The national delegations struck a whole series of tasks assigned to the EU Space Programme Agency (EUSPA) in a provisional version of EU Council conclusions entitled ‘A New Space for people’, dated Friday 26 February.
In the framework of the priority actions, they have thus deleted the reference to support for the objectives of the EU Space Programme (see EUROPE 12627/30), in particular to meet the needs of commercial and institutional users, and the promotion of space data or capacity building throughout the space sector value chain. The proposal lacked support among Member States, we are told, as the Member States are not yet fully clear on what EUSPA’s role in supporting ‘New Space’ would be.
In addition, the Agency’s name is bracketed in relation to possible activities to encourage the use of space services and the adoption of space-based solutions or to promote the competitiveness of the European downstream space industry by facilitating the grouping of users or by developing new standards.
The request to the European Commission to develop a strategy to support the development of the European New Space (see EUROPE 12640/22), encompassing the entire value chain and access to funding, remains one of the main demands of these conclusions.
To access the provisional version: http://bit.ly/3q9d328 (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)