Brussels, 29/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - Meeting on Monday in Brussels, the Research and/or Industry ministers of the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA) formally approved the orientations on the future global monitoring for environment and security system (GMES). An EU initiative (with the space aspect to be carried out by the ESA) and a project at the heart of the future European space policy, the GMES aims to unite the European programmes observing the Earth and create autonomous European monitoring capacities for the environment and security at local and regional level. It consists of a package of services aiming to optimise the use of existing and future land-based or space infrastructures and should allow the transmission of data, as well as the integration of these data into state follow-up and forecasting systems for the environment. The implementation of GMES will begin with the rapid deployment and operational launch, in 2008, of three services in the area of emergency situation response, land surface monitoring and maritime services. Other services will follow, in accordance with the deployment plan covering the period 2009-2013.
In its conclusions, the Space Council, 3rd edition, stressed that it was politically vital for Europe to maintain its autonomy in terms of observing the Earth, and recalled the importance of the international dimension of GMES and its role as the main European contribution to the global Earth observation system of systems, GEOSS (EUROPE 8894). The Council also took note of the Commission's intention to allocate a significant majority of the funds from the 7th framework-programme for research and development for space to this project, which will serve to both finance the GMES services and cover a significant part of the budget for the space aspect of GMES up to 2013. The Council also demanded to explore other possible sources of Community funding. Finally, it wanted better use to be made of existing or planned satellites and land-based systems, at national and European level, to ensure the continuity of data necessary for the implementation of the operational GMES services and avoid repeating work. Against this backdrop, it invites the national agencies and European organisations (such as EUMETSAT) which already have or are about to develop means likely to be useful to the GMES project to make them available. A group of experts has been created to study the structure to ensure the implementation and long-term governance of GMES. The Member States of the ESA will sign up to the Agency's programme covering the development of the space components of GMES at the Ministerial Council of the ESA on 5 and 6 December.