On Thursday 2 May, Christophe Grudler MEP (Renew Europe, French), the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the Iris² European satellite programme, expressed his concern about possible delays in the implementation of Iris², calling for every effort to be made to get the project up and running as quickly as possible.
In a press release, Mr Grudler highlighted the delays in relation to the planned timetable for the final award of the public contract, calling on “industry and the European Commission to do their utmost to ensure that the public contract is awarded quickly”. The Iris² Regulation entrusted the task of awarding contracts to the Commission.
“Industrialists must have confidence in this project and invest in it, because it will help to structure the European space sector in the coming years”, he stressed.
He also reiterated that “no interference in the process of awarding this contract can be tolerated, particularly on the part of the Member States”, while the German Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, demanded, in a letter addressed to Commissioner Thierry Breton dated from March and revealed by the daily Handelsblatt, the stay of proceedings launched in 2023, considering it to be “ill-conceived”.
Questioned by Agence Europe on 2 May, a Commission spokesman explained on Friday 3 May that European legislation prohibited the Commission from commenting on ongoing public procurement procedures.
He recalled that on 24 November 2023, the Commission had launched the 3rd phase of the public tender, asking the consortium to submit its best and final offer. “After an initial evaluation of the offer, the Commission invited the consortium to undertake an optimisation process. This process is currently underway”, he added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)