The EU Member States’ ministers responsible for space policy all agreed to support the development of a sustainable ‘New Space Europe’ in the face of increasingly aggressive international competition, during a policy debate at the ‘Competitiveness’ Council of the EU on Friday 26 November.
The ministers were unanimous in supporting a European private space sector with a view to the emergence of a ‘New Space Europe’ and to making the European Union a new “global hub for space entrepreneurship” as called for by the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, in his introductory speech. For him, 2022 will be a major turning point for this sector in Europe, which will be valued in particular in the context of the future constellation for secure connectivity.
Thus, there was a convergence on a balanced combination of public and private investments, the former allowing to attract the latter, and at the same time, to create a leverage effect. The ministers emphasised the role of SMEs and start-ups. Portugal and Estonia highlighted the need to create “European unicorns”, a term referring to start-ups mainly from Silicon Valley, valued at more than $1 billion. Estonia warned that over-regulation would prevent true entrepreneurship from emerging. The exploitation of space data was regularly cited as offering immense economic potential also for countries without a space industry, such as Latvia.
This New Space Europe would be a “third way” between the American model and the traditional model, as the Commissioner claimed in his opening remarks. A specific feature would be to focus on sustainable and responsible space debris activity, especially in light of the recent Russian launch against one of its own satellites, which generated a multitude of objects in orbit (see EUROPE 12836/16). The fight against debris was highlighted by Finland, the Netherlands, Hungary, France and Latvia.
Space traffic management (STM) was almost systematically mentioned by the ministers, who all recognised the coordinating role that the Union could play and its place in international bodies, particularly within the UN. Luxembourg insisted on a step-by-step approach, first of all for finding a European agreement to carry weight on the international scene. The role of the European Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) system, was regularly mentioned. Greece emphasised its geographical location for the monitoring of objects in this respect.
Financing was at the heart of the interventions. Most recognised a European problem: a lack of appetite for risk investments. The European Cassini initiative, which is supposed to support SMEs in the space sector and has a budget of €1 billion, was welcomed by many states, but several of them, such as Croatia, said this amount was insufficient. Others, such as Italy and the Czech Republic, said they considered it a first step. Portugal, Spain and Italy mentioned the use of the Recovery and Resilience Plan to finance this emerging space sector. Malta stressed the importance of avoiding duplication between different European programmes.
An approach compatible with an empowerment strategy
At a press conference, responding to EUROPE, Commissioner Breton said that private investment was fully compatible with a strategic and empowering vision, citing as an example what was being done in the European Defence Fund.
Pressed by another particularly critical journalist, the Commissioner said that the European position on space traffic management remained ambitious. Responding to EUROPE on the STM, he stressed that different options were being explored (a communication is planned for 2022). Regarding the constellation, he indicated that the private sector will play a key role, but that there will be a strong public component, as it is a sovereign entity. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)