Brussels, 22/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 21 October, the European Commission suggested improvements to the surveillance of European seas, suggesting in a roadmap that a common information-sharing environment (CISE) be set up to help monitor the EU's seas.
The electronic exchange of maritime information across industries and countries would use a digital data exchange system using secure modern technology. The Commission suggests that the CISE be set up in the following six stages: - identifying all user communities; - cartography of data and assessing gaps in data exchange; - defining common data classification levels; - building the CISE support system; - defining access rights; - and introducing a coherent legal framework. These six stages would then be followed by further action. Pilot cooperation projects are already under way and a full information sharing system for the various maritime surveillance set-ups could be in place by 2014. (L.C./transl.fl)