In their conclusions on Friday 23 May, Europe’s Space Ministers stressed the importance of processing space data to strengthen the EU’s resilience (see EUROPE 13646/27).
“Growing political and geopolitical tension, the more frequent natural disasters and the need for rapid and coordinated response to crisis situation where space technologies are becoming key element of EU security and resilience infrastructure. This is the clear need for us to invest and use those assets that we have”, explained the Polish Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Michał Baranowski, at the end of the EU Council meeting. He added that Earth observation-based technologies were becoming an essential tool for responding to crisis situations, protecting critical infrastructures and guaranteeing public safety.
While highlighting the work already done by the Copernicus, Galileo, Govsatcom and soon Iris² programmes, the European Commissioner for Space, Andrius Kubilius, felt that it was necessary to strengthen European capabilities in government observation, positioning, navigation and synchronisation services, as well as connectivity.
In their conclusions, the Ministers stressed the value of the existing programmes and instruments that support crisis management and civil protection, and expressed their support for their further development.
“Better collaboration on data processing in particular, but also of course on the collection and transmission of this data, is essential for our strategic autonomy”, said the Belgian Minister of Public Action and Modernisation, Vanessa Matz, on her arrival at the EU Council meeting.
The conclusions highlight the need for coordinated use of satellite data, particularly from the various Earth observation constellations, and call for the integration of existing and new systems. They also underline the importance of infrastructure interoperability and the use of common standards.
In addition, EU capabilities could be further developed through cooperation between Member States and better data collection and processing, including through the use of AI, according to the EU Council. The Member States also stress the need to protect satellite data collection, particularly against cyber threats, and to take measures to strengthen the security of EU data and infrastructures.
See the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/h0n
Increase funding for Space. On his arrival at the EU Council, the French Minister, Philippe Baptiste, insisted on appropriate funding for space activities, without giving any figures. He pointed out that the United States spends $75 billion a year, while Europe spends 16 billion.
“Europe is lagging far behind the United States and China in terms of investment, and the risk is that our industry and our space economy will fall behind. We need to invest, and the EU must be the driving force behind Europe through major programmes such as Iris², Copernicus and a future launcher programme”, he explained.
“Clearly, Europe is not spending enough compared to America. Today, the Director of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, gave a presentation which highlighted the fact that over the last five years, the share of European spending devoted to space has decreased, while others are devoting more money to it”, acknowledged the Polish Minister to Agence Europe.
“Defence and space are undoubtedly top priorities for us. It is clear that space is closely linked to defence”, added Mr Kubilius, hoping that some of the SAFE loans or the national opt-out clause would be used for projects linked to defence space services.
“We are well aware that, in order to continue exploiting the space systems we currently have, we will need a larger budget in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) than we have today (around €20 billion). So we need to increase our resources just for operations, but we are also looking at new programmes to develop, including government observation services”, he added, stressing that there was also the challenge of launch systems. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)