Brussels, 26/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 25 November after laborious negotiation, the 7th Space Council between the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA) unanimously adopted a resolution on “global challenges: taking full benefit of European space systems”. The resolution “invites all European institutional actors” to “maintain an independent, reliable and cost effective access to space at affordable conditions”. “Political progress in Europe is not possible unless we have this basis of autonomous access to space”, ESA President Giuseppe Pizza told the press. The Belgian minister for scientific policy, Sabine Laruelle, welcomed this “major step forward” towards an “autonomous space policy for Europe”. She said the “European Space Agency, the European Commission and the member states of the EU and of the ESA” now make up “three pillars” which guarantee the stability of this policy. “We call for European launchers to be used as a matter of priority (…). We have launchers in Europe, so why use non-European ones”, she asked, alluding to one of the most difficult points (contested by the United Kingdom among others) of the Council discussions. The Council also reaffirmed the “crucial” nature of the GMES (satellite observation) and Galileo (radionavigation by satellite) systems. It recognised the importance of the “space” partnership with Africa and the potential of European space policy for monitoring the impact of climate change and enhanced security. (A.By/transl.jl)