The adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of the first package of the single European sky legislation, namely, Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 of 10 March 2004 laying down the framework for the creation of the single European sky (the framework Regulation) (4), Regulation (EC) No 550/2004 of 10 March 2004 on the provision of air navigation services in the single European sky (the service provision Regulation) (5), Regulation (EC) No 551/2004 of 10 March 2004 on the organisation and use of the airspace in the single European sky (the airspace Regulation) (6), and Regulation (EC) No 552/2004 of 10 March 2004 on the interoperabili ...[+++]ty of the European air traffic management network (the interoperability Regulation) (7) laid down a firm legal basis for a seamless, interoperable and safe air traffic management (ATM) system.

The Schengen Information System is a large-scale database (in fact, the largest common European data base, with a total data volume - in December 2007 - of 22 450 781, from which 1 142 988 is related to persons) which operates as a joint information system enabling the relevant authorities in the Member States to cooperate and exchange the necessary information, something which is essential in order to establish an area without controls at its internal borders.

99. Welcomes the recognition by the Commission that a comprehensive system of spatial planning is necessary in order to ensure a stable regulatory environment and a legally binding basis for decision making; considers that an essential criterion for effective ecosystem-based spatial planning must be to organise activities in such a way as to reduce the impact of enviro ...[+++]nmentally damaging activities on ecologically sensitive areas while simultaneously using resources in all other areas in an ecologically sustainable manner; in this context insists on the use of the Strategic Environmental Assessment instrument under Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment ; stresses that any system of marine spatial planning at EU level must add value to national systems and plans, where they exist, be based on the level of marine regions and sub-regions as proposed by the Marine Strategy Directive and be a tool to further the use of an ecosystem-based approach to marine management and the objectives of good environmental status under the Marine Strategy Directive;

99. Welcomes the recognition by the Commission that a comprehensive system of spatial planning is necessary in order to ensure a stable regulatory environment and a legally binding basis for decision making; considers that an essential criterion for effective ecosystem-based spatial planning must be to organise activities in such a way as to reduce the impact of enviro ...[+++]nmentally damaging activities on ecologically sensitive areas while simultaneously using resources in all other areas in an ecologically sustainable manner; in this context insists on the use of the Strategic Environmental Assessment instrument under Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment ; stresses that any system of marine spatial planning at EU level must add value to national systems and plans, where they exist, be based on the level of marine regions and sub-regions as proposed by the Marine Strategy Directive and be a tool to further the use of an ecosystem-based approach to marine management and the objectives of good environmental status under the Marine Strategy Directive;

100. Welcomes the recognition by the Commission that a "comprehensive system of spatial planning" is necessary in order to ensure a stable regulatory environment and a legally binding basis for decision making; considers that an essential criterion for effective ecosystem-based spatial planning must be to organise activities in such a way as to reduce the impact of environmentally damaging activities on ecologically sensitive area ...[+++]s while simultaneously using resources in all other areas in an ecologically sustainable manner; in this context insists on the use of the Strategic Environmental Assessment instrument under Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment;

Innovative approaches in areas such as public transport, the organization of public space and the protection of borders can be envisaged. Space, offers great scope for high technology innovation over time (in particular public investors in the application of Galileo [17] and GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), the Commission's flagship space programmes. These need to share their knowledge of the system and its scope for business with potential downstream users in the space and non-space sectors, to raise their aware ...[+++]ness of potential space-based solutions). Transport, where the demand for energy efficiency provides great opportunities. Marine technologies and products allowing for new uses of the sea such as deep sea drilling, blue biotech exploitation, offshore mariculture and renewable energies, ocean space monitoring and surveillance technologies offer promising scope. Health, which has a huge growth potential for innovative products and services (including in particular e-Health, and the provision of customized solutions to allow elderly people to continue to live independently, pharmaceuticals and medical devices where innovation can bring direct benefits to patients and improve competitiveness), or well-being and culture (for instance creative content services, which gain a new dimension with the rollout of broadband networks, allowing citizens and businesses to access all kind of creative contents such as audiovisual, games, cultural information at home and in mobility) are examples of markets where the public sector has a role to play.