During its Presidency at the head of the Council of the European Union, Germany intends to organise a meeting on 27 November between the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA) to draw up a joint post-Covid-19 vision for the European space sector in an increasingly competitive global environment.
On the occasion of this meeting, according to a document seen by EUROPE on Wednesday 10 June, Germany hopes to discuss the EU Space Programme Regulation and the Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA) between the European Union and the European Space Agency, as well as preparing an initiative to “activate the key principles of the global space economy”.
The initiative, which would take the form of an (ESA) resolution and (EU) conclusions, would address, inter alia, a level playing field, restrictions on the extra-territorial application of national regulations, the protection of intellectual property rights, cybersecurity, basic European standards for space operations and activities ('Space Traffic Management'), framework conditions for investment and the financing of space activities, and an agreement on the procurement of European launch services for government payloads.
More specifically, Germany hopes to make progress on the obstacles preventing the European space sector from exporting goods and services internationally, and on the importance of enforcing the principle of reciprocity. The question of “European preference” is explicitly indicated for launch services, earth observation data and, in general, so-called “critical” technologies.
In September, Germany will organise a conference in Berlin to reinvigorate international space law. At the informal meeting on space (see EUROPE 12499/14), Berlin had expressed fears that the Covid-19 crisis would place the space issue on the back burner at both national and European level.
The choice of a joint meeting is explained by the fact that the ESA and the EU are both more or less on the verge of a new budgetary cycle. However, some are of the opinion that these joint meetings are often a challenge, given the institutional constraints on both sides. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)