Directive

About: Directive is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5695 publications have been published within this topic receiving 56084 citations.

Establishing common ground through INSPIRE: the legally-driven European Spatial Data Infrastructure

Abstract: Back in the 1990s, there were several barriers for accessing and using the spatial data and information necessary for environmental management and policy making in Europe. These included different data policies, encodings, formats and semantics, to name a few. Data was collected for, and applied to, domain specific use cases and comprehensive standards did not exist, all impacting on the re-usability of such public sector data. To release the potential of spatial data held by public authorities and improve evidence-based environmental policy making, action was needed at all levels (Local, Regional, National, European) to introduce more effective data and information management and to make data available for citizens’ interest. The INSPIRE Directive, the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe, directly addresses this set of problems. The Directive came into force on 15 May 2007, with full implementation in every EU Member State required by 2021. It combines both, a legal and a technical framework for the EU Member States, to make relevant spatial data accessible and reused. Specifically, this has meant making data discoverable and interoperable through a common set of standards, data models and Internet services. The Directive’s data scope covers 34 themes of cross-sector relevance as a decentralised infrastructure where data remains at the place it can be best maintained. A great deal of experience has been gained by public administrations through its implementation. Due to its complexity and wide scope, this is taking place in a stepwise manner, with benefits already emerging as important deadlines approached. Efficient and effective coordination are following the participatory approach established in its design. It is timely to reflect on 10 years of progress of the “cultural change” which the European Spatial Data Infrastructure represents. We therefore, consider the lessons INSPIRE is offering for those interested in joined-up and federated approaches to geospatial data-sharing and semantic interoperability across borders and sectors. The approach itself is evolving through this experience.

Third country relations in EU unbundling of natural Gas markets. The "gazprom Clause" of Directive 2009/73 EC and WTO law

Abstract: The liberalization of the natural gas market, its grid infrastructure in the European Union and the supply of energy is essentially built upon mutual trust among Member States. Traditional perceptions of national security and control make way to co-operation and integration among Member States and industries concerned. Under recently adopted legislation, it is readily possible that grid infrastructure will be controlled by companies located in another Member State, and gas will be equally traded in a company by non-national operators. However, since European gas supplies largely depend upon imports from abroad, in particular Russia, the relationship to third countries and grids and gas supplies controlled by these countries is of crucial importance. This paper addresses the status of third country operators in the EU. It describes obligations and conditions imposed by what was readily called the Gazprom Clause of Directive 2009/73/EC adopted July 13, 2009 (the Directive). It asks whether this clause amounts to a requirement of reciprocity and assesses whether the clause is compatible with current obligations of the EU under the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in particular the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Article 11 of the Directive refers to the certification requirements for a transmission system operator from third countries. Article 11(a) requires a foreign operator to comply with all and the same conditions as EU operators under Article 9, in particular unbundling, while the second requirement under Article 11(b) requires that the granting of a certification does not jeopardize the security of energy supply.The question arises to what extent the EU is entitled to impose additional requirements to third State operators under WTO rules. While the issue also bears upon free movement of capital – an issue not examined here - we conclude that the EU is entitled to operate privileged rules under Article Vbis GATS relating to regional integration. The third country clause, entailing additional conditions, neither establishes reciprocity nor is inconsistent per se with WTO law as no obligations to grant national treatment can be currently found in the field. Its operation, however, needs to take into account MFN obligations under Article II GATS. WTO Members are entitled that like and comparable operators are granted most favored nation treatment in the application of ownership rights. It is a question to what extent authorization can take into account diverging levels of supply and thus dependence. We argue that such differences affecting supplies and thus public security can be taken into account, either within MFN or under exceptions relating to public order and national security under Article XIV and XIVbis GATS respectively. The paper sets out with a brief introduction to the EU internal market in natural gas and the concept of unbundling (II). It analyses the third country regime and assesses reciprocity (III) and thus leads to examination of WTO compatibility of the third country regime (IV). It concludes on a note proposing a future framework agreement in energy in the WTO (V).