Spatial information plays an increasingly important role in the decision-making process at global and European level, particularly in the field of environmental protection. Access to such kinds of information and the compatibility of information storage systems are becoming extremely important issues. Their importance is currently demonstrated by the development of European initiatives such as GMES and GALILEO that derive their legal bases in part from the Directive on public access to environmental information ¹ and the Directive on the re-use of public sector information. ² The new Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)³ represents a further step in merging and streamlining policy-relevant spatial data and information, with a view to exploiting its full potential in the information society and "space age". This paper analyses the provisions and regulatory regime set by of the Directive. It focuses on the interaction between the differing European mechanisms regulating degrees of access to spatial data, including the possible impact of INSPIRE Directive on the availability of spatial information. It concludes with an assessment of the Directive's practicability in achieving its immediate goals. The paper analyses the degree to which a restrictive tendency towards accessing spatial information and data is perceivable in Europe's space policies, particularly through reliance on intellectual property rights (whether belonging to state or private actors). The authors conclude with a few suggestions as to how current and future regulation within the field of accessing information might even be improved.