The national weather services of Europe expressed their confidence in the effectiveness of satellite remote sensing through the creation, in 1986, of a new inter-governmental organisation, EUMETSAT (the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation), to ensure a long term European activity in this field. The charter of EUMETSAT is to establish, maintain and exploit European systems of operational meteorological satellites. The organisation consists of a Council, which meets two or three times each year, and a secretariat to conduct the day-to-day business. The initial programme of EUMETSAT is the continuation of the Metcosat geostationary satellite system, but other programmes are at the planning stage.