The Chairman of the EU Council Working Party on the United Kingdom sent a letter to the German Ambassadors of Coreper II and Coreper I on Tuesday 22 December to highlight that sectoral issues, such as space policy, should not interfere in the negotiations on the future partnership between the Union and the United Kingdom.
In the letter, obtained by EUROPE, the Chairman of the Working Group expresses concern about the recent proposals from the Presidency on Article 7 of the Regulation on the Union’s space programme allowing third States to participate in the SST consortium dedicated to space surveillance and tracking of objects in orbit (see EUROPE 12548/8), where the European Commission prohibits any third party participation, due to the very nature of the programme linked to the consortium’s defence.
However, as the letter points out, the continued participation of the United Kingdom in the consortium, including access to its data, is currently under intense discussion, as London wishes to remain a member. But the Union’s position is very clear, the author points out: “There is no Union interest in providing for third country access to SST, including access by the UK”. Thus, the German proposal would be “not only unprecedented but would be in clear contradiction with the Union’s position in the negotiations”. And he went on to reiterate the position of his group, which is in favour of the Commission’s proposal.
Currently participating in the consortium created in 2014 are: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Eight other Member States have also signed an implementation agreement for the SST with the European Union Satellite Centre (SatCen) forming the SST cooperation.
The German Presidency’s handling of the dossier has so far been controversial in diplomatic circles for its intergovernmental approach to the dossier (see EUROPE 12552/2).
Article 25. During the meeting of the ‘Space’ working group on Tuesday 22 September, the Presidency came up with a new proposal on Article 25, which would give the European Commission back the power to decide which entities from third countries could participate in the programme, in exchange for which it would have to wait for the approval of all the national security agencies.
Some delegations are believed to have found this proposal impracticable and preferred the European Commission to take the decision alone while informing the competent national agencies. The latter solution would allow for quicker decision-making while providing a safeguard for Member States. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)