The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU has called for work on the “fair and sustainable” use of space in a draft conclusion dated 20 March, which will be discussed by the Space Working Party on 28 March, and of which EUROPE has a copy.
In this draft, the EU Council calls on Member States and the European Commission to promote the development of mitigation measures “in order to minimise future space debris and to promote debris remediation research activities in order to manage the existing amount of debris, while enhancing European competitiveness”.
Member States and the European Commission are also invited to further implement the 21 voluntary guidelines on the long-term sustainability of space activities. They are encouraged, together with the European External Action Service, to develop a “concerted and coordinated” approach on how to achieve effective implementation of these guidelines which state “a European long-term sustainable approach”.
Member States and the European Commission should also exchange best practices on launch licensing, safety procedures and measures to ensure the sustainable use of space under national space laws, in order to establish consistent approaches between the EU and its Member States.
In addition, the EU Council could encourage the Commission, in close cooperation with Member States, to study the requirements that satellite service providers offering services to Europeans should meet in order to ensure “a safe, secure and sustainable use of space”, while enhancing European competitiveness.
The European Commission could be asked to consider incentives to encourage satellite service providers to use non-legally binding instruments to promote the sustainable use of space.
Member States might be asked to manage the distribution of frequencies to ensure the fair and sustainable use of space. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)