COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Executive Summary on the evaluation of DIRECTIVE 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) and underpinning the report on the implementation Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament On the implementation of Directive 2007/2/EC of March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) pursuant to article 23
Date: 2016-07-20
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU environmental policy, Internet, data collection, exchange of information, information network, information system, national implementing measure, trans-European network, transmission network

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   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 20.7.2016  SWD(2016) 243 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Executive Summary on the evaluation of DIRECTIVE 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) and underpinning the report on the implementation  Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament On the implementation of Directive 2007/2/EC of March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) pursuant to article 23 {COM(2016) 478 final}  
 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This  staff  working  document  looks  at  the  implementation  of  the  Directive  establishing  an 
Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community1 (INSPIRE) since its entry 
into force on 15 May 2007 and evaluates its fitness for purpose2, in line with the EU 'Better 
Regulation'3 agenda. The Directive supports the application of knowledge-based policies and 
monitoring  of  activities  that  have  an  environmental  impact.  It  sets  out  actions  aimed  at 
removing obstacles to the sharing of spatial data between all levels of government within and 
across Member State. 

The Directive requires Member States to: 

(1)  set  up  coordination  structures  and  adopt  and  implement  legal  measures  to  remove 

procedural obstacles to the sharing of spatial data; 

(2)  identify  their  spatial  data  relevant  to  environmental  policies  and  those  actions  with  an 

environment impact; 

(3)  document the spatial data so that they can be accessed on the internet together with other 

information; 

(4)  implement online services allowing the discovery, visualisation and download of spatial 

data; 

(5)  gradually organise and publish the spatial data in common data models. 

Progress  has  been  made  in  implementation,  particularly  in  some  Member  States.  However, 
the  implementation  gaps  in  most  Member  States  are  significant.  They  are  the  result  of 
accumulated delays in the implementation process and underline the differences in speed and 
quality of implementation. The findings in relation to the different implementation steps can 
be summed up as follows: 

  All Member States now have coordination structures in place, but their effectiveness 
is  variable.  In  particular,  coordination  between  national  mapping  agencies  and 
environment data managers can be improved in many Member States. 

  The  national  data  policies  for  sharing  data  are  highly  variable  and  heterogeneous. 
Many Member States reported important, outstanding data policy issues that hamper 
the efficient sharing of spatial data between public authorities and with the public. 
  Significant  progress  has  been  made  as  regards  the  spatial  datasets  identified  and 
reported yearly, with close on 60 000 spatial datasets being reported in 2014 against 
less than 1 400 in 2007. However, for many Member States, the numbers remain low 
(less  than  150),  and  with  limited  thematic  coverage  compared  to  some  of  the  better 
performing countries. 
Implementation of the documentation obligations is at an advanced stage; yet only 12 
Member States had documented 80 to 100 % of their reported spatial data in line with 
the INSPIRE Directive by 2014. 

 

1   Directive 2007/2/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 March 2007 
establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community, OJ L 108, 25.4.2007, p. 
1. 

2   COM(2012)746 final — EU Regulatory Fitness  and COM(2013)685 Regulatory Fitness and Performance 

Programme (REFIT) and Staff Working Document (SWD) . 

3   Commission  Communication  on  Regulatory  Fitness  and  Performance  Programme  (REFIT)  —

 COM(2014)368. 

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  Member  States  made  progress  on  the  online  discovery  services  available  for  their 
identified  and  documented  datasets.  These  services  give  users  access  to  the 
documentation.  The  overall  availability  of  digital  services  for  viewing  and 
downloading spatial data for further use was less advanced. This is mainly the result 
of the cumulative delays and shortcomings in the previous implementation steps. Also 
here  there  are  noticeable  differences  between  the  Member  States  and  the  type  of 
services concerned. 

  The interoperability of the spatial datasets has not advanced much mainly because the 

main implementation deadlines are still in the future (2017, 2020). 

At  this  half-way  point  in  the  implementation  process, the main  results  of  the  evaluation  on 
fitness for purpose can be summarised as follows: 

-  The INSPIRE actions are internally coherent and the intervention logic is still sound. 
-  The  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  Directive  vary.  The  level  of  effectiveness  can 
often be related to implementation efforts (and investment) by Member States. Most have 
not  done  enough  in  this  respect,  and  can  close  their  implementation  gaps  through,  for 
example, more investment in skills and infrastructure, better coordination, improving the 
free flow of data by updating their data policies, better streamlining with national policies 
on eGovernment and open data. 

-  Efficiency cannot, at this stage, be demonstrated through a positive cost-benefit balance 
in quantitative terms. However, overall implementation costs appear lower than predicted 
and  most  Member  States  reported  qualitative  benefits,  such  as  improved  access  to 
information  and  evidence  base.  Where  interoperable  spatial  data  have  already  been 
incorporated in projects, including some cross-border projects and projects for reporting, 
gains in effectiveness and efficiency have been noted. 

-  There are indications that some implementation efforts which are not due until 2020 may 
be  costly  and  difficult  to  achieve,  in  particular  in  relation  to  data  harmonisation. 
Moreover, the INSPIRE reporting requirements appear to have potential for streamlining. 
-  The actions that implementation of the INSPIRE Directive requires remain relevant. This 
is  underlined  by  the  importance  of  interoperability  and  eGovernment  services  in  the 
context  of  the  EU  Digital  Single  Market.  The  link  to  several  sectoral  policies  also 
highlights their relevance, e.g. Copernicus. 

-  Coherence  with  other  environmental  legislation  and  policies  is  well  established  in  the 
relevant documents, but can be further improved in practice, e.g. in the field of reporting. 
-  Specific improvements in coherence can be made in relation to data policies (i.e. Article 
17) and the free flow of data among public authorities. Addressing this issue would also 
help improve the effectiveness of the INSPIRE Directive and its EU added value. 

-  Harvesting  EU  added  value  is  currently  not  fully  realised  given  the  different  levels  of 
implementation.  But  this  can  be  overcome  by  a  better  alignment  of  the  Member  States 
implementation  plans  and  demonstrated  through  cross-border  and  end-user  applications 
at EU level. A common set of implementation priorities, agreed at EU level between the 
Member States and the Commission, will facilitate the development of such applications.   

In conclusion, this evaluation has demonstrated that the INSPIRE Directive is still largely fit-
for-purpose,  but  that  further  efforts  are  needed  at  EU  and  Member  State  level  to  close  the 
significant  implementation  gaps  and  to  harvest  the  benefits  of  the  Directive.  Moreover, 
specific issues needing attention concern the data policy provisions in the Directive (Article 
17)  and  requirements  and  use  of  some  of  the  technical  specifications  in  the  implementing 
rules (including the streamlining of reporting). 

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