Today, efforts on GMES are placed on a service driven approach rather than on a technology-push approach. The main purpose of the current phase of GMES is the gradual setting up of a number of initial GMES services.

Such initial GMES services can be envisaged in a wide variety of domains. Among the envisaged GMES services, three services have been identified as first candidates for "fast-track" treatment, with the objective of being pre-operational by 2008.

These Fast Track Services (FTS) are:

• A service on emergency response (ERCS - Emergency Response Core Service)
• A service on land monitoring (LMCS - Land Monitoring Core Service)
• A service on marine (MCS - Marine Core Service)

For each FTS, an implementation group was established.

In other application fields than those addressed by the three Fast Track Services, core service models are also beginning to emerge. Against this evolving backdrop, it is foreseen to stimulate the development of further GMES core services, called "Pilot Services", in particular in two areas:

• Atmospheric composition and dynamics monitoring (GMES Atmosphere Service)
• Information services for Security related activities (GMES Security Service)
  

In the future, Pilot Services in other areas will also be considered (e.g. for water and glacier resource management, polar zone and sea ice monitoring).