"The availability of timely and reliable information on the environment is necessary to enable the politicians in charge to face the problems of our time". EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas illustrated the objectives of the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) through which the Commission intends to tackle this sector’s challenges in a more effective way. However, as explained Dimas, precise and shared information is necessary to act, "which may enable us to understand, for instance, how the climate is changing, if the state of European waters is improving, or how nature is reacting to pollution". Information "has to be easily accessed and understood by everybody". Therefore, the Commission pledges to improve the systems for collecting and sharing knowledge through SEIS, making them more modern. SEIS has two goals: "Connecting all existing information flow and data collecting systems in a better way, by using modern instruments, such as the Internet and satellite technologies, going from a paper communication system to a system in which data are accessible to users". (To be continued)
