THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE), and in particular Article 16 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Directive 2007/2/EC lays down general rules for the establishment of the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community. Member States are required to establish and operate a network of services for the spatial data sets and services for which metadata have been created in accordance with that Directive.
(2)
In order to ensure the compatibility and usability of such services on the Community level, it is necessary to lay down the technical specifications and minimum performance criteria for those services with regard to the themes listed in Annexes I, II and III to Directive 2007/2/EC.
(3)
In order to ensure that public authorities and the third parties are given the technical possibility to link their spatial data sets and services to the Network Services, it is necessary to lay down the appropriate requirements for those services.
(4)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 22 of Directive 2007/2/EC,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: