On 12 November 2009 the Parliament's Industry Committee, which is in charge of the Commission's proposal for Regulation on GMES programme and the rules for the implementation of GMES initial operations (2011-2013), issued a draft report on the proposal. On 27 January 2010 the Industry Committee discussed this issue, after having received the opinions of the Budgets Committee and the Environment Committee. In addition to the importance of ensuring a long-term funding structure for GMES, expressed by both opinions, the MEP rapporteur Mr Glante Norbert pointed out that the questions about data and relation with private companies providing similar services and data still need to be clarified. The Industry Committee will vote on the final report on March this year, which will be followed by vote in Parliament's Plenary scheduled for June.
The European Commission's proposal of 20 May 2009 for Regulation on a Community programme for Earth observation (GMES) and the rules for the implementation of GMES initial operations (2011 2013) is currently under scrutiny in the European Parliament, as part of the co-decision procedure. The Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy is responsible for the proposal with MEP Mr Glante Norbert (S&D) who is in charge of drafting the report, while the Committee on Budgets, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs have to give their opinions on the proposal.
On 11 November 2009 Mr Vittorio Prodi (S&D) presented the draft opinion of the Environment Committee. The latter considers the Commission's proposal for Regulation as an important tool to respond to the increased research and civil protection needs, given the seriousness of global warming effects on the environment. Mr Prodi expressed, however, concerns about the funding structure of the space component, notably the fact that the proposed regulation only covers financial needs for the period 2011-2013, while for the period 2014-2017 decisions have not been taken yet. The amendments proposed by Mr Prodi include the following:
- Climate change and its impacts need to be stressed as first focus of GMES activities;
- GEOSS should be clearly mentioned given Europe's contribution to it through GMES;
- The European Environment Agency (EEA) role should be highlighted in the implementation of GMES;
- The funding of some GMES activities could be covered with some of the revenues provided by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
On 12 November 2009 Mr Glante Norbert presented a draft report on the proposed regulation. In this document the rapporteur expresses his awareness about the heavy costs needed for the short and long-term development of GMES, but considers that these are justified by the project's massive benefits for society. Therefore the draft report underlines the importance to ensure sufficient funding at the right time and proposes, among others, the following amendments:
- To further increase the funding, so that commitment appropriations can be allocated to the space component during the current financial perspective;
- To avoid a break in data continuity, so that users can use the services on a reliable basis;
- To make the GMES services free of charge to natural and legal persons residing in the EU and to promote stronger Earth observation markets in Europe;
- Technical implementation of the space component by ESA should be governed by a delegation agreement;
- Public contracts should be the normal funding procedure for the GMES programme.
More recently, on 7 January 2010, Mr Damien Abad (PPE) presented the draft opinion of the Budgets Committee. The rapporteur states that the GMES programme is an opportunity for the EU from a political perspective, but underlines, as Mr Prodi, that the issue of financing is essential for the stability and continuity of the programme. Mr Abad stresses that the short- and long-term aspects of the plan are interlinked, meaning that the financing strategy for the period 2014-2020 will depend to a large extent on the decisions taken for the period 2011-2013. Among the proposed amendments remain:
- To indicate the entire financial envelope earmarked for GMES under FP7 and to ensure coordinated management of the two different envelopes;
- To asses all available means of financing GMES and to draw up a long-term strategy;
- To ascertain which needs have not been met so far, particularly as regards the space component of the programme;
- To define clear governance arrangements, a well-defined medium- and long-term strategy and effective cooperation between all the stakeholders.
The draft report on the Regulation was discussed in Parliament's Industry Committee on 27 January 2010. At that time, Mr Glante Norbert emphasized the three main points that should be further clarified:
- The budget - given that the price rose over 70%, new funding is needed to launch the satellites;
- The data - whether it will be free of charge or paid by the users;
- The coexistence with private companies providing similar services and data.
The MEPs of the Industry Committee will vote on the final report in March this year, followed by the vote in Plenary expected in June.
More information at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/064-67878-025-01-05-91120100121STO67828-2010-25-01-2010/default_en.htm
Draft opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL+PE-430.605+01+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
Draft report of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/draftReportsCom.do?language=EN&body=ITRE
Draft opinion of the Committee of the Budget:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL+PE-431.174+01+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
European Parliament Legislative Observatoire:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5776632