WRITTEN QUESTION E-3533/03 by Christine De Veyrac (PPE-DE) to the Council. European Space Policy — budget.
Date: 2003-11-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community budget, EU policy, European Space Agency, aerospace industry, cooperation policy, space policy, space research

C 84 E/246

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

(2004/C 84 E/0291)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3531/03

by Rijk van Dam (EDD) to the Council

(28 November 2003)

Subject: Statements by the President of the Transport Council after the informal Transport Council

in

Verona

After the informal ministerial meeting of Transport Ministers in Verona, at which safety on motorways was
considered, the President of the Transport Council, Mr Lunardi, suggested that the speed limit on certain
motorways in Italy should be raised experimentally to 150 km/h.

Is the President of the Transport Council aware of the Commission’s plans in the field of road safety,

1.
as set out in the White Paper on ‘European transport policy for 2010’?

2.
Does the President of the Transport Council agree with the objectives stated in the White Paper
regarding the number of people killed on the roads in the period up to 2010, namely that the number
should be halved from approximately 40 000 to approximately 20 000?

3.
Does the President of the Transport Council consider that the experiment he proposes would
contribute to the objectives of the White Paper as regards the number of people killed on the roads? If so,
how?

Reply

(9 March 2004)

The Council would remind the Honourable Member that it does not comment on public statements of the
kind referred to in the question.

(2004/C 84 E/0292)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3533/03

by Christine De Veyrac (PPE-DE) to the Council

(28 November 2003)

Subject: European Space Policy (cid:1) budget

On 27 November 2003 the Competitiveness Council will meet to consider the Commission’s White Paper
on European space policy.

At a time when our space industry is going through a difficult period, when the United States is stepping
up its investment in civil and military research, when several emerging countries (China, Brazil and India)
are gradually joining the ranks of the space powers and when discussions are beginning on the Union’s
financial perspective for 2007-2013, the European Union must assert its ambitions.

The development of space technologies will have major implications: it will strengthen our economic
competitiveness, provide the necessary resources for an independent defence and security policy, improve
our environmental control capacity, reduce the digital divide, etc. To these practical applications should be
added a clear financial benefit: all the relevant surveys show that one euro invested in space applications
generates a turnover of EUR 7 to EUR 8.

These factors would justify an unprecedented investment in the field of space technology, an investment
which has consistently been supported by Europe’s political representatives.

Given the above, does the Council intend to support the commitment to space technology called for
jointly by Parliament and the Commission?

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/247

Will it accept the White Paper’s recommendation that EU spending in the field of space policy be increased
by 4,6 %, starting in 2004?

Reply

(11 March 2004)

The importance which the Council attaches to the development of a European space policy is

1.
reflected in a number of recent initiatives taken in this area, in particular:

(cid:1) the Council Resolution of 27 November 2003 on the contribution of industrial policy to European
competitiveness, which ‘inter alia’ stresses the need for a consolidated industrial and institutional
approach to maintain and develop the European space industry and foster co-operation between the
European Space Agency and the European Union (1);

(cid:1) the signature of the EC-ESA Framework Agreement on 25 November 2003 (2) as well as the Council

Resolution of 13 May 2003 on European Space Policy, foreshadowing this agreement (3).

2.
Following the EC-ESA Framework Agreement, the first concrete steps towards the implementation of
an overall space policy are currently being undertaken and the necessary administrative arrangements are
being worked out to develop close cooperation between the services of the Commission and ESA.

3.
The Honourable Member’s attention is further drawn to the Commission’s Legislative and Work
Programme 2004 (4) and the Commission communication on a European initiative for Growth (5), which
list the Galileo and GMES initiatives among their key priorities. These initiatives, as well as other aspects of
space policy, will be further pursued during the coming months with the holding of the first meeting of
the ‘Space Council’, which brings decision makers on space matters together at the European political level.

The Honourable Member will be aware that the Commission’s White Paper entitled ‘Space: a new
4.
European frontier for an expanding Union (cid:1) An action plan for implementing the European Space
policy’ (6) was presented to the Council by the Commission on 27 November 2003. Discussion of the
Commission’s White Paper has therefore only been of a preliminary character; further in-depth discussions
will take place during the first semester of 2004.

The financial implications of the White Paper will need to be closely examined and it is therefore not
possible, at the present juncture, for the Council to take a position on the 4,6 % increase or on the
alternative financial scenarios.

(1) Doc. 15472/03 Compet 77 IND 175 MI 305 RECH 243 Ecofin 393 RC 23 WTO 139 TEXT 25 TRANS 330 SOC

507 SAN 256.

(2) Doc. 12858/03 RECH 152 OC 589.
(3) Doc. 9341/03 Compet 26 IND 73 MI 104 RECH 87 Polarm 13 Telecom 76.
(4) Doc. 14510/03 INST 190.
(5) Doc. 14893/03 Ecofin 340 FIN 498 ECO 237 TRANS 294 ENER 308 RECH 212 SOC 473.
(6) Doc. 14893/03 RECH 211 Compet 62 IND 164 TRANS 293 Polarm 36.

(2004/C 84 E/0293)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3572/03

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(5 December 2003)

Subject: Lloyds of London

What consideration did the Commission give to the letter from the Lloyds Names Association of early
2003; and what comment does the Commission have on the Court finding of July 2003 that Lloyd’s was
in breach of the obligations in Article 19 of the pertinent Directive?