The European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA) on Tuesday 22 June. This more than 1,000-page document governs the modalities of cooperation between the two parties, as well as with the new EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA).
It was a long and uncertain road all the way through the process of approval by the Member States (see EUROPE 12735/9) until the sides reached agreement at the end of April (see EUROPE 12704/18).
One of the sticking points was the role of the new EUSPA, particularly in the Galileo and EGNOS programmes (see EUROPE 12606/6), with another being the place of non-EU Member States (particularly the United Kingdom) (see EUROPE 12632/15).
The framework agreement specifically provides almost €9 billion from the EU during the 2021 and 2027 period to enable the ESA and European industry to design next generation systems and programmes for the European Union.
The FFPA is structured by several programmatic priorities, such as the acceleration of the modernisation of Galileo (planned for the end of 2024), the preparation of a new constellation in the field of secure connectivity, the continued deployment of Copernicus (in particular to monitor CO2 emissions), and finally, the establishment of a space investment fund of €1 billion.
Governance
On governance, as we have reported (see EUROPE 12706/5), the role of contracting authority has been assigned mainly to ESA for most of the space programme components (Copernicus, GovSatCom, SSA), with the European Commission responsible for programme management and EUSPA for operations.
In the case of Galileo and EGNOS, however, the contracting authority is the European Commission. ESA has been given responsibility for programme management and EUSPA for operations. As a reminder, the contracting authority has a very important role, as it is given almost all the powers of implementation and control over the budget.
EUSPA and ESA have decided to set up integrated teams for an efficient and streamlined implementation of the tasks entrusted to the Galileo and EGNOS.
The EU agency and the European institution intend to set up a joint office for Galileo and EGNOS composed of operational staff from EUSPA and ESA, located in the European Commission’s offices in Brussels on an ad hoc basis. This office is currently being operationalised and is expected to have a total of 7-8 staff.
The FFPA contains a revision clause between 1 June 2023 and 30 June 2024 if necessary. In addition, an article provides for the potential cooperation of the European Commission and ESA in areas beyond the FFPA.
On the EU side, the text agreed by both parties received a positive opinion from the Member States in comitology on 2 June. The formal adoption by the College will take place during the week of 21 June.
EU concessions
On the ESA side, the Member States unanimously adopted the framework agreement at the EU Council meeting on 15-16 June. In theory, simple majority voting was an option, but consensus was sought, as it was particularly important for some ESA and non-EU Member States (notably the UK). Unanimity was reached at the meeting without any difficulty.
For good reason, ESA has obtained certain guarantees, notably on the modalities for hiring staff from non-EU Member States on programmes and projects financed by EU funds (this will be possible under certain conditions and subject to an agreement between the European Commission and the Member State) as well as on the modalities for reimbursing costs (the principle of full reimbursement of direct and indirect costs is accepted) and on the issues of dispute resolution.
On this last point, the European Commission wanted the EU Court of Justice to be able to be consulted in the event of a dispute, which was problematic, given that ESA is an intergovernmental organisation not belonging to the European Union. In the end, both organisations agreed that ad hoc arbitration should be set up if necessary. In general, ESA’s legal independence has been reaffirmed in the FFPA.
For an internal explanatory note from the European Commission: https://bit.ly/3gKzlpu (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)