Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the interim evaluation of the European Earth Monitoring Programme (GMES) and its initial operations (2011-2013)

The EU made a strategic decision at the 2000 Gothenburg Council to develop an independent European space-based Earth Observation capacity to deliver services in the environmental and security fields through GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security). The intention was that this capacity would be firmly built on, and strengthened by existing research capacities in the Earth Observation field led by the European Space Agency (ESA), EUMETSAT and individual Member States. From 1998 to 2013, the EU and ESA funded the initial development of GMES, i.e. investing in the development of pre-operational services, in GMES Initial Operations and in the space component.

In July 2013, the European Commission adopted the Proposal for a Regulation on establishing the European Earth Observation Programme, Copernicus. The name change to Copernicus marked the transition from the research and pre-operational phase to fully operational.

The primary aim of the programme is to provide, under the Union’s control, a set of autonomous services which give access to accurate environmental and security data and information and which are tailored to the needs of users, primarily those in charge of making, implementing and monitoring policy in the EU and its Member States. The EU investment aims at filling observation gaps, providing access to existing assets and developing operational services. Copernicus also has a key role in delivering the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

Copernicus has six operational services: Marine Monitoring, Atmosphere Monitoring, Land Monitoring, and Climate Change Monitoring as well as providing Emergency Management and Security support. A combination of data from satellites and in-situ sensors (such as buoys, balloons and air sensors) provide timely and reliable added-value information and forecasts to support, for example, agriculture and fisheries, land use, urban planning disaster response, maritime transport and air pollution monitoring.

This report sets out the main findings and recommendations of the interim evaluation of the GMES Initial Operations Programme (hereinafter “the Programme”), presents the Commission's response to the evaluation and lists the measures to be taken in light of the findings.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)805: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:805:FIN

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