Environment

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Infrastructure for Spatial Information (INSPIRE)

Summary
Evaluation
Commission Proposal
Legal Act
Implementation

Overall state of play:

Evaluation
• Mid-term evaluation finalised: COM(2016)478, SWD(2016) 243, SWD(2016) 273, 20 July 2016
• Evaluation finalised: (SWD(2022) 195, 13 July 2022
Follow-Up Actions determined and translated into a multi-annual Maintenance and Implementation Work Programme for 2016-2020¹.

State of play, main conclusions, outlook

The INSPIRE Directive has the following objectives:

(8) To achieve a ‘common language’ for environmental geospatial data to promote its reuse by all public authorities in the Member States and at EU level by creating an infrastructure and setting out requirements.

(9) To allow aggregation of Member States data sets to support the preparation and implementation of cross-border initiatives between Member States and at EU level.

(10) To promote the dissemination of geospatial environmental information to users and the wider public.

The mid-term evaluation finalised in 2016 found that these objectives had been only partially achieved because the specifications for the ‘common language’ were defined in 2005-2007 with the level of understanding and technological knowledge available at that time. The evaluation showed that greater effort at all levels by all actors was needed. To this end, the Commission proposed a number of actions for both Member States and at EU level that have been translated into a multi-annual Maintenance and Implementation Work Programme for 2016-2020².

The evidence gathered for the 2022 evaluation shows that the specifications set out in the INSPIRE directive for cross-border purposes were too complex, thereby making full compliance difficult for the Member States.

Several national authorities³ have therefore taken a narrow approach where they have disseminated only limited (INSPIRE-compliant) data sets but have in addition established national portals/systems to disseminate a fuller range of (richer) environmental data that does not adhere to the strict rules of the INSPIRE Directive and its implementing measures.

The Directive has not been able to respond to the changing needs of data users who in turn use ‘national’ data structures where these offer richer data sources and easier to use data services for web and mobile applications.

Limited implementation by the Member States means that not all Member States provide all datasets (leading to gaps in the pan-EU coverage) or incomparable data that makes aggregation difficult.

The original objectives of the Directive – to make geospatial data available to the public administrations and ensure provision of services, linked to geospatial data, to the public – remain valid. Such access is essential to strengthen the role of the civil society, which it has in helping to achieve the objectives set out in the European Green Deal.

While the original objectives remain relevant, the legislation must be adapted to the emerging and fast-changing data landscape. The existing instruments (INSPIRE Directive, Directive on the Public Access to Environmental Information) have to be updated and repositioned in the new digital data landscape. The ‘GreenData4All’ initiative, that was announced in the European Strategy for Data communication in February 2020, would position the INSPIRE Directive as an important instrument for bringing data from public administrations into the Green Deal data space to support the implementation of the Green Deal strategies. Furthermore, the INSPIRE Directive is also envisaged to play a key role in the implementation of the legal framework for the definition of High Value Data sets under the Open Data Directive for the data categories “Geospatial”, “Earth Observation and environment” and “Mobility”.

Estimated savings and benefits

The implementation costs reported in the mid-term evaluation varied from 0.5 to 13.5 million €/year with most Member States reporting between 2 to 3 million €/year. In most cases this is below the original estimates which ranged from 4 to 8 million €/year in the initial impact assessment.

On benefits, Member States reported mostly in qualitative terms. They generally consider that benefits are yet to be fully realised but that they are starting to emerge in terms of improved data access, better cooperation across the public sector, skills and capacity building, less duplication of work, improved information for supporting environmental policy, better e-government services to citizens and business.

A few Member States reported quantitative impact assessments, presenting estimates of future benefits.

Fit for Future Platform

The Platform adopted an opinion on 10 December regarding the INSPIRE Directive (Ref: 2021/SBGR2/09). Overall, the Platform suggestions are in line with the findings of the ongoing ex-post evaluation of the INSPIRE Directive. The Commission will consider and explore the suggestions in its impact assessment for the GreenData4all initiative.

The opinion contained the following suggestions:

Suggestion 1: Data specifications can be less technology-bound, more generic and focused on the purpose.

Suggestion 2: The focus should be on defining priorities and on clarifying policy needs.

Suggestion 3: Mechanisms to improve European legislation in the field of geospatial information

Suggestion 4: The potential benefits of INSPIRE have not yet been fully exploited.

Suggestion 5: To overcome technical and financial barriers, non-legislative initiatives should be supported.

Regarding suggestion 1, the relevance and effectiveness assessments in the ongoing ex-post evaluation show that the current framework is no longer fit for purpose. More specifically, the objective of harmonisation and interoperability within the INSPIRE framework entails technical specificities that were ground-breaking at the time of its entering into force, but have shown to be too prescriptive and rigid to be fit-for-the-future in the context of evolving information requirements, standards and technologies.

The Commission will consider and explore this suggestion in its impact assessment work in order to make the legal framework technology neutral and future proof. Data providers and data users should have the option and the freedom to deploy cost-effective off-the-shelf tools that apply state of the art technology to share data in a user-friendly way.

On suggestion 2, the evaluation finalised in 2022 found that the implementation would benefit from a more user-driven approach to improve the EU added value of the infrastructure and its cost-benefit balance. The Commission will consider and explore this suggestion in its impact assessment work with the view to further promote a user-driven approach through identifying common policy needs across administrative levels.

On suggestion 3, the evaluation finalised in 2022 shows that although the legal framework is coherent with other EU environmental and data legislation, synergies could be better exploited to improve data sharing and minimise burden. The Commission will further consider this in its impact assessment work. Aligning and streamlining the existing legislative framework and implementation guidance with recent and emerging EU data legislation (Open Data Directive and its implementing Regulation on High Value datasets, Data Governance Act, Data Act) could prevent or minimize implementation burden on the side of the data providers in the Member States.

The Commission will consider and explore suggestion 4 in its impact assessment work. The effectiveness and efficiency assessments in the 2022 evaluation show that the potential benefits of both the INSPIRE Directive and the Public Access to Environmental Information Directive as enabling instruments for implementing data sharing in Europe and building a Common European Green Deal data space could be further increased by accommodating new requirements coming from the twin digital and green transition. Besides supporting Green Deal strategies on zero pollution, circular economy action plan and biodiversity with timely and digitally available data, this data could be shared with other data spaces to maximise its reuse and avoid duplication in content and data sharing effort.

Regarding suggestion 5, non-legislative initiatives in support to the implementation of INSPIRE in the Member States will be further pursued and supported as part of the coordinated actions under the Multi-annual Work Programme⁴ of the INSPIRE Maintenance and Implementation expert Group⁵. This includes building capacity in the Member States for INSPIRE implementation (e.g. webinars, best practices, presentations, training) and stakeholder engagement.

¹ https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/wikis/display/InspireMIG/MIWP+2016-2020

² https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/display/InspireMIG/MIWP+2016-2020

³ e.g. in Lithuania, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Slovak Republic, Germany …

⁴ INSPIRE work programme 2021-24 - INSPIRE Maintenance and Implementation Group (MIG) - EC Public Wiki (europa.eu) (https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/display/InspireMIG/INSPIRE+work+programme+2021-24) (https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/display/InspireMIG/INSPIRE+work+programme+2021-24)

⁵ https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/inspire-maintenance-and-implementation/46

State of Play:

• Mid-term evaluation finalised: 20 July 2016, COM(2016)478, SWD(2016) 243, SWD(2016) 273
• Evaluation finalised, SWD(2022) 195, 13 July 2022 .

Scope:

Evaluation of Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)

Evaluation findings:

The 2016 mid-term evaluation of the INSPIRE Directive confirmed that the overall relevance of the Directive to meeting policy needs in an efficient manner remains high, and is expected to increase with time, given the drive towards a digital economy as set out by the Digital Single Market strategy which includes important elements of the Directive. However, the evaluation also showed remaining implementation gaps and the level of implementation was found to be uneven across the European Union, with many Member States lagging behind. There were still challenges related to governance structures and coordination of implementation. Overall, the progress made at the time of the mid-term evaluation as regards the provision of INSPIRE-compliant metadata, data and data services was not in line with the initial expectations and the INSPIRE implementation roadmap.

The 2022 evaluation of the INSPIRE Directive found that compared to the baseline situation in 2007, when hardly any spatial data was electronically shared between public administrations, and the mid-term evaluation, progress has been made. Still, implementation gaps remain and the implementation of the INSPIRE Directive as well as the sharing and reuse of existing spatial data face barriers that are primarily of a technical nature. The evaluation found that the INSPIRE Directive’s technical over-specification renders the legal framework less fit for the future in the light of technological evolution and effects its capacity to fulfil its full potential. Interoperability (of data and services) was identified as the most important cost factor in the INSPIRE implementation. There is a simplification potential of the implementation in terms of addressing the too detailed interoperability requirements. This would also allow to make the legal framework technology neutral and increase the cost-effectiveness by allowing implementers to use of-the-shelf tools for the implementation of the INSPIRE Directive.

The INSPIRE Directive has proven to be a valuable instrument to achieve legal interoperability by streamlining concepts and reporting provisions across different environmental acts (e.g. on environmental emissions). INSPIRE was found legally coherent with environmental legislation and with other relevant areas of EU policy with spatial data needs. The INSPIRE Directive has been designed to be consistent with the EU legal framework on data sharing and dissemination and can support implementation of Public Access to Environmental Information Directive and the Open Data Directive. Synergies between the three Directives could however be better exploited. In particular, INSPIRE can be useful in further supporting active dissemination of information under the aforementioned two Directives.

In conclusion, the evaluation found that the INSPIRE Directive is still very relevant for addressing data sharing obstacles from the past and data needs for the future. Against this increasing relevance, it was also shown that the legal framework is no longer fit for purpose and that several parts of the Directive need revision. Modernisation supported by improved implementation would render the intervention a key instrument to make the necessary data available needed to address environmental challenges (A Green Deal for Europe), increase environmental democracy and strengthen the emerging data economy (European Common Data Spaces).

Estimated savings and benefits

The 2022 ex-post evaluation found that the INSPIRE Directive has improved efficiency by creating a framework for distributing spatial data according to FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles. The main direct added value of the INSPIRE Directive consists of promoting data sharing as a common principle, the establishment of governance structures, achieving EU-wide interoperability, unlocking public data, improving transparency and creating a pool of EU level expertise. EU added value of the INSPIRE Directive can be maintained and further enhanced through its effective positioning in the emerging European data governance landscape and becoming one of the key drivers for the upcoming Green Deal data space supporting the implementation of Green Deal strategies and supporting environmental democracy through a higher level of transparency.

In those Member States where detailed cost-benefit analyses were conducted, the results achieved so far are in line with the ones expected. Most costs related to the implementation of the Directive are largely borne by national governments. Users of the spatial data infrastructure do not perceive extraordinary costs.

Large providers of data such as cadastre or mapping agencies do not have infrastructure costs. Such institutions experience costs in relation to processing and harmonising of data instead. Targeted surveys confirm that costs related to harmonisation and interoperability are most significant, and that the bulk of these costs are carried by public administrations (national, regional and local in order of volume of expenditures).

State of Play

• Non-legislative follow-up through the Multi-annual Implementation Work Programme 2021-2024¹

Follow-Up by the Commission:

The Commission is going to build on the findings of the INSPIRE evaluation in the context of the ongoing impact assessment work supporting the modernisation and simplification of the existing the INSPIRE rules on spatial data harmonisation to promote greater dissemination of such data.

¹ https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/display/InspireMIG/INSPIRE+work+programme+2021-24