9 Marine data and observation
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13455/10
+ ADDs 1-2 COM(10) 461
| Commission Communication: Marine Knowledge 2020 — Marine data and observation for smart and sustainable growth
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| Legal base | —
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| Document originated | 8 September 2010
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| Deposited in Parliament | 16 September 2010
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| Department | Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 29 September 2010
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
9.1 According to the Commission, improving knowledge is one of
the three main elements of the EU's integrated maritime policy,
and is necessary to achieve good environmental status for marine
waters, in accordance with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive,
which it describes as the policy's environmental pillar. It notes
that, at its meeting in November 2009, the Council encouraged
it to make proposals for increasing the use of scientific knowledge,
and that this Communication responds to that request by outlining
the case for a more coordinated approach to the collection and
assembly of marine data, and by indicating how the different EU
policy measures can help to achieve that aim.
The current document
9.2 The Commission notes that the majority of marine data are
collected by public institutions in the Member States at an annual
cost of more than €1
billion and with a specific purpose in mind. However, it adds
that those processing the data face a number of obstacles, such
as difficulty in discovering the data which already exist, restrictions
on access, use and re-use, different standards, formats and nomenclature,
and different pricing policies. In view of this, it suggest that
the aim should be to reduce operational costs and delays for users,
to increase competition and innovation by providing wider access
to quality-checked, rapidly available and coherent data, and by
providing a sounder basis for managing future changes. It goes
on to outline the actions already underway across the EU to collect
and make available data, in response to the existing legal framework
of Directives and enabling actions, whilst at the same time recognising
that these provisions do not address all the current barriers
to identifying, accessing and using data, and do not apply to
all of the relevant data collecting bodies, such as academic and
scientific institutions. The document also highlights examples
of where a shared data approach is already being developed or
adopted, and the respective strengths and weaknesses of each approach,
including the need for proper guardianship of the data.
9.3 The Commission then proposes a number of specific
improvements to the existing instruments and actions. These include:
- ensuring that data from EU-supported
regional development and marine and maritime research programmes
are more widely available for re-use;
- examining what further measures are needed to
promote coastal informati0n systems, in response to the EU Recommendation
on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (2002/413/EC);
- supporting demonstrations of GMES[27]
marine services under the Seventh Framework Programme's space
theme until 2014;
- full enforcement by Member States of access rules
for fisheries data, with options for widening the scope of access
to be explored;
- the coupling of data access systems to provide
a more efficient use of resources for the implementation of the
Marine Strategy Framework Directive;
- actions to improve the coverage of data, resolution
and range of parameters;
- the Commission itself ensuring that its Agencies
regularly release data and encouraging Member States to make available
data gathered for a specific purpose, if necessary in an aggregated
form; and
- work by Eurostat on the coastal influence in
territorial regions.
9.4 The Communication outlines further actions planned
by the Commission to bring about increased consistency of approach
to data collection and assembly within current initiatives. These
include ensuring data received have common standards, bringing
data policies progressively into line to enable free access without
restriction of use, ensuring that data being gathered for other
purposes are relevant to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive,
expanding data coverage to near-coast waters through a prototype
European Marine Observation and Data Network (ur-EMODnet) action,
assessing gaps in the monitoring network, and ensuring EU activities
can contribute towards a global interoperable marine knowledge
system.
9.5 The document also sets out a series of actions
the Commission is proposing to take forward for working towards
an operational European marine data infrastructure, the final
shape of which is yet to be defined. These include looking to
the industry to contribute appropriate resources to safeguard
and disseminate data, increased communication between national
data centres, the piloting of checks on sea-basin data, the prioritisation
of data for ur-EMODnet, and the establishment of a prototype secretariat
to manage the ur-EMODnet process.
9.6 The Commission says that a formal mid-term assessment
of the uptake of data from the prototype ur-EMODnet by scientists,
authorities and industry, will commence in 2011 and report in
early 2012, and that it intends to establish a Member States'
Expert Group to ensure links with existing work in Member States.
The Government's view
9.7 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 29 September
2010, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for
Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Lord Henley) describes
the Communication as a statement of intent by the Commission to
further the creation of marine knowledge. He says that the objectives
are clearly set out in terms of reducing costs and delays, improving
quality of decision making and strengthening marine research,
with the ultimate intention of creating a European marine data
infrastructure to enable the integration of data across Member
States' borders in a consistent and coherent manner.
9.8 He suggests that the approach proposed is of
increasing importance as the demand for good quality evidence
on the complex systems of concern in marine management continues
to grow, along with the associated costs, and that this is consistent
with activities already underway within the UK to identify and
provide access to marine environmental data. He also regards it
as consistent with the approach of the Office of Public Sector
Information (OPSI), which sets standards for, delivers access
to, and encourages the re-use of public sector information, and
the UK Location Programme, which will enable access to spatial
and non-spatial data.
9.9 The Minister says that, while strongly supportive
of co-ordinating and joining-up access to data across the EU,
the Government would like to ensure that any European standards
established comply with international standards in order to avoid
duplication, and he believes that the oversight provided by both
the planned Member States' Expert Group and the existing independent
group of experts should help to keep in check any potential tendency
for the project to expand its scope excessively.
9.10 Finally, he notes that the further, planned
impact assessment for the end of the period 2011-2013 will provide
the opportunity for a more detailed analysis of (for example)
the non-linear costs of expanding the sea-basin coverage, and
may as a consequence result in higher or lower costs for implementation
than are currently estimated. He also points out that some UK
data are subject to Trading Fund rules, which would need to be
taken into account in the further development of this work., and
that, whilst the Government recognises the need for reporting
on progress, it would expect any additional reporting to be built
on current related reporting requirements, in order to minimise
the cost burden.
Conclusion
9.11 Although this Communication does not raise
any particularly contentious issues, it deals with an area of
some environmental importance. Consequently, whilst we see no
need to withhold clearance, we think it right to draw the document
to the attention of the House.
27 Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative. Back
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