Brussels, 03/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Competitiveness Council has defined its negotiating mandate with the European Parliament on the European Copernicus programme for satellite monitoring of Earth from space, in order to determine its budget of €3.79 billion in 2014-2020, as well as a revised regulation (see EUROPE 10974).
The Czech proposal, aimed at transferring certain tasks to other European agencies (those responsible for EGNOS and Galileo being based in Prague) was not taken up in the general approach finally decided but could be discussed during negotiations in trialogue, the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council indicated. France also underlined that the policy of open and free data should be in concert with legally formalised reciprocity towards the other major space powers.
The European delegations also received information from the Lithuanian Presidency on the state of progress of work relating to a programme for space surveillance support and monitoring of objects in orbit. At present, as there is no true European capability, satellite operators and launchers depend on American services. Furthermore, risks and risk management cost at this stage €140 million annually. The European Commission therefore suggests that the member states, that have the resources needed, should cooperate to provide a European anti-collision service. However, warned Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the commissioner for research, innovation and science, if member state capabilities are not combined in a coherent whole, any further investment will be doomed to failure. (MD/transl.jl)