The European Programme for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) is an Earth observation system with the aim to provide accurate and timely information to policy makers in order to support the management of the environment and civil security. The present study introduces the GMES programme and its components. It draws lessons learned from a comparison with the Galileo Programme. The governance and financing of GMES are critically analysed and discussed. Based on the main findings policy recommendations are developed.