Evolution of the Legal Status of Oceanographic Data Management in Europe

Introduction

The content of this chapter is the evolution of the EU legislations (laws, directives and regulations) as they define clear objectives concerning the lifecycle of production-processing-consumption for publishing ocean data (Boyes et al., 2016). Yet Member States national laws are a matter of lack of coherence on data treatment rather than clear legal meaning, because while images, data products, and data files are copyrightable, data themselves are not (Reichman & Uhlir, 2003). Indeed, in spite of the fact that the availability of fisheries data has been improved from 2008, and marine data catalogues have been developed following successive EU research programs, EU searching to legally commit governments to grant access to marine data and allow their re-use does not automatically apply to the large pools of data held by research institutions or other bodies with no formal role in government or public administration (European Commission, 2009).

In these times, government-related institutions are demonstrating a greater willingness to address problems concerning sea-related data, while scientific communities are lagging behind. This option may perhaps be due because the former reflect the national interest, whereas the latter join their efforts to the mainstream scientific activities This is already happening in nuclear fusion projects and satellite programs where datasets require more calculations than those provided by ocean management systems.

But the detailed analysis of the temporal evolution for the EU ocean legislation comprises three large types of data sets. Where large data sets get released allowing for analysis is in fishery (Osborne Clarke LLP, 2016). As a result, fishery data have been established as the de facto main structured ocean data over the Web, in the course of the development of the EU marine policy (including coasts, estuaries and wetlands). Marine data include all those designed to improve our understanding of how the seas behave (French et al., 2015), the research domains associated with them make that nearly all marine data could be considered environmental data. In accordance with EU legislation regarding maritime data, we have assembled all those with respect to maritime transport, particularly to such issues as safety, natural resource exploration and exploitation and protection of the marine environment and its biodiversity. Usually under the auspìces of regional and international organizations relevant EU's maritime and fisheries policies are subjected to measures requiring scientific data in support of marine research.

In order to examine the many European legal resources concerned by oceanographic data, the fundamental types of data addressed here are (Figure 1 provides a numerical estimation showing data on other scientific data supporting the underlying marine research infrastructure facilities):

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  Fishery data

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  Marine and maritime data

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  Other scientific data supporting the underlying marine research infrastructure facilities

Figure 1.

Distribution of the typology of oceanographic data according to the number of legal texts of the European Union (EU)

In Europe, the main normative element for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector is the data collection framework (DCF) which establishes a Community framework for gathering these type of data, provides guides on their control and utilization and supports for scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy, also detailing the fishery data collection obligations with regard to indicators of the fishery sector knock-on effects on the marine ecosystem (It follows that those data, are a substantial part of impact assessments) (European Commission, 2008b). This Commission Regulation (EC) No 665/2008 lays down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation No 199/2008, the current regulation on fishery data compilation, management and use (European Commission, 2008a).