De overgang tussen de drie fasen, die ook op elkaar terugkoppelen, moet geleidelijk verlopen: de demonstratiefase met OO-financiering, de preoperationele fase met gemengde OO- en operationele financiering, en de operationele fase met operationele financiering uit EU-, intergouvernementele en nationale operationele begrotingen. De OO-financiering zal evenwel ook tijdens de operationele fase nodig blijven om de verdere ontwikkeling van GMES te garanderen.
There needs to be a smooth transition between three stages, which also feedback into each other: demonstration stage with RD funding, pre-operational stage with mixed RD and operational funding, operational stage with operational funding from EU, intergovernmental and national operational budgets, bearing in mind that RD funding will continue to be required during the operational stage to assure the evolution of GMES.