European Directives

It is recognised, that in the long term economic growth, social cohesion and environmental protection must go hand in hand as a result of the development of an EU sustainable development strategy. This requires that economic growth supports social progress and respects the environment, decoupling environmental degradation and resource consumption. Thus, policy makers are increasingly in need of accurate and timely information in order to meet reporting requirements linked to environmental legislation. The SAGE services address directly the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection (STS). However, apart from the WFD and the STS, there are many other EU policies which might be relevant in the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) context. In particular, information and reporting policies, are likely to increase information flows and data requirements and might thus enhance the demand for EO products.