Brussels, 08/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - On the back of recent space successes (Philae, Ariane 6), the Europeans are planning to make every possible effort to consolidate their space policy. The European ministers with responsibility for space policy adopted ambitious conclusions, under the Italian Presidency, at the Competitiveness Council of Friday 5 December.
Bringing space policy up to date. The Council calls upon the Commission to re-examine the European space policy and decide the extent to which this requires modernising. Noting, in particular, the “considerable potential for growth and job creation”, the ministers urge the Commission to adopt provisions to exploit this potential in the various space programmes. The aim is to allow a long-term vision to emerge, which is better placed to respond to users' needs. Among the areas to be explored, the Council stresses the need to promote the priority of the GNSS and Copernicus programmes, but also the weather observation systems, and European industrial capacities as regards small satellites. The ministers also stressed the need for the development of critical technology, for which the EU's dependency should be limited. The possibility of military and civilian synergy was raised regarding governmental satellite telecommunication. The Council awaits a follow-up of these conclusions by the Commission in 2016.
European Space Agency. The debate held on the sidelines of the adoption of these conclusions focused on plans to bring the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA) closer together. The framework agreement between the two institutions comes to an end in 2016. The renewal of the inter-institutional relations has already been the subject of Council conclusions (EUROPE 11088) and the gulf within the Council on this subject does not seem to have moved on. Countries such as France and Belgium are reported to be in favour of the ESA becoming a European agency in its own right, whilst others, among them Germany and the United Kingdom, would prefer the independence of the ESA to remain guaranteed, as the current formula is worthwhile from a financial point of view.
Satellite data. Lastly, the ministers also discussed the question of access to satellite data. Countries such as Spain and Sweden feel that the market is too concentrated in the hands of big business (German and French ones, in this case) and that SMEs should have access to satellite data. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom showed a more liberal approach on this subject, arguing that access should be universal and free of charge, so as to yield commercial benefits more quickly. (MD)