EU Ministers have been invited by the French Presidency of the Council of the EU to hold a policy debate on the issue of the resilience and competitiveness of the EU Space Programme at the ‘Space Council’ on Friday 10 June.
The French Presidency is asking the national delegations a single question in order to gather their opinions on how to strengthen the resilience of the EU space programme while reconciling the challenges of competitiveness. The space race has restarted in recent years. International competition from private actors is increasingly aggressive. For the EU, it is important to take its place on the world stage and to strengthen its autonomous access to space and space technologies.
This debate follows on from the February 2021 communication on an action plan for synergies between the civilian, defence and space industries and the March 2022 Versailles summit. Most importantly, it follows the presentation in February 2022 of the proposal for a regulation establishing a new space infrastructure for secure connectivity.
Due to a busy agenda, the French Presidency of the EU Council did not wish to add a debate on the regulation on a constellation for secure connectivity.
The ministers will adopt a set of conclusions on the future of the Copernicus earth observation programme up to 2035 and another on space traffic management (see EUROPE 12962/23).
In addition, the Czech Republic will present its work programme for the next six months when it will hold the Presidency of the EU Council. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)