INSPIRE Programme for Implementation

Now that the Directive has been published in the Official Journal the responsible Department of each Member State will have to initiate the process of transposing the Directive into national law. The responsible Department for Ireland is the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government. The Directive indicates that transposition into Irish law must be done within two years of the Directive’s publication.

The development and implementation of INSPIRE follows a programme of work consisting of three phases, described below:

Preparatory Phase 2005-2006

INSPIRE requires the Member States to implement various measures. Some of these measures shall be transposed by the Member States, while others require more detail, to be formulated in so-called “Implementing Rules”.  The transposition involved the adoption of national legislation to meet the objectives set by the Directive.  The Directive itself gives a timeline for the adoption of the Implementing Rules. In order for the Implementing Rules to be ready in time, the process for their development had to start early.  A transparent and participatory procedure was put in place involving stakeholders in the Member States and concerned international organisations.

Hence, in parallel to the Co-Decision Procedure*, the Commission initiated actions to prepare draft Implementing Rules, with the stakeholders playing a key role. This Preparatory Phase, which started with the Commission’s proposal for INSPIRE, came to an end with the entry into force of the INSPIRE Directive, although a number of activities including the drafting of the Implementing Rules will continue into the Transposition Phase.

*The procedure by which the European Parliament and the Council, facilitated by the European Commission, agree on legislative instrument proposed by the Commission.

Transposition Phase (2007-2009)

Following the adoption by the European Parliament and the Council the INSPIRE Directive entered into force twenty days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 April 2007, which was 15 May 2007.  Member States then have a period of two years to bring into force laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the INSPIRE Directive.

At the beginning of this phase, the Commission will put in place the organisation necessary to assure co-ordination at Community level and shall be assisted for that purpose by relevant organisations, in particular by the European Environment Agency, while appropriate structures and mechanisms will be installed by the Member States, including the point of contact with the Commission. This point of contact shall be responsible for the communication between the Member States and Commission concerning operational implementation issues. 

At the same time Member States are encouraged to draw up, for themselves and in the interests of the Community, their own tables illustrating, as far as possible, the correlation between the INSPIRE Directive and the transposition measures, and to make them public.  This is important for the process as this information may point to early adoption and best practices in setting up-national infrastructures.

The development of the draft implementing Rules will continue in the Transposition Phase.  One of the key activities in the Transposition Phase regards the adoption of Implementing rules following the timetable set by INSPIRE.  The regulatory nature of the Implementing Rules requires the Commission to present them to a Regulatory Committee of Member States representatives, referred to as the INSPIRE Committee, which will officially start its activities at the beginning of the Transposition Phase.  This INSPIRE Committee plays a central role in the regulatory process.

Implementation Phase (2009-2019)

Once INSPIRE is transposed by the Member States into national legislation, its measures will be implemented and monitored. Co-ordination at Community level by the Commission and at Member State level will be operational and Member States shall report according to the roadmap of INSPIRE.