The ministers of the EU Member States will gather in Seville on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 November for four meetings on space: the Council of European Space Agency (ESA) Member States on Monday, followed by an informal Competitiveness Council, an EU/ESA meeting and an EU/CELAC ministerial meeting on space.
On Monday, the ministers of the ESA Member States (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) will “take up Europe’s ambition to make progress in space for a green future, take decisive steps forward in exploration and secure Europe’s access to space, while paving the way for a paradigm shift towards a next generation of more competitive launchers”, according to ESA. The ministers are expected to take steps to make space “an even more important instrument” for managing climate change. At the same time, ESA intends to usher in a new era of modernisation in the delivery of its programmes, responding to the increasing commercialisation and privatisation of space activities, particularly in the areas of space transportation and space exploration.
On Tuesday, the informal competitiveness Council for space will meet on the theme of ‘Space as a strategic area to ensure Europe’s strategic autonomy and resilience’. The ministers will examine the measures to be taken by the EU to ensure the continuity and reinforcement of space infrastructure and services. Discussions will focus on measures to guarantee autonomous access to space and to increase the resilience of space infrastructure within the EU, including the replacement of satellite constellations and the deployment of future constellations.
The ministers will also consider proposals to reduce the EU’s strategic dependence in the aerospace value chain. The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council also wishes to discuss protecting Europe’s space resources and making them more competitive and resilient, as well as improving the technological autonomy of the European Union and its Member States.
Discussions will also focus on measures to guarantee autonomous access to space and to increase the resilience of space infrastructure within the EU, including the replacement of satellite constellations and the deployment of future constellations.
The European ministers will then meet with ESA officials. The EU/ESA meeting will focus on the theme of ‘Space for sustainability on the planet and in space’. The aim will be to discuss coordinated advances to ensure that space supports Europe’s green transition, sustainability in space, increased commercialisation in the European space ecosystem and guaranteed autonomous, reliable and cost-effective access to space for Europe.
Finally, the day will end with a meeting between ministers from the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), at which new forms of cooperation between the two regions in the space sector will be explored. According to the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the aim is to establish a high-level dialogue to discuss ways of strengthening the strategic partnership in the field of space and to define the main challenges and needs, as well as the programmes, instruments and forms of financing to achieve these objectives. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)