Brussels, 06/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - At last week's Research Council in Luxembourg (see EUROPE of 31 October, p.8 and 1 November, p.7), ministers provided their backing to the action plan presented by the European Commission to provide the EU with a global monitoring of the environment and security (GMES) system by 2008. The resolution, which still needs finalising by Coreper, should be formally adopted at a forthcoming Council (in principle before 14 November) to be examined on that date by the Board of the European Space Agency (ESA) which is the programme's other partner. Meanwhile, Coreper should set out the missions that could be entrusted to the GMES regarding security. Some Member States indeed have difficulties with this aspect of a programme that, to work well, demands placing in common and/or exchanging information coming from civilian and military satellites, as well as the construction of new satellites that could provide information to the two sectors. In its communication on the "broad outlines of the Community action plan for the GMES initiative", the European Commission proposes the immediate launch of feasibility studies so as to gather all information during the initial period (2001-2003) of the requirements for the functioning of the system. The Commission also draws up a list to priority subjects: - development of soils in Europe; - environmental stress in Europe; - global monitoring of the vegetation; - global monitoring of oceans; - global monitoring of the atmosphere ; - support for aid to regional development; - risk-management systems; - crisis management and humanitarian aid systems.