The European Commission has reportedly informally submitted to the co-legislators a proposal to find a solution to the unprecedented "deadlock" situation on the regulation establishing the European Space Programme, according to our information obtained on Tuesday, 5 March.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have been in a state of uncertainty since the adoption of a partial provisional agreement on the regulation last week, as the Commission did not formally support it (see EUROPE 12203).
The institution's dissatisfaction would relate to Article 30 (§5) of said regulation and the capacity conferred on the future EU Agency for the European Space Programme to sub-delegate to entities and/or Member States. Such a provision would not be in line with European law (the European Financial Regulation) and the case law of the EU Court of Justice (see EUROPE 12204).
Following a meeting of the heads of cabinet within the European Commission on Monday, 4 March, the institution reportedly proposed a new wording for the article so that sub-delegation would not run counter to the interests of the European Union and would be in line with the European Financial Regulation. If necessary, the EU Agency could either amend or revoke the sub-delegation deemed by the Commission not to comply with the above conditions.
Now, the Commission has a few days to convince the co-legislators of the merits of its proposal. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU could meet on Thursday, 7 March to discuss the proposals made informally, in order to incorporate them into the four-column document, which serves as a basis for negotiation.
The following day, Friday, 8 March, the amended agreement should be submitted to the national delegations for approval at the meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper).
The European Parliament is expected to vote on the Interinstitutional Agreement on 25 March at the meeting of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) for adoption in plenary session in April.
The origin of the deadlock is, according to several sources, a conflict between DG GROW and DG BUDG. Some believe that the influence from afar of the Director of the European Space Agency, Jan Wörner, and of Germany - who have never welcomed the legislative proposal - will guide Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger of Germany and the Secretary-General of the European Commission, Martin Selmayr of Germany. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)