Council understands the Articles in this sense.

The new wording of Article 21 and additional recital 31 of the common position rationalise the moni-
toring and reporting requirements of the Directive compared to amendment 37. Article 24 slightly
defers the transposition date.

Amendments 35, 36 and 38 have been accepted.

Annexes

Spatial data themes ‘distribution of road accidents’ (amendment 43, paragraph 6) and ‘telecommunica-
tions’ (amendment 44, paragraph 7) are not included in the common position as they are not related
to the purpose of INSPIRE.

Amendment 47 was partly accepted in Annex III, paragraph 11.

Amendments 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46, 48 and 49 have been accepted.

IV. CONCLUSION

The changes made by the Council to the Commission' s proposal aim to ensure compatibility with
existing Community legislation and sustainable collection of data. Despite these changes, the Council's
common position is in line with the majority of the European Parliament's amendments and establishes
a good basis for further negotiations.