About INSPIRE

What is the INSPIRE Directive?

The INSPIRE directive came into force on 15 May 2007 and will be implemented in various stages, with full implementation required by 2019.

The INSPIRE directive aims to create a European Union (EU) spatial data infrastructure. This will enable the sharing of environmental spatial information among public sector organisations and better facilitate public access to spatial information across Europe.

A European Spatial Data Infrastructure will assist in policy-making across boundaries. Therefore the spatial information considered under the directive is extensive and includes a great variety of topical and technical themes.

INSPIRE is based on a number of common principles:

• Data should be collected only once and kept where it can be maintained most effectively.
• It should be possible to combine seamless spatial information from different sources across Europe and share it with many users and applications.
• It should be possible for information collected at one level/scale to be shared with all levels/scales; detailed for thorough investigations, general for strategic purposes.
• Geographic information needed for good governance at all levels should be readily and transparently available.
• Easy to find what geographic information is available, how it can be used to meet a particular need, and under which conditions it can be acquired and used.