The Czech Presidency of the EU Council hopes to obtain a revised negotiating mandate on the regulation to establish a secure connectivity constellation at the meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives I (Coreper I) on Friday 11 November, with a view to resuming interinstitutional negotiations with the European Parliament on 17 November.
The Presidency is looking to find greater flexibility on the budgetary issue, in particular on the issue of decommitments and the use of margins from the Horizon Europe framework programme. The negotiations in this instance are partly linked to the position that Member States will adopt on the initiative on semi-conductors, the Chips Act, we were told. Regarding this last piece of legislation, Member States recently rejected the possibility of using decommitments that were higher than the €500 million ceiling (see EUROPE 13057/8).
However, the situation is slightly different for the constellation: the European Commission had not planned to use the decommitments for the constellation. The EU institution has reportedly shown a degree of openness during informal talks to use decommitments, according to one source. The ball is now in the court of Member States.
The other issue is the use of the margins from Horizon Europe. The European Parliament wants to use the margins; what remains to be seen is whether Member States are prepared to make a concession.
The two other points on which the Czech Presidency will sound out the national delegations relate to the role of the European Space Agency (ESA) in the development of the constellation (i.e. whether the European Commission’s recourse to ESA expertise should be compulsory or voluntary – see EUROPE 13052/12) as well as relating to launches only taking place from European territory. In other words, the application of a form of ‘European preference’, a long-discussed subject on the topic of European space policy.
The initial objective stated by the co-legislators is to reach a provisional interinstitutional agreement on 17 November. Everything is going to depend on the level of flexibility gained by the Czech Presidency on Friday. In terms of the European Parliament, the rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs will meet to affirm their negotiating position on Thursday 10 November. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)