Josef Aschbacher, Director of Earth Observation Programmes at the European Space Agency (ESA), is expected to be the agency’s next Director General, according to information obtained on Thursday 26 November.
Following a successful interview on 17 November, he was reportedly elected on Tuesday evening by 18 of the Agency’s 22 Member States. He faced the Spanish Minister for Science, Pedro Duque, and the Norwegian Christian Hauglie-Hanssen (see EUROPE 12592/33). This would mean that he will take over from the German Jan Wörner in mid-2021.
His election is good news in the eyes of some observers, particularly in the context of the stormy negotiations on the Financial framework partnership agreement (FFPA). These have continued between the European Commission and ESA for more than a year, as the two sides are still unable to reach agreement on the modalities of their partnership in the framework of the EU Space Programme (see EUROPE 12606/6).
Some observers believe that the negotiations are also bogged down by a disagreement between the negotiating teams, notably between Mr Wörner and Pierre Delsaux, the former Deputy Director General of the Commission’s Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS). As the latter has been transferred to DG HEALTH (see EUROPE 12608/14), the clouds may part to allow an agreement to be sealed.
But that does not mean that this is a sure thing. Member States remain divided between Commission and ESA support. On the occasion of the 20 November meeting, a group of 10 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden) sent a letter, seen by EUROPE, to Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton. Some see Germany’s hand at play, which is largely absent among the signatories, but which shares this position.
In this letter, the ministers believe that ESA should play the role of contracting authority and that it should have control over the contracting rules. In their view, this approach would be compatible with the EU programmatic authority for the Galileo and EGNOS programme, for example through a review of key points in the procurement process and certain approvals by the Public Procurement Council. In this way, the EU would retain “full” political control over the GNSS programmes, they said.
On the EU side, there are concerns about ESA’s attitude, which appears to be seeking to “bend” certain provisions of regulation on the EU space programme. The European Parliament remains silent for the time being, but could take up the matter, we are told.
Mr Aschbacher’s election will be made official on 17 December. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)