MEPs on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) intend to strengthen the environmental dimension of the future constellation for secure connectivity by nearly unanimously (58 votes in favour and one abstention) adopting the report by Christophe Grudler (Renew Europe, French) on Thursday, 13 October.
The rapporteur, who also received unequivocal support (unanimity of votes cast) from his counterparts to open negotiations with the EU Council, rejoiced on his Twitter account, “Ad Astra for the new European Connectivity satellites!” “Now it’s time for negotiations with the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Commission. We hope for a quick result, so that we can launch this major Programme and these new European satellites as soon as possible”, he concluded.
According to several sources, negotiations with the shadow rapporteurs took place in an atmosphere that was consensual to such an extent that the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs from five political groups (without The Left and Identity and Democracy, however) signed a joint press release.
The environmental issue is one of the salient points of the European Parliament’s position. “We have, for the first time ever, sustainability guidelines in a separate article”, a source stated with delight.
As we previously reported (see EUROPE 13023/8), MEPs are proposing to create a new article (Article 6a) dedicated to the sustainability of environmental and space activity, notably in order to limit space debris with the presentation of a mitigation plan, reduce the carbon footprint with the implementation of a scheme to offset the remaining greenhouse gas emissions, and limit light pollution (a particularly worrying issue for the American constellation Starlink that hinders certain ground-based astronomical observations).
MEPs call on the European Commission to collect data on the programme’s environmental impact and give it the option to adopt delegated acts in order to implement requirements related to space surveillance and tracking.
Moreover, MEPs put forward the need to ensure “affordable” internet access, especially for remote areas in Europe, such as the outermost regions and even the Arctic. It is notably a matter of emphasising strategic areas and Africa, a continent that has always been an important component of the constellation programme.
In general, MEPs highlighted the “Swiss Army knife” dimension of the future constellation, for the variety of services it will provide, while insisting on the fact that the heart of the project remains consolidating telecommunications capacities.
As for the budgetary issue (Article 11), the ITRE Committee aligned itself, as we had announced, with the opinion of the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) by using the unallocated budget margins under the Multiannual Financial Framework ceilings. “This will certainly be the most difficult point of negotiation, since the [European] Parliament and the [EU] Council will each have to take a step towards the other, given their opposing positions”, a source revealed to us.
An initial interinstitutional meeting with the EU Council, which settled on its position at the end of June (see EUROPE 12989/9), is scheduled for 27 October. A second interinstitutional meeting is expected to take place on 17 November. The objective—both on the European Parliament’s side and the EU Council’s side—is reportedly to reach a political agreement after two meetings.
The European Commission had presented in mid-February of this year a Secure Connectivity Programme for the 2023–2027 period—whose primary objective is to provide the EU and Member States’ government entities with highly secure services—integrating the GOVSATCOM component of the EU’s space programme as well as commercial telecommunications services.
To consult the compromise amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/3ln (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)