Copernicus Security applications
Meneses, Rui¹; Ciccolella, Antonio^2
1EC, BELGIUM; ²ESA, ITALY

Copernicus will make an important contribution to serve EU security needs. This has been demonstrated through a series of R&D projects funded by the European Commission and ESA, in particular in the domains of maritime surveillance, humanitarian relief missions, conflict early warning and prevention and others. Europe faces today new threats that are more diverse and less predictable. Following the adoption of the European Security Strategy in December 2003, the EU has stated to increase synergies between stakeholders and to promote a better use of resources in response to security threats. Discussions following a seminar organised in 2007 by the EU Institute for Security Studies identified a number of areas where Copernicus could have a relevant role to play in facilitating monitoring or implementation of policies. The following areas, meeting EU policy requirements, have been identified for action: Border Surveillance, Support to EU External Action and Maritime Surveillance. The presentation will give an overview of the progress made and prospects of implementation of operational services 2014 onwards.