Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said that the future European Sovereignty Fund will also contribute to the resilience of the space sector, during an online speech at the opening of Space Week 2022 on Tuesday 4 October.
Referring to the announcements made by the President of the European Commission (see EUROPE 13021/5) and the consultation on a future legislative act on raw materials (see EUROPE 13032/2 and 13033/27), Commissioner Breton said that the future Fund will aim to “ensure that the future of the industry is made in Europe”.
“This fund should be used to address critical dependencies and improve European autonomy, including in the space sector”, he said. The Commissioner suggested in September that the future European Fund should be funded by common debt, as was done for the Recovery and Resilience Facility (see EUROPE 13022/11).
In addition, he noted the many fronts opened by the European Commission to support the European space sector: - the acceleration of the second generation of Galileo; - the setting up of the expansion missions of the Copernicus programme; - the launch of the future Connectivity constellation.
Furthermore, counting on the billion euros injected into the Cassini programme, the Commissioner intends to make the European Union “the global hub for space entrepreneurship”. In addition, he said he would present a first European space strategy for security and defence early next year, together with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Space Week 2022 is organised by the European Commission, the EU Space Programme Agency (EUSPA, based in Prague) and the Czech Presidency of the EU Council. The event takes place in Prague from 3 to 6 October and brings together about 2,500 participants, mainly users and private actors (start-ups, SMEs and large industries). The objective is to consolidate and expand a space ecosystem around the EU space programme. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)