Commission and European Space Agency enhance cooperation
At a meeting of the European Commission's President Delors and Vice-President Pandolfi with the Director-General of the European Space Agency Jean-Marie Luton (14 September 1992) it was agreed that it is necessary to enhance the complementarity between European space technologies and their optimum use in the pursuit of Community policy. The effectiveness of Europe's efforts in this field will increase through coordination of the measures taken by the two bodies. The use of earth observation satellites in support of Community policies in sectors such as the environment, agriculture and aid to developing countries is an important area for cooperation, enabling Europe to play a major role in the growing interaction between various regions of the world. A joint initiative by the Commission and the Agency aims to ensure the availability of earth observation satellite data in Europe via the establishment of an acquisition, processing and transmission network. In addition, the Community's RTD Framework Programme will take into consideration needs and possibilities regarding the use of space technologies in the improvement of technological synergy between the space and non-space sectors. Such coordination is particularly important in the telecommunications sector to ensure optimum use of European satellite communications technologies and to boost European industrial competitivity. Concerted action is also desirable with regard to non-Member countries, particularly those of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS, in order to assert Europe's presence in this strategic sector of considerable importance to its economic development, and to maximize the international cooperation prospects offered by space programmes.