COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL MARINE KNOWLEDGE 2020  marine data and observation for smart and sustainable growth
Date: 2010-09-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: access to information, environmental protection, knowledge economy, management of resources, marine environment, maritime surveillance, resources of the sea, sustainable development

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 8.9.2010 
COM(2010) 461 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

MARINE KNOWLEDGE 2020  
marine data and observation for smart and sustainable growth 

SEC(2010) 999 
 SEC(2010) 998 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

MARINE KNOWLEDGE 2020  
marine data and observation for smart and sustainable growth 

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1. 

CONTEXT 

Knowledge  is  an  engine  for  sustainable  growth  in  the  interconnected  global 
economy and therefore a key element to achieve smart growth in the European 
Union  in  line  with  the  "Europe  2020"  strategy1.  Improving  knowledge  of  the 
seas  and  oceans  that  make  up  71%  of  our  planet's  surface  is  one  of  the  three 
cross-cutting  tools  of  the  EU's  integrated  maritime  policy2.  Indeed  marine 
knowledge  can  also  help  achieve  the  other  two  tools  –  better  spatial  planning 
and  integrated  maritime  surveillance.  The  magnitude  of  future  changes  in 
oceanic systems, their impact on human activity and the feedbacks on the ocean 
in  human  behaviour  cannot  be  forecast  without 
from 
understanding  the  way  the  system  works  now  and  how  it  worked  in  the  past. 
Knowledge is necessary to achieve good environmental status of marine waters, 
in accordance with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the environmental 
pillar of the integrated maritime policy. Knowledge  is  a key component  of  the 
EU's plan to integrate marine and maritime research3 and a contribution to the 
Digital Agenda4. 

these  changes 

The  creation  of  marine  knowledge  begins  with  observation  of  the  sea  and 
oceans.  Data  from  these  observations  are  assembled,  then  analysed  to  create 
information  and  knowledge.  Subsequently  the  knowledge  can  be  applied  to 
deliver smart sustainable growth, to assess the health of the marine ecosystem or 
to protect coastal communities.  

This  Communication  is  largely  concerned  with  the  first  two  stages  of  the 
process  chain  -  i.e.  data  collection  and  assembly  –  on  the  basis  that  public 
information  is  fundamentally  a  public  good  that  can  benefit  a  wide  body  of 
stakeholders  whereas  applications  are  more  specialist  and  can  be  dealt  with 
either through the market or through targetted policy initiatives. Data collection 
is mostly, for subsidiarity reasons, the responsibility of Member States. The EU 
has  the  potential  to  add  value  in  the  assembly  phase  because  of  the  need  to 
ensure coherence across borders and between different user communities. 

The Council conclusions on integrated maritime policy of 16 November 20095 
encouraged  the  Commission  to  make  proposals  on  improving  the  use  of 
scientific knowledge. This Communication responds to this request by outlining 
the case for a more coordinated approach to marine data collection and assembly 

1 

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4 
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Europe  2020,  A  European  Strategy  for  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth,  03.03.2010 
COM(2010) 2020  
An  Integrated  Maritime  Policy  for  the  European  Union  Brussels,  10.10.2007  COM(2007)  575 
final  
A  European  Strategy  for  Marine  and  Maritime  Research  A  coherent  European  Research  Area 
framework in support of a sustainable use of oceans and seas Brussels, 3.9.2008, COM(2008) 534 
final  
A Digital Agenda for Europe 19.05.2010 COM(2010) 245 
Council  conclusions  on  integrated  maritime  policy  2973rd  General  Affairs  Council  meeting 
Brussels, 16 November 2009 

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and  describes  an  action  plan  whereby  the  different  EU  policy  measures  are 
contributing pieces to an overall jigsaw that will achieve this aim. 

2. 

CURRENT CHALLENGES 

At  present  the  majority  of  marine  data  collected  by  public  institutions  in  EU 
Member  States,  individually  or  collectively,  at  a  cost  of  more  than  €1  billion 
annually6, are largely collected with a specific purpose in mind – for instance to 
exploit marine resources, to ensure safe navigation, to monitor compliance with 
regulations  or  to  test  a  scientific  hypothesis.  However,  as  was  confirmed  in  a 
public  consultation7,  those  processing  or  applying  these  data  face  a  number  of 
obstacles.  Users  find  it  hard  to  discover  what  data  already  exists.  There  are 
restrictions  on  access,  use  and  re-use.  Fragmented  standards,  formats  and 
nomenclature, lack of information on precision and accuracy, the pricing policy 
of  some  providers  and  insufficient  temporal  or  spatial  resolution  are  further 
barriers. The opportunity to develop innovative new products and services based 
on these data is therefore lost8. 

3. 

OBJECTIVES 

In  the  context  of  this  Communication,  three  objectives  to  improve  marine 
knowledge are established: 

1. 

reducing operational costs and delays for those who use marine data and 
therefore: 

– 

– 

– 

helping private industry compete in the global economy and meet 
the challenge of sustainability; 

improving the quality of public decision-making at all levels; 

strengthening marine scientific research 

2. 

3. 

increasing  competition  and  innovation  amongst  users  and  re-users  of 
marine  data  by  providing  wider  access  to  quality-checked,  rapidly-
available coherent marine data; 

reducing  uncertainty  in  knowledge  of  the  oceans  and  the  seas  and  so 
providing a sounder basis for managing future changes  

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Estimate made in the impact assessment for this Communication.  
Commission  Staff  Working  Document,  "Marine  Data  Infrastructure  Outcome  of  Public 
Consultation", 22.1.2010, SEC(2010)73 final 
For instance bioprospecting for new products in  medicine or the process industry would benefit 
from better knowledge of sea-bed habitats. 

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These  objectives  contribute  directly  to  some  of  the  flagship  initiatives 
announced  in  the  Europe  2020  strategy  such  as  an  'Innovation  Union',  a 
'Resource efficient Europe' and 'an industrial policy for the globalisation era'. 

A  conservative  estimate  of  the  benefits  of  creating  an  integrated  network  to 
replace  the  present  fragmented  marine  observation  system  suggests  a  figure  of 
€300 million per annum 9. Beyond this, a more rational use of marine data will 
not  only  improve  the  efficiency  of  existing  users  of  marine  data  but  will  also 
open up new opportunities for innovation and growth.  

4. 

DEVELOPING EXISTING EU INSTRUMENTS 

Member States already collect much data and in some cases are legally obliged 
to do so. Furthermore various EU instruments and actions endeavour to further 
the availability of a coherent set of data and observations within the EU. 

These  actions  include  both  obligations  and  enabling  measures.  The  distinction 
between  the  two  is  not  always  clear-cut  but  in  general  obligations  are  those 
where EU legislation obliges Member States to collect, assemble or grant access 
to data and enabling measures are those where the EU provides some support. 

4.1. 

EU Directives 

The  Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive10
,  obliges  Member  States  to 
"establish and implement coordinated monitoring programmes for the ongoing 
assessment of the environmental status of their marine waters." Assembling sea-
basin  and  pan-European-sea  pictures  requires  collaboration  across  borders  and 
across disciplines. Experience so far demonstrates that the sharing of data across 
sectors  and  across  Member  States  does  not  take  place  uniformly,  adequately, 
efficiently or rapidly. Unless the European Union takes or facilitates actions in 
this field it is unlikely to happen. 

The  INSPIRE  Directive11  obliges  Member  States  to  adopt  measures  for  the 
sharing of data sets and services between public authorities for the purposes of 
public  tasks  and  the  Environmental  Information  Directive12  requires  them  to 
release  the  data  when  asked.  The  Directive  on  the  re-use  of  public  sector 
information13  facilitates  the  re-use  of  public  data  by  establishing  a  common 
legislative  framework  regulating  how  public  sector  bodies  should  make  their 
information  available  for  re-use  in  order  to  remove  barriers  such  as 
discriminatory practices, monopoly markets and a lack of transparency. 

9 

10 
11 

12 
13 

The impact assessment estimates approximately €100 million for science, €56 million for public 
authorities and €150 million for the private sector 
Directive 2008/56/EC 
Directive  2007/2/EC  establishing  an  Infrastructure  for  Spatial  Information  in  the  European 
Community. 
Directive 2003/4/EC 
Directive 2003/98/EC  

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These  Directives  provide  the  necessary  legal  foundations  for  a  better  use  of 
marine data  and, in the case of  INSPIRE, for common standards. But they are 
not in themselves sufficient. They do not necessarily apply to those bodies not 
exercising public authority that hold much marine data - for instance scientific 
and academic institutions - and they do not override intellectual property rights. 
They do not deal with near-real time observations or historic archives of data. 

In  a  review  of  the  Public  Sector  Information  Directive14,  Re-users  in  the 
geographical  and  meteorological  sectors  signalled  high  prices,  restrictive 
licensing conditions and discrimination as barriers to fully unlock the potential 
of  PSI  re-use.  Access  to  foreground  data  from  EU  Framework  Programme 
marine  research  projects  is  only  mandatory  for  Community  Institutions  and 
Bodies who intend to use the data for developing, implementing and monitoring 
environmental policies. 

4.2. 

Data Collection Framework for fisheries (DCF) 

The new Data Collection Framework adopted in 200815 obliges Member States 
to  collect,  manage  and  provide  high  quality  fisheries  data  for  the  purpose  of 
scientific advice, mainly for appropriate fisheries management decisions. These 
activities  are  executed  in  the  framework  of  multi-annual  national  programmes 
which  are  co-financed  by  the  Union.  The  new  framework  obliges  Member 
States to provide access to these data for fisheries management advice, scientific 
publication, public debate and stakeholder participation in policy development. 
Beyond these purposes, access to data, their assembly on a sea-basin level and 
re-use  of  assembled  data  currently  requires  the  consent  of  all  data  owners 
concerned. 

4.3. 

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative (GMES) 

GMES is a broad programme, covering land and the atmosphere as well as the 
marine  environment.  It  aims  to  deliver  services  in  the  environmental  and 
security  fields  and  is  largely  focused  on  measurements  from  satellites  and  on 
products  based  on  these  measurements.  Options  for  the  marine  core  service  of 
GMES are being tested through the MyOcean project. Products are available for 
any  kind  of  use,  including  commercial  (downstream  activities)  but  excluding 
"uncontrolled redistribution (dissemination, e.g. broadcasting, web posting…)". 

4.4. 

Shared Environmental Information System SEIS and WISE-marine 

The  Shared  Environmental  Information  System  SEIS16,  an  approach  being 
encouraged  by  the  European  Commission  and  the  European  Environment 
Agency  (EEA),  aims  to  modernise  and  simplify  the  availability,  exchange  and 
use  of  the  data  and  information  required  for  the  design  and  implementation  of 

14 

15 
16 

Re-use  of  Public  Sector  Information  –  Review  of  Directive  2003/98/EC,  Brussels,  7.5.2009, 
COM(2009) 212 final, 
Council Regulation (EC) N° 199/2008 of 25 February 2008 
Towards  a  Shared  Environmental  Information  System  (SEIS)  COM(2008)  46  final  Brussels,  1 
February 2008 

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environmental  policy,  according  to  which  the  current,  mostly  centralised 
systems  for  reporting  are  progressively  replaced  by  systems  based  on  access, 
sharing and interoperability.  

WISE-marine is the marine environmental component of SEIS intended to fulfil 
the  requirements  of  implementation  of  the  reporting  obligations  of  the  Marine 
Strategy  Framework  Directive  2008/56/EC  and  to  inform  the  European  public 
on  implementation  of  marine  strategies.  It  will  be  an  extension  of  the  current 
Water  Information  System  for  Europe  (WISE)  system,  which  covers  near 
coastal waters, towards the marine environment. 

4.5. 

ur-EMODnet 

The "ur-EMODnet" financed through maritime policy preparatory actions17 is a 
prototype  EMODnet18  that  should  itself  be  useful  to  marine  and  maritime 
professionals  but  which  is  primarily  designed  to  test  the  design  concept  and 
promote  feedback.  Thematic  groups19  are  assembling  existing  data  from 
different sources, measuring their quality, ensuring that they are complete with 
descriptors (metadata) such as time and place of measurement and making them 
available through thematic portals. Many of the insights and technologies used 
by these groups were developed under EU research programmes20. The themes 
assembled  so  far  are  summarised  in  Table  1.  Their  interoperability  is 
strengthened 
identical  standards  and  six-monthly  coordination 
meetings.  Data  layers  produced  through  ur-EMODnet  are  available  without 
restriction. It is intended to launch an interim evaluation of the results in 2011 
and a final evaluation in 2013 that will guide further action. 

through 

However  the  current  ur-EMODnet  will  not  in  itself  provide  sufficient 
information for a full evaluation in 2013. The sample is too small. The number 
of parameters and sea-basins covered are fewer than would be needed to satisfy 
the needs of the marine and maritime community. The resolution is too coarse. It 
would  be  too  great  a  jump  and  too  risky  a  venture  to  move  directly  from  the 
preparatory-action-based  ur-EMODnet  to  a  full-blown  EMODnet  of  the  scale 
that  current  estimates  indicate  will  be  necessary21.  A  Regulation  will  be 
proposed to finance the further development of an Integrated Maritime Policy in 
the period 2011-2013. Enrichment of EMODnet will be amongst the actions to 
be financed under this Regulation. 

17 
18  
19 

20 

21 

A financial mechanism designed to prepare proposals with a view to the adoption of future actions 
European Marine Observation and Data Network 
Thematic groups are consortia of laboratories that have taken on the responsibility of assembling 
data of a particular type and making them available through single gateways. There are currently 
four groups – for hydrography/bathymetry, for geology, for biology and for chemistry (see table 
1). One for physical data is in the pipeline. 
Decision  1982/2006/EC  on  the  7th  Research  Framework  Programme  is  the  latest  in  a  series  of 
programmes funding the production and use of marine data. 
Impact Assessment for EMODnet 

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4.6. 

EU and national agencies 

In  addition  to  the  activities  of  the  European  Environment  Agency,  the 
Community  Fisheries  Control  Agency  and  the  European  Maritime  Safety 
Agency  are  mandated  to  assist  the  European  Commission  and  the  Member 
States in the application of EU relevant legislation. In the course of their duties 
they  collect  relevant  data22  which  could  have  a  wider  use  for  other  purposes. 
Provided that suitable safeguards regarding confidentiality were observed, these 
data might, in an appropriate aggregated form, be disseminated more widely.  

A  wide  range  of  Member  States  government  bodies  are  also  involved  in 
collecting data. 

4.7. 

Coastal data 

Coastal  authorities  need  to  gather,  use  and  share  information  to  underpin 
decision-making and public engagement. The framework for coastal information 
systems 
integrated  coastal  zone  management 
recommendation23. 

is  provided  by 

the  EU 

Coastal  regions  have  been  defined  by  Eurostat  as  standard  statistical  regions 
(NUTS24 level 3), which have at least half of their population within 50 km of 
the  coast25.  This  represents  446  regions,  372  of  which  have  a  coastline.  Socio 
economic parameters such as population indicators or GDP are freely available 
through  the  Eurostat  web-site  for  the  majority  of  these  regions.  For  some 
countries,  such  as  Poland,  Sweden  or  UK,  these  regions  are  so  large  that  they 
also  cover  populations  living  far  inland  and  so  cannot  capture  the  particular 
features  that  characterise  coastal  communities.  Attempts  to  collect  finer 
resolution  data  have  not  been  successful  because  of  prohibitive  charges  from 
some national statistical offices, because some national statistical offices do not 
have  a  systematic  way  of  dealing  with  requests  for  data  and  because,  for 
confidentiality reasons, data cannot be provided for regions with only one or two 
enterprises in a particular sector. 

Economic  data  –  income,  costs,  employment  -  from  fisheries,  aquaculture  and 
fish  processing  are  also  collected  as  part  of  the  Data  Collection  Framework. 
Economic  data  of  European  fishing  fleets  are  summarised  in  an  annual 
economic report26 at the national level and increasingly at a sea basin level27. 

A  number  of  regional  authorities  are  building  coastal  information  systems  in 
order  to  manage  and  plan  activities.  The  INSPIRE  Directive  and  different 

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26 

27 

description 

Such as oil-spills, ship movements and fishing activity 
2002/413/EC 
For 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/nuts/basicnuts_regions_en.html 
Hamburg was added to the list even though it does not satisfy the above criteria. 
Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) The 2009 annual economic 
report on the European fishing fleet EUR 24069 –ISBN 978-92-79-13867-6  
The sea-basin being the basin where the fishing takes place. This is not always the one on whose 
coast the fish are landed or where the home port of the vessels concerned is sited. 

statistical 

regions 

see 

of 

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Interreg28 projects are beginning to ensure some interoperability between these 
systems. 

Table  1  How  EU  initiatives  contribute  to  a  marine  data  infrastructure  Research  projects  and  national 
initiatives  are  not  included. Neither  are  "obligations'  such  as  INSPIRE.  The  table only  covers  "enabling 
measures" financed in part by the EU budget. 

Parameters 

collection 

assembling 

application 

Bathymetry 

Geology 

Physics 

GMES (space) 

Fisheries (including 
fisheries economy) 

Data Collection 
Framework15 

Chemistry 

Biology 

Human activity (other 
than fisheries)34 

ur-EMODnet 

WISE marine 

ur-EMODnet 

GMES (except near 
coast) , ur-
EMODnet29 

GMES,  

Joint Research 
Centre (and other 
users) 

ICES30, STECF31, 
GFCM32,  

ur-EMODnet 

WISE-Marine 

ur-EMODnet, 
GMES33 

WISE Marine 

ur-EMODnet37 

WISE Marine 

Coastal data  

Eurostat 

4.8. 

Proposals to improve existing instruments 

In  order  to  enhance  the  effects  of  the  above  instruments  and  actions  the 
Commission proposes a number of improvements: 

– 

– 

The Commission will take the necessary steps to ensure that data 
from  EU-supported  regional  development  and  marine  and 
maritime research programmes are more available for re-use. 

The Commission will examine what further measures are needed to 
promote  coastal  information  systems  in  its  follow-up  to  the  EU 
Recommendation on Integrated Coastal Zone Management35. 

28 

29 
30 
31 

32 
33 
34 
35 

a Community initiative which aims to stimulate interregional cooperation in the European Union. 
It started in 1989, and is financed under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). 
Not including measurements from space so GMES does not feed ur-EMODnet 
International Council for Exploration of the Sea 
Scientific  Technical  and  Economic  Committee  for  Fisheries  set  up  under  Article  33  of  Council 
Regulation EC 2371/2002) 
General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean 
Chlorophyll measurements from space as a proxy for phytoplankton 
Offshore energy, shipping routes, gravel extraction etc 
The PEGASO project, supported by the 7th Framework Programme is examining options. 

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– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Demonstrations  of  GMES  marine  services  will  be  supported 
through  the  space  theme  of  the  Seventh  Framework  Programme 
until 2014. Follow-ups are being considered. 

In  the  short-term  the  Commission  will  make  sure  that  the  new 
access rules for fisheries data are fully enforced by Member States. 
In the mid- and long-term, ways to widen the scope for accessing 
data will be explored. 

To optimize use of resources WISE-Marine and EMODnet will be 
coupled  in  the  context  of  the  implementation  of  the  Marine 
Strategy Framework Directive. WISE-Marine is scheduled to be set 
up by mid 2012 and will collect and visualize Member States data 
on  the  marine  environment  and  human  activities.  As  well  as 
EMODnet, WISE-marine will build on WISE, the existing reporting 
system already used by Member States to report their assessments 
for the Water Framework Directive. 

The  Commission  intends  to  launch  a  further  set  of  actions  to 
improve  the  coverage  of  data,  resolution  and  range  of  assembled 
parameters36,37. 

The  Commission  will  ensure  that  its  Agencies  regularly  release 
data. 

The  Commission  encourages  Member  States  in  the  same  spirit  to 
release  data  gathered  for  a  specific  purpose,  if  necessary 
aggregated in time and space. 

Eurostat  will  study  detailed  population  and  area  parameters  in 
order to provide better parameterization of the coastal influence in 
territorial regions for statistics. 

Initiatives  to  remedy  deficiencies  in  Europe's  marine  data  system  will  thus 
progress along a number of avenues. The principal purposes of these initiatives 
are  similar  but  not  identical.  Further  action  is  therefore  required  to  create 
synergies between the various developments.  

The  Commission  will  take  the  necessary  measure  to  bring  these  initiatives 
together in order to ensure a smooth and seamless provision of marine data and 
at  the  same  time  to  avoid  redundancies  in  data  collection  efforts.  This  will 
involve: 

– 

ensuring common standards38  

36 

37 

such as: extending the geology map to the Mediterranean and Iberian Atlantic Coast; resolution of 
bathymetry from a quarter of a minute to at least a tenth of a minute; include further pesticides.  
financed through the proposed financial regulation for integrated maritime policy 

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– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

progressive  alignment  of  data  policies.  The  ultimate  aim  is  to 
provide free access without restriction of use 

ensuring  that  the  data  assembled  in  initiatives  such  as  ur-
EMODnet or the Data Collection Framework are appropriate for 
the needs of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 

specific ur-EMODnet action in 201037 to assemble physical in-situ 
data  as  input  for  GMES,  to  validate  GMES  model  results  and  to 
cover the near-coast waters39 not dealt with by GMES 

In  2012-2013,  once  results  from  ur-EMODnet  and  prototype 
GMES  marine  core  service  actions  become  available,  to  assess 
gaps in the monitoring network. 

beginning  a  dialogue  with  partner  countries  and  international 
organisations  in  order  to  ensure  that  the  EU's  effort  contributes 
towards an interoperable global marine knowledge system. 

5. 

TOWARDS AN OPERATIONAL MARINE DATA ARCHITECTURE 

While  the  instruments  and  action  mentioned  above  have  their  merit,  the 
integration of marine knowledge requires a more robust step. A coherent set of 
data, crossing Member States' borders needs a targeted operational architecture. 
The  final  shape  will  depend  on  operational  experience  gained  in  projects  and 
initiatives such as ur-EMODnet and MyOcean. It is however appropriate already 
at this stage to signal some of the elements that should be incorporated: 

1. 

Europe's  marine  data  are  presently  collected  for  a  specific  purpose  –  for 
instance safe navigation or fisheries management – but the aim is to move 
towards  a  paradigm  where,  from  the  outset,  a  multi-purpose  use  is 
envisaged. 

2.  Data should be maintained as close to the sources as possible. These data 
should  be  under  proper  guardianship  in  accredited  data  centres.  Any 
processing  of  data  which  constitute  personal  data  as  defined  in  the  Data 
Protection Directive40 must comply with the provisions of the Directive.  

3.  An effective European marine data infrastructure should include a number 
of  thematic  assembly  groups41  entrusted  with  "assembling"  data.  A 

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41 

including  nomenclature,  formats  and  units  This  will  ensure  that  data  flowing  from  the  different 
initiatives can be compared and combined. INSPIRE provides the basic framework. INSPIRE is 
itself fully consistent with international standards. 
near-coast waters is a scientific term used to define those waters where shallow water, complex 
coastal topography and tidal streams mean that physical modelling requires a much more detailed 
approach than is presently envisaged within the GMES marine core service. 
Directive 95/46/EC 
This covers (1) access to all raw observations held at data centres of a certain type (2) production 
and  dissemination  of  data  layers  indicating  density  of  observation,  quality  of  data,  (3)  seamless 
(gridded or polygon) data layers over and across whole sea basins. 

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thematic assembly group is a consortium of organizations that assembles 
data  on  a  specific  theme  such  as  geological  layers  or  chemical 
contaminants. 

In  order  to  achieve  sustainable  operation  of  marine  observations  systems 
and identification of critical gaps in these systems an integrated viewpoint 
at  sea-basin  level  is  needed.  Existing  organisations  with  a  sea-basin 
mandate  such  as  the  Regional  Sea  Conventions42,  Regional  Advisory 
Councils for fisheries and EuroGOOS43 would be expected to contribute. 

In a limited number of cases it may be appropriate that the EU support to 
the marine data and observation infrastructure move beyond the assembly 
of data to the analysis and application of these data; for instance to support 
the provision of indicators for the state of the marine environment. 

The  knowledge  architecture  requires  a  decision  making  process  that 
decides what data is going to be collected and how it should be assembled. 
It also requires a secretariat to administer the process. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

In order to work towards such an infrastructure the Commission proposes that: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Knowledge is not only the responsibility of Government. European 
industry  should  dedicate  adequate  resources  to  ensure  adequate 
safeguarding of knowledge and, when it is no longer commercially 
valuable, its wider dissemination. 

The Commission will encourage communication amongst national 
data centres through regular discussions in its marine observation 
and data expert groups and its maritime internet forum in order to 
promote good practice in data curation and dissemination. 

To ensure an integrated view of monitoring needs, the Commission 
will explore how a sea-basin checkpoint44 might work by setting up 
pilots37 in the period 2011-2013.  

The Commission, on the basis of advice from Member States, from 
sea-basin  checkpoints  and  its  own  experts  will  continue  to  define 
priorities  for  assembling  data  in  ur-EMODnet  but  in  the  period 
2011-2013  will  develop  a  proposal 
for  more  permanent 
governance. 

42 
43 

44 

OSPAR, HELCOM, Barcelona, Bucharest Conventions 
EuroGOOS  is  an  association  of  national  governmental  agencies  and  research  organisations, 
committed to European-scale operational oceanography 
Checkpoints would independently check data layers from each thematic assembly group, ensure 
that  the  data  from  different  groups  are  mutually  compatible  and  define  priorities  for  further 
observations based on interaction with local stakeholders. These checkpoints should act on behalf 
of  all  users  of  marine  data  within  that  sea-basin  and  cover  all  EU  initiatives  on  marine  data  – 
EMODnet, GMES, Data Collection Framework etc 

EN 

12 

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– 

The  Commission  will  set  up  a  prototype  secretariat37  to  manage 
the  ur-EMODnet  process  -  preparing  meetings,  assessing  the 
output  of  thematic  assembly  groups  and  sea-basin  checkpoints, 
ensuring  deadlines  are  met  and  preparing  an  annual  report  of 
activity.  

6. 

STEERING THE PROCESS 

The  greater  access  to  marine  data  and  observation  has  been  monitored  by  an 
independent  group  of  experts  in  the  collection,  assembly  and  application  of 
marine data. The support of this group has assisted the Commission in making 
its choices on thematic priorities and working methods. The group will assist in 
a  formal  mid-term  assessment  beginning  in  2011  and  reporting  in  early  2012. 
This assessment will include quantitative indicators that measure the uptake of 
data  from  the  prototype  ur-EMODnet  by  scientists,  authorities  and  industry.  It 
will  report  on  progress  made  in  achieving  the  objectives  set  out  in  this 
Communication. 

The  Commission  will  also  establish  a  Member  States  Expert  Group  to  ensure 
coherence with ongoing work in Member States. 

7. 

TIMING 

The proposals set out in this Communication describe actions to be taken by the 
Commission in the period 2011-2013. At the end of this period a further impact 
assessment  will  be  made  to  guide  the  next  steps.  The  Commission  invites 
reactions to this plan.  

EN 

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