Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka assured that his country will do its utmost to advance interinstitutional negotiations on the regulation establishing a constellation for secure connectivity, without committing to a political agreement between co-legislators, on Wednesday 13 July, in front of the MEPs on the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE).
“Speaking of space infrastructure, it is s necessary to mention the main priority of the Czech Presidency in the area of space policy, which is undoubtedly the programme of secure connectivity”, said the Minister in his opening remarks.
“We see secure connectivity as a natural extension of the EU space programme with any robust satellite telecommunications system which will build on the GovSatCom system currently under preparation. We look forward to starting informal trilogues as soon as possible”, he added.
Pressed by the text’s rapporteur, Frenchman Christophe Grudler (Renew Europe), on the possibility of sealing an interinstitutional agreement by the end of 2023 to launch the programme from 2024, the minister was, however, very cautious. He recalled that the EU Council had adopted its position in June (see EUROPE 12982/10), but that the European Parliament would only take a position in October. “I can assure you that from our side we will be happy to move quickly. We are very interested in making this happen”, he said.
During his speech, the Minister stressed the need to take advantage of the huge amount of data generated by European space programmes. “We will certainly build on best practises, but we are also thinking hard about concrete measures and activities that will lead to wider use.” In this respect, he indicated that an event will be held on 6 and 7 October in Prague. However, as in the working group, the Czech Presidency is not saying whether it will submit conclusions.
Furthermore, the Minister stressed the need for the Union to have sufficient capacity to “design, develop, operate and exploit its satellite systems and to be able to protect them against external threats and we must therefore expand existing capacities”.
“We want to look at these elements in more detail and I would therefore like to invite you to one of the events of the Czech Presidency, European Space Week, which will take place in Prague at the beginning of October”.
The Minister was pressed several times, including by Martina Dlabajová (Renew Europe, Czech), on the issue of the role of SMEs and start-ups. He indicated that the issue of SMEs was a priority for the Czech Presidency. A start-up conference and Copernicus user forum will be held on 28-29 November in Prague.
A Competitiveness Council dedicated to space will be held on 2 December. On 7 December, an informal meeting of the accreditation authorities of the EU Member States, within the regular meeting of the European Space Programme Security Accreditation Board (EUSP SAB), will be organised by the EU Space Programme Agency (EUSPA). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)