On 24 June 2026, the Council of the European Union agreed on a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament to simplify the INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/EC) on spatial information, aiming to reduce administrative burden and align with modern data rules. The mandate, approved by the Permanent Representatives Committee, proposes deleting obsolete definitions, shifting from binding implementing rules to non-binding guidance, and removing the requirement for the Commission to operate the Inspire geo-portal, as data.europa.eu has served as the single access point since 2021.
The proposal deletes points 7 and 8 of Article 3 (obsolete definitions) and adds new definitions for 'application programming interface (API)', 'machine-readable format', and 'bulk download'. It removes Article 15 (Inspire geo-portal) and shifts from binding implementing rules on interoperability to non-binding guidance and best practices via the coordination mechanism in Article 19. Network services (discovery, view, download) will align with modern API-based, machine-readable approaches. Rules on charging for discovery and view services (Article 14) are deleted to avoid overlap with Directive (EU) 2019/1024 on open data. Sharing of spatial data between public authorities (Article 17) is simplified. Monitoring and reporting requirements (Article 21) are deleted, as Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138 already covers 33 of the 34 spatial datasets. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts to amend Annexes I-III (data themes). Commission Regulations (EU) No 1089/2010, (EC) No 976/2009, and (EU) No 268/2010 are repealed with a deferred application date.
Policy orientations and trade-offs The mandate cuts red tape by deleting outdated rules and shifting to non-binding guidance, reducing compliance costs for member states and public authorities. However, it may reduce harmonisation of spatial data across the EU, potentially affecting cross-border data interoperability. The shift to non-binding guidance gives member states more flexibility but could lead to fragmentation. Aligning with the open data framework (Directive 2019/1024) promotes free access to spatial data but may reduce revenue for some public authorities that previously charged for services.
Impact on stakeholders - EU member states and public authorities: Reduced administrative burden from simplified sharing and deleted monitoring requirements, but may need to adapt to new API-based services and non-binding guidance. - EU businesses (e.g., geospatial data users, tech firms): Easier access to spatial data through modern APIs and bulk download, but potential loss of harmonised data standards could increase integration costs. - EU citizens and civil society: Improved access to spatial data via data.europa.eu, but less standardised data may affect usability for environmental monitoring. - European Commission: Gains power to adopt delegated acts to update data themes, but loses direct control over the geo-portal and binding rules.
Institutional follow-up The Council will now enter negotiations with the European Parliament, which must adopt its own position before the co-decision procedure can conclude. The Parliament's environment committee is expected to examine the proposal in the coming months.