The European Commission has, unsurprisingly, avoided the question of the possible impact of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (Brexit) on European space policy, as borne out by a number of responses on 31 October in reply to written questions from Marian-Jean Marinescu MEP (EPP, Romania). There are, nevertheless, many challenges and question marks.
Last June, the Romanian MEP submitted questions on his concerns about the future of space research in the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme and the future of the Galileo navigation programme. On both counts, the Commission’s answer was the same: it is impossible for the Commission to provide a response, as long as the British government has not formally notified the country’s decision to leave the EU by way of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).
A number of questions and solutions, however, have already been formulated. In the context of Galileo, the United Kingdom could continue to take part in the programme along the same lines as Norway, which signed a security agreement with the EU. Nonetheless, certain highly sensitive aspects of the programme may not be covered by this kind of agreement. One of the major questions pending involves the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre (GSMC), which currently straddles both France (Saint-Germain-en-Laye) and the United Kingdom (Swanwick). The objective of the GSMC is to manage the Public Regulated Service (PRS), which seeks to provide encrypted navigation data to governments.
In the context of the Horizon 2020 research programmes, the United Kingdom could still benefit from an association agreement on the basis of the model concluded with Norway and Switzerland. This option, however, could mean it would be impossible for the United Kingdom to influence negotiations regarding the substance of the Horizon 2020 programmes.
At a more general level, negative effects could be predicted for the two parties. First of all, the United Kingdom may not be eligible any longer for calls for proposals for the different programmes (Horizon 2020, Galileo and Copernicus). From a financial point of view, the impact of the United Kingdom leaving will not be negligible, given that British contributions account for 10.6% of all contributions relating to space policy. The consortium responsible for Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) of objects in orbit, which includes Italy, France, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom, will be seriously affected.
Nonetheless, Brexit could result in increased contributions from the United Kingdom to the European Space Agency, of which it will remain a member.
Under the terms of Article 189 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, space policy is consistently becoming more important at a European level, particularly with the recent presentation of the Space Strategy for Europe by the European Commission, which also makes inroads into the defence and security domains (see EUROPE 11655). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)