Aligning INSPIRE with other EU legislation is highly valuable but national investments in implementation must be respected says EuroGeographics

n its response to the European Commission’s Public Consultation assessing the impact of the Green Data for All initiative, the Association for Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities urged the streamlining of the Directive to reduce bureaucratic requirements and focus on solution-driven processes.

“The geodata infrastructure built over the past two decades has many useful applications but currently the management of the geospatial sector within the EU is fragmented and scattered across various Directives,” says Carol Agius, Head of Representation and Stakeholder Engagement, EuroGeographics.

“It would therefore be highly valuable to fully align INSPIRE with the EU’s horizontal legislation, such as the Open Data and Reuse of Public Sector Information, as well as the Implementing Act on High Value Data. However, we would urge the Commission to respect the significant investments our members have already made in implementing INSPIRE by incorporating their practical experience in any future plans.”

EuroGeographics also highlighted the importance of harmonising high-value datasets shared by national public sector bodies. However, it cautions that this is a delicate, sector specific process requiring in-depth knowledge and should only be undertaken by experts.