For the first time in 8 years, the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA) were in Brussels, Tuesday 28 May, for the 9th EU/ESA Space Council meeting. Objective: to discuss areas of cooperation and intensify their common meeting.
It was thus unanimously decided to put the Space Council back on the agenda (point 20 of the conclusions). The idea is to convene this Space Council once a year “so that discussions can take place on the strategic vision and common European objectives”.
Although the EU-ESA Space Council, an informal coordination forum, was provided for in the 2004 Framework Agreement between the EU and ESA, it has not been convened since 2011. The reasons for this long period seemed a taboo subject during the press conference.
“You can always ask ‘why’, but the most important thing is to look at the future and this is very clear that today we have a Space Council”, ESA Director General Jan Wörner replied to EUROPE, who half-heartedly acknowledged the “rumours of disagreement”. “But if you have just always the same opinion, that’s boring!”, the German said.
Cooperation in mistrust
A European source explained to us that the European Commission has in recent years put a brake on ESA's desire for more cooperation, in order to prevent ESA Member States - an intergovernmental structure where the principle of “geographical return” prevails - from interfering in European policies. This concern had also resurfaced during the negotiations on the regulation on the European Space Programme, particularly in view of Brexit (see EUROPE 12214/24).
The meeting is not “mandatory”, said another source, echoing the words of former Spanish astronaut and minister Pedro Duque, who recalled that the frequency could vary in the future depending on changes in dynamics within the EU Councils and ministers that are in place.
During the discussions, Germany indicated, according to Mr Wörner, that it wanted to organise the next EU-ESA Space Council in the second half of 2020. “That, at least, is guaranteed”, Duque publicly commented. It’s up to the future Finnish and Croatian Presidencies of the EU Council to further prepare the content of the EU Council. But they did not take a position during the speeches.
For what action?
Action lines are given in the text, such as the use of space policy and, in particular, its data for energy, public health, the environment and climate change and, more generally, the sustainable development goals. These last two objectives were highlighted by the Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, during her speech.
During the discussions, the issue of autonomous access to space - a subject already much discussed in the EU Council - was mentioned by many Member States, including Latvia and Sweden. Other Member States, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, insisted that space policy should benefit all countries.
But nothing is certain at the moment, we are told.
Useless advice? In the opinion of some, this EU-ESA Council is “useless” and would only be a “display” of the two organisations who are “backstabbing” each other. One source regretted that there is currently no real monitoring of existing policies or a real common strategy for the future of space policy.
However, milestones have been set. The most recent was the 2016 Joint Declaration between the EU and ESA (see EUROPE 11655/9).
To consult the conclusions: https://bit.ly/2I2cLpL (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)