On Tuesday 31 August, the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union sent national delegations a draft of the conclusions entitled ‘Space for Everyone’, in which the European Commission and the EU Space Programme Agency (EUSPA) are invited to carry out regulatory and standardisation activities in the field of space.
Objective: to ensure the uptake of EU space services in sectoral areas that are essential for the autonomy of the Union.
Furthermore, the draft conclusions call for the adoption of all “necessary” measures to remove existing legal barriers to the dissemination of European space data and services.
This would be a new development, a source told us on Friday 3 September.
Generally speaking, the provisional text takes up messages already expressed, notably under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council (the title ‘New Space for people’ of the previous Council conclusions strangely resembles those of the Slovenian ones— see EUROPE 12677/4), such as the diversification of the space ecosystem with a better consideration of SMEs by opening up to new and “small nations” entering the space sector.
As such, the conclusions call for a “more equitable” distribution of space projects among Member States, to allow for a “balanced” growth of the space ecosystem.
Another source, however, questioned the main thrust of the findings and its main message, which, for the time being, seem unclear.
The next meeting of the EU Council’s Space Working Group will be held on the afternoon of Tuesday 7 September.
For the provisional conclusions: https://bit.ly/3tbj7KP (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)