Brussels, 23/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - The future of Copernicus, the EU's new Earth Observation System, has now been assured, following approval by MEPs of an agreement between the European institutions on a €3.79 billion budget for the period to 2020. The European Parliament industry committee (ITRE) has ratified the trialogue agreement on the budget for the European satellite programme and its governance. The rapporteur, Vittorio Prodi (S&D, Italy), said: “This compromise position will allow better participation of SMEs and will create a dedicated downstream market, generating new jobs. Citizens will benefit from the multiple applications of Copernicus, e.g. the monitoring of environmental data and the prevention of natural and man-made disasters”. The first Sentinel programme satellites will be put into orbit this year.
The European Parliament will formally approve the budget in plenary session and the revised Copernicus regulation will be approved during the March plenary. (MD/transl.fl)