Copernicus Emergency Management Service – flood forecasting and monitoring systems
Terms and conditions

Last modified: 07 June 2023

The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) is funded under the Regulation (EU) 2021/696 of the European Parliament and of the council of 28 April 2021 establishing the Union Space Programme and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme and is part of the Copernicus services. It provides information for emergency response in relation to different types of disasters, including meteorological hazards, geophysical hazards, deliberate and accidental man-made disasters and other humanitarian disasters, as well as the prevention, preparedness, response and recovery activities. The early warning and monitoring systems of the Copernicus EMS are composed of the European and Global Flood Awareness Systems (CEMS EFAS and GloFAS) including the Global Flood Monitoring product, the European and Global Drought Observatories (CEMS EDO and GDO), the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) and the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) (under development).

The access and use of Copernicus Service Information is regulated under Regulations (EU) No 912/2010.  In particular, the law provides that users shall have a free, full and open access to Copernicus Service Information without any express or implied warranty, including as regards quality and suitability for any purpose. These terms and conditions are designed to reflect the relevant law.

By using data of CEMS early warning and monitoring systems the user agrees to be bound to all terms and conditions provided herein including, in particular, the limitations on use, transferability, warranty and liability. If you are agreeing to these terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the legal authority to bind that company or legal entity to these terms. The terms provided herein are complemented by the terms of the Commission [Legal Notice and [Privacy Statement, unless otherwise expressly stipulated herein.

Access and use:

Subject to their compliance with the terms and conditions set forth herein, users are granted free access to the data of the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems for the following purposes and within the limits allowed under applicable law:

(a) reproduction;

(b) distribution;

(c) communication to the public;

(d) adaptation, modification and combination with other data and information;

(e) any combination of points (a) to (d).

Some data as produced by the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems are restricted according to article 53 of Regulations (EU) No 912/2010. Access to this restricted data will be granted only to specific users and upon registration.  

Where the user communicates to the public or distributes data of the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems, he/she shall inform the recipients of the source of that data and information by using the following or similar notice:

'Generated using Copernicus Emergency Management Service information [Year]'    

Where the data of the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems has been adapted or modified, the user shall provide the following or similar notice:

'Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information [Year]'

Disclaimer and liabilities:

Data from the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems is provided for information purposes only. This means that the data does not constitute in any way an early warning for which only national/regional institutions are authorized within their region of responsibility.

The information contained in the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, any implied warranty against infringement of merchantability, integration, satisfactory quality and fitness for a particular purpose. In particular, nothing in these terms and conditions should be interpreted as a guarantee that the information contained will be free from errors or omissions, and that such errors or omissions can be rectified. In addition, changes to the data might occur frequently and without prior notice.

By  using  CEMS early warning and monitoring systems information and data the user acknowledges that these conditions are  applicable to  him/her and  that  - to the full extent allowed by law - the  user  renounces  to  any  claims for damages against the European Union and the providers of  the  data and information thereto. The scope of this waiver encompasses any dispute, including contracts and torts claims that might be filed in court, in arbitration or in any other form of dispute settlement.

Intellectual Property Rights

The user expressly recognizes and acknowledges that the use of the data from CEMS early warning and monitoring systems shall not confer any intellectual property rights or other proprietary right to the user. No provision herein shall be deemed to affect the ownership and interest of the European Union in said data and the intellectual property thereto which shall remain unaltered. Any independent intellectual property right generated as a result of modifying or adapting the data from the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems shall be owned by the respective creator(s).

Access to third party information:

These terms and conditions only cover data and information from the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems. Access to information from third parties to which the user is directed through this portal may be subject to different license terms.

Appropriate conduct:

While using the data from the CEMS early warning and monitoring systems you agree that you are solely responsible for complying with these terms and conditions and with any other obligation that may be applicable under law.

Data privacy:

The users' rights on their personal data are protected as outlined in the CEMS data protection record DPR-EC-00246