EU proposes simplification of INSPIRE spatial data directive

The European Commission has proposed a Directive to amend and simplify Directive 2007/2/EC (INSPIRE) governing the EU Infrastructure for Spatial Information, mainly by deleting detailed technical rules on interoperability, network services, data sharing, charging and reporting, and aligning them with newer horizontal EU data legislation such as the Open Data Directive and the High-Value Datasets Implementing Regulation.

• Simplification measures: The proposal removes INSPIRE-specific obligations on network services, data-sharing rules, charging rules, the EU geo-portal, and reporting (Article 21), and instead relies on Directive (EU) 2019/1024, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138, Regulation (EU) 2022/868, and Regulation (EU) 2024/903; it also repeals four implementing acts (Regulations (EC) No 976/2009, (EU) No 1089/2010, (EU) No 268/2010 and Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1372) and updates comitology to delegated and implementing acts under Articles 22a and 22b.
• Context and impacts: The initiative is part of REFIT, the GreenData4All and environmental simplification omnibus packages, supports the Green Deal Data Space and Data Union Strategy – Unlocking Data for AI, introduces a 12‑month transposition period, and is expected to cut administrative costs by 24–64 %, yielding EUR 6.36–16.96 million in annual savings (average EUR ~11.66–12 million) across EU‑27, while keeping metadata obligations and shifting access to data.europa.eu as the central open data portal.