Brussels, 29/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 29 May, the European Commission proposed a new name, new regulation and new budget for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security - GMES. The new programme is called Copernicus and should have a funding envelope of €3,789 billion for the 2014-2020 planning period in order to ensure the development, launch and operational phase of the satellites. These “Sentinels” will monitor the earth and transform the satellite imagery into accessible information and data. This information will be exclusively European and used in six key areas: terrestrial, marine, atmosphere and climate change monitoring as well as support to security (terrorist activities) and emergency services (for natural disasters or humanitarian emergencies). European Commissioner for Industry Antonio Tajani considers that the Copernicus programme “presents a huge opportunity for the European Union as it will provide information on our environment… It will trigger investments made by companies delivering space infrastructure and will thus create growth and jobs. It will also encourage downstream industry, namely the people who develop innovative applications or services to ensure that citizens and enterprises benefit from such public investment”. The Commission proposal is due to be presented at the Competitiveness and Employment Council this Thursday 30 May. (MD/transl.fl)