The European Programme for the Shared Environmental Information

The European Programme for the Shared Environmental Information System Meropi Paneli European Commission Environment DG Sustainable Development and Integration Directorate Enviro. Info 2008, Lüneburg, Germany

Outline presentation • • • What is the SEIS? Why SEIS? Scope of the SEIS Benefits How will SEIS be built? The SEIS Commission Communication, February 2008 – Set out the SEIS principles • Towards a European SEIS Implementation Plan • Communicating SEIS and Establishment of an e. Environmnet Community in Europe 2

What is SEIS? ü A collaborative initiative of the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) ü Establish together with the MSs an integrated and shared EU-wide environmental information system. ü An initiative for a pan-European e. Government -system of systemsfor Environment Information JA System where the public authorities are the providers but also the main end-users and beneficiaries 3

Why SEIS is needed? ü International Conventions and EU collection of environmental data Env legislation: main drive for ü A wealth of information is collected but: The current fragmented reporting system The information is not readily available It is obsolete when finally available Prevents effective use and re-use for many purposes (sustainability of information – an issue) Prevents development of innovative added value information products and services – 4 (e. Environment services)

42 % of EU citizens feel poorly informed about environmental issues Source: Eurobarometer, March 2008 5

Source: Eurobarometer, March 2008 6

Who do you trust most when it comes to environmental issues? The highest performing e. Government services are strongly underpinned by citizen´s trust, and government transparency [M. Blakemore and P. Lloyd, CCe. Gov Think Paper no. 10]. Source: Eurobarometer, March 2008 7

Commission Communication Towards a Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) “Better decisions from local to European level need better and more timely information, based on more efficient monitoring and reporting systems” S Dimas, Feb 2008 8

Dare to dream – Seize the opportunities Once a Shared Environmental Information System exists all players can efficiently share information via shared areas Environmental Informatics vital to achieve it European Commission

Scope of SEIS ü Tie in better all existing data gathering and information flows related to EU environmental policies and legislation using modern tools such as the internet, GIS and satellite technology ü Move away from paper-based reporting to a modern e. Reporting system based on a SEIS ü Make environmental information more readily available and easier to understand to policy makers and the public ü Put into practice the principle 'monitor once for timely and multi-purpose uses' European Commission 10

What benefits will SEIS bring? CBetter regulation, better policy CEmpowering citizens CSimplification and Efficiency CPromoting Europe globally CBoosting Innovation and Intelligent e. Services: e. Europe, e. Government, e. Environment ´According to the World Economic Forum: Countries that score high on publicsector openness, efficiency and e-government delivery also top economic performance and competitiveness`

How will SEIS be built? A European Programme for SEIS February 2008: SEIS Commission Communication üEstablish a Political Framework for SEIS üSet-up conceptual principles of SEIS: environmentally-relevant data and information stored in DBs throughout the EU (“information infrastructure”) • Decentralised, but well integrated (“system of systems”: information close to source, produced once and shared many times, information readily available) • web-enabled information ´system of systems´ based on a network of public information providers sharing environmental data and information 12

Communication outlines measures to facilitate the implementation of SEIS üReinforce the co-ordination of ongoing activities at European, national and regional level in line with SEIS üEnsure SEIS, INSPIRE, GMES are mutually supportive üRevision of standardised reporting directive to move towards an e. Reporting based on SEIS üEEA to make SEIS central to its corporate strategy üInclude SEIS in the e. Government National Action Plans -Effectively liaise with Aarhus Convention Implementation and Directive - EEID (2003/4/EC) üDevelop a SEIS Implementation Road map - Task Force: EC, EEA, MSs üUse of Community funds (structural, CIP, e. Content LIFE+, Research) to complement MSs funding or building blocks of SEIS European Commission

Progress since the SEIS Communication üEstablish the SEIS Task Force to develop a SEIS Implementation Roadmap – 1 st meeting 29 th September Brussels üStart revision of standardised reporting directive (91/962/EC) to move towards an ENV e. Reporting based on SEIS –Establishment of one-stop shop web based ENV registers as central access points üCounty Visits for SEIS - Launch of quick wins projects –WISE, WISE Marine, Ozoneweb etc üLaunch of the NESIS thematic network funded under ICT opean Commission

Communicating SEIS on the web – Establish a Technical Support Facility to promote the continued development of the SEIS and e. Government services in the field of Environment: 2 web tools: – SEIS Europa web site: New pages http: //ec. europa. eu/environment/seis/index. htm Coming soon– Somes examples: § § § § Successful real life examples of pan-European Interoperable services (in environment and other sectors) SEIS/e. Environment Eurobarometer Funding Opportunities Award opportunities for best practice projects Promote SEIS in your country (a tool kit) Innovate: develop e. Environment services Increase the environmental PSI market- Business opportunities 15

Communicating SEIS on the web – Establishment of an e. Government Environment Community under epractice portal to take advantage of Web 2. 0 technologies including an e. Environment Newletter An e. Environment Community is coming soon 16

Benchmarking of e. Environmnet Services in Europe – Develop and implement an efficient methodology for quickly and reliably benchmark (mapping/rating/awarding) the EU MSs effective progress with on-line availability of e. Government services in the area of environment (e. Environment) – Taxonomy and Typology of e. Environment Services Recommendations on Methodologies and e. Environment Typology/Taxonomy welcome – Benchmarking results on SEIS web 17

Conclusions SEIS is an ambitious and inspiring project - We can built it only if: the 3 C + 1 N +2 O formula • Commitment • Collaboration -Network • Coordination • Optimism: see the bottle half full • Openness - see (and seize) the opportunities rather the threats

"If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost. " Thank you! Aristotle http: //ec. europa. eu/environment/seis/index. htm ENV-SEIS@ec. europa. eu Special thanks to Chris Steemans and Bernt. Rondell (EEA) for provision of material for this presentation