CHAPTER III

INTEROPERABILITY OF SPATIAL DATA SETS AND SERVICES
Article 7
1
Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and, where practicable, harmonisation of spatial data sets and services, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 22(3). Relevant user requirements, existing initiatives and international standards for the harmonisation of spatial data sets, as well as feasibility and cost-benefit considerations shall be taken into account in the development of the implementing rules. Where organisations established under international law have adopted relevant standards to ensure interoperability or harmonisation of spatial data sets and services, these standards shall be integrated, and the existing technical means shall be referred to, if appropriate, in the implementing rules mentioned in this paragraph.
2
As a basis for developing the implementing rules provided for in paragraph 1, the Commission shall undertake analyses to ensure that the rules are feasible and proportionate in terms of their likely costs and benefits and shall share the results of such analyses with the committee referred to in Article 22(1). Member States shall, on request, provide the Commission with the information necessary to enable it to undertake such analyses.
3
Member States shall ensure that all newly collected and extensively restructured spatial data sets and the corresponding spatial data services are available in conformity with the implementing rules referred to in paragraph 1 within two years of their adoption, and that other spatial data sets and services still in use are available in conformity with the implementing rules within seven years of their adoption. Spatial data sets shall be made available in conformity with the implementing rules either through the adaptation of existing spatial data sets or through the transformation services referred to point (d) of Article 11(1).
4
Implementing rules referred to in paragraph 1 shall cover the definition and classification of spatial objects relevant to spatial data sets related to the themes listed in Annex I, II or III and the way in which those spatial data are geo-referenced.
5
Representatives of Member States at national, regional and local level as well as other natural or legal persons with an interest in the spatial data concerned by virtue of their role in the infrastructure for spatial information, including users, producers, added value service providers or any coordinating body shall be given the opportunity to participate in preparatory discussions on the content of the implementing rules referred to in paragraph 1, prior to consideration by the Committee referred to in Article 22(1).
Article 8
1
In the case of spatial data sets corresponding to one or more of the themes listed in Annex I or II, the implementing rules provided for in Article 7(1) shall meet the conditions laid down in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.
2
The implementing rules shall address the following aspects of spatial data:
a
a common framework for the unique identification of spatial objects, to which identifiers under national systems can be mapped in order to ensure interoperability between them;
b
the relationship between spatial objects;
c
the key attributes and the corresponding multilingual thesauri commonly required for policies which may have an impact on the environment;
d
information on the temporal dimension of the data;
e
updates of the data.
3
The implementing rules shall be designed to ensure consistency between items of information which refer to the same location or between items of information which refer to the same object represented at different scales.
4
The implementing rules shall be designed to ensure that information derived from different spatial data sets is comparable as regards the aspects referred to in Article 7(4) and in paragraph 2 of this Article.
Article 9
The implementing rules provided for in Article 7(1) shall be adopted in accordance with the following timetable:
1. no later than 15 May 2009 in the case of the spatial data sets corresponding to the themes listed in Annex I;
2. no later than 15 May 2012 in the case of the spatial data sets corresponding to the themes listed in Annex II or III.
Article 10
1
Member States shall ensure that any information, including data, codes and technical classifications, needed for compliance with the implementing rules provided for in Article 7(1) is made available to public authorities or third parties in accordance with conditions that do not restrict its use for that purpose.
2
In order to ensure that spatial data relating to a geographical feature, the location of which spans the frontier between two or more Member States, are coherent, Member States shall, where appropriate, decide by mutual consent on the depiction and position of such common features.