Brussels, 20/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - MEPs are not happy at the idea of the EU's space policy being funded by the member states under an intergovernmental agreement, and therefore passed a non-legislative resolution in plenary on 19 January calling for the GMES programme to remain part of the EU budget for the 2014-2020 programming period.
GMES, an earth monitoring programme by satellite to follow climate change and deterioration in the environment, was not included by the European Commission in its plans for the next programming period - the idea being to let member states arrange financing among themselves, explained EU Commissioner Antonio Tajani, who in this way wants to force the member states to contribute more towards the programme's funding.
Adopting a report by Aldo Patriciello (EPP, Italy), the MEPs called for GMES to remain part of the EU's budget. French EPP MEP Christine de Veyrac is furious at the lack of consistency in the Commission's approach because it wants R&D and innovation to be at the heart of the EUROPE 2020 strategy while scrapping its pledges in this domain. She said the Commission's plan would jeopardise the GMES programme and an entire swathe of the European space industry, and the EU must manage both the space programme and its budget. Patriciello says that the European economic situation makes it difficult to fund all the space programmes, but growth must continue because when the crisis is over, programmes like Galileo and GMES will generate development and jobs. (MD/transl.fl)