At the occasion of the General Affairs Council meeting that took place on 13 September 2010, EU Ministers adopted the proposal for a regulation on the European Earth observation programme (GMES) and its initial operations (2011-2013). The adoption, which follows the agreement reached with the European Parliament in first reading on 16 June 2010, is the final step of the co-decision process. The aim of the regulation is to contribute to the establishment of GMES as an operational programme, and to provide additional funds for its initial operations enabling a gradual build-up of capabilities until 2013, as well as to put into place the necessary structures for the governance of the programme. The new EU law includes an additional EUR 107 million in the initial operational phase of GMES, as proposed by the European Commission in May 2009. Read More
