Brussels, 28/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - In order to improve cartography in Europe, the European Commission is launching the initiative INSPIRE (INfrastructure for SPatial InfoRmation in the European Union). INSPIRE, a database comprising coherent geographical information, will support environmental protection policies as well as the development of infrastructures, agricultural and maritime navigation. A new directive proposed by the Commission on 23 July obliges Member States to put geographical information on an electronic network accessible to the public, and to ensure its progressive harmonisation. Currently, information on river and road networks and other geographical features is collected in an uncoordinated way, and based on different methods and specifications, resulting in data gaps and lack of comparability.
The text of the proposal and other information are available at the following addresses: http: //http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/geo/index.htl and http: //http://www.ec-gis.org/inspire .