On the 10th of June 2008 Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection was visited by EEA representatives – Jock Martin, Head of Biodiversity, Spatial Analysis and Scenarios Programme and Bernt Röndell – SEIS Project Manager.
EEA representatives under SEIS work visit each EEA country to held consultations and analysis on the state of preparation to realize the tasks listed by the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Towards a shared Environmental Information System COM(2008) 046. These are so-called "SEIS Country visits". Main principles of the Communication concern streamlining and modernization of reporting, sharing and usage of environmental information, delivering timely data of better quality, ensuring interoperability of environmental information system, taking into account INSPIRE Directive and GMES Programme as well as Standardised Reporting Directive 91/692/EEC.
Within the visit Department of Monitoring and Environmental Information of CIEP organized a meeting attended by the members of Polish EIONET network, representatives of cooperating administration bodies and research institutions. The meeting was chaired by Lucyna Dygas Ciołkowksa - DEMI Deputy Director and National Focal Point for cooperation with the EEA. Welcome speech was delivered on-line by Andrzej Jagusiewicz - Chief Inspector for Environmental Protection, who was participating in the meeting of voivodeship inspectores in Zielona Gora. After EEA presentation on the SEIS, the following Polish environmental information systems were presented: State Environmental Monitoring (Chief Inspectorate for environmental Protection), Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (also CIEP), Statistical System (Central Statistical Office), water management information system (National Water Management Authority). Moreover, the vice-president of Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography presented INSPIRE implementation. The discussion covered inter alia: data sharing, ensuring its high quality under decentralized system, need for including socio-economic data describing factors impacting on the environment.
During the stay in Poland EEA representatives visited also the Voivodship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Warsaw, where the system of air quality data was presented and a visit in the laboratory was held.
The participants of the meeting agreed that the creation of shared environmental information system and ensuring interoperable exchange of data would contribute to improvement of state administration work and make public more active in the protection of environment. Conclusions with the analysis of state of country readiness to implement the System will be included in the SEIS Country Report to be prepared.
The SEIS Country Visit preceded the visit of Jacqueline McGlade, EEA Executive Director, in Poland on the 13th of June 2008.
