Commission sets out first ever European Space Policy
The European Commission has unveiled its vision for the first ever European Space Policy, designed to pool the resources of Member States to maintain the competitiveness of Europe's space industries. The proposal, jointly drafted by the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA), focuses on making more effective use of resources by combining efforts, as single Member States would not be able to face global challenges alone. 'Without the European Space Policy Europe could become irrelevant. With this communication on the European Space Policy we intend to live up to Europe's global leadership aspirations in important industrial and research areas, which will provide growth and jobs for the future.' said Günter Verheugen, EU Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry. Under the proposal, the EU, ESA and Member States will coordinate their civil space programmes to make effective use of their budget and eliminate unnecessary duplication to secure the economic and societal benefits of space for its citizens. The new space policy also calls for improved cooperation and better synergies between civilian and defence space programmes, drawing on multiple use technology and common standards to allow more cost effective solutions. Military capability will remain within the remit of Member States so all action taken would be within the acceptable limits of their national sovereignty. The EU has launched several ambitious European flagship space programmes, such as the Galileo project, a network of 30 satellites aimed at competing with the US Global Positioning System (GPS). With the global market for satellite navigation expected to reach €400 billion by 2025, Europe is keen to establish and exploit a sustainable global civil navigation satellite system under its control. The Commission is also preparing to launch the Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security (GMES), which aims to find an efficient system of combining data collected from satellites and other information on the two issues. Once in operation, the system will supply the EU with independent environment, security and climate change information, which will help public authorities deal with adverse weather conditions and crises. Despite the relative low European investment in space, whose budget is five times smaller than in the United States, European space industry is highly competitive and secures 40% of world markets for manufacturing, launching and operating satellites. In 2005, the European space manufacturing industry generated a turnover of €4.4 billion, with a workforce of 28,000. However, the time is not for complacency according to EU Commissioner Verheugen, pointing to new and emerging competitors, China and India. So, European policies will seek to facilitate the introduction of innovative services to keep pace with the competition and the EU will invest in advancing technology developments to achieve convergence and interoperability between terrestrial and satellite-based networking sectors. The newly proposed policy also outlines an indicative budget for major European-level activities for the period running from 2007 to 2013. The Commission is set to fund space-related activities to the tune of €3 billion, with much of the money coming from the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), and ESA will invest some €23 billion. The overall national contributions are expected to amount to around €14 billion. Finally, as space policy will increasingly gain an EU dimension, the goal for closer and more efficient cooperation between the Commission and ESA will continue, and both organisations are evaluating scenarios for optimising the organisation of space activities in Europe. 'ESA has for more than 30 years successfully developed space systems and infrastructures. We are eager to respond to the new challenges of the European Space Policy,' said ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain. Member States will meet to discuss and endorse the new European Space Policy on 22 May in Brussels at Europe's Fourth Space Council Meeting.