Council Resolution of 21 May 2007 on the European Space Policy
Date: 2007-05-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU policy, new technology, space policy, space research, space technology

20.6.2007

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Official Journal of the European Union

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I

(Resolutions, recommendations, guidelines and opinions)

RESOLUTIONS

COUNCIL

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 21 May 2007

on the European Space Policy

(2007/C 136/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

HAVING REGARD to the Framework Agreement between the
European Community and the European Space Agency, entered
into force in May 2004 and the increasing cooperation between
the two parties,

RECALLING the orientations of the ‘Space Council’ meetings of
25 November 2004, 7 June 2005 and 28 November 2005,

RECALLING the decisions of the ESA Council at Ministerial
level in 2005 and the adoption of the European Community's
Seventh Framework Programme in 2006, implying a long-term
commitment to support the development of the GMES space
component and for GMES data access,

HAVING REGARD to the United Nations Outer Space Treaty
framework,

responding to European policies and objectives, RECOGNISING
that the exploration of space contributes to answer far-reaching
questions on the origin and evolution of life in the Universe as
well as on the fundamental laws of physics,

UNDERLINING that space represents a significant element of
Europe's Sustainable Development Strategy and is relevant to
the Common Foreign and Security Policy, supporting their goals
by providing vital information on critical global issues such as
on Climate Change (1) and humanitarian aid,

RECOGNISING that for these reasons Europe cannot afford to
lose out securing the benefits of space for its citizens and its
policies and that Europe's space policy will allow Europe to
continue to develop and make the best use of world class space
infrastructures and applications, in order to stay a major player,
solve global problems and improve the quality of life,

I VISION FOR EUROPE AND GENERAL STRATEGY

EMPHASISING that all of Europe's space activities contribute to
the goals and fully respect the principles set out by the United
Nations' ‘Outer Space Treaty’, in particular:

HIGHLIGHTING that the space sector is a strategic asset contri-
buting to the independence, security and prosperity of Europe
and its role in the world and RECOGNISING the actual and
potential contributions from space activities towards the Lisbon
strategy for growth and employment by providing enabling
technologies and services for the emerging European knowledge
society and contributing to European cohesion,

EMPHASISING the unique contributions space-based systems
can provide to the overall research effort and to applications

— the exploration and use of outer space for the benefit and in
the interests of all countries and the recognition of outer
space as a province of all mankind,

(1) With reference to the recent report of the United Nations' Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate Change and the significant contribution
space-based information systems can provide in this context for the
future of our planet.

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— the use of outer space for exclusively peaceful purposes,

— the promotion of international co-operation in the explora-

tion and use of outer space,

and that Europe supports the on-going efforts of the United
Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
(COPUOS) on the mitigation and prevention of space debris,

RECOGNISING the inspirational ability of space activities in
attracting young people into science and engineering,

HIGHLIGHTING the rapid growth of the markets for satellite-
based navigation and telecommunication applications,

EMPHASISING that Europe is among the leading space-faring
actors in the world and remains committed to maintaining its
position both via strengthened intra-European and international
cooperation,

1. WELCOMES AND SUPPORTS the document on the Euro-
pean Space Policy, presented as a proposal of
the ESA
Director General and as a Communication of the European
Commission, as a next step in establishing a coordinated and
effective European space effort at the service of the European
citizens,

2. TAKES NOTE OF the ‘Preliminary elements’ of the European
Space Programme associated with the ESP as a strategic plan-
ning tool, comprising all major space activities in Europe
thereby supporting the optimization of public resources and
skills when deciding and implementing the space policy,

3. INVITES the Member States to continue to support European
objectives and European-level programmes including, where
appropriate, with their national programmes and activities,
thereby ensuring effectiveness and complementarity as to the
European effort,

4. INVITES the European Commission,

the ESA Director
General and Member States, within the scope of the Frame-
work Agreement, to monitor and evaluate the implementa-
tion of the European Space Policy,

II FURTHER STEPS — PROGRAMMES AND IMPLEMENTATION

A. APPLICATIONS

5. WELCOMES the combined efforts of ESA and the European
Union to implement large user-oriented initiatives such as
GMES and GALILEO as well as the beginning efforts for
increased development and exploitation of space related inte-
grated applications, including in particular satellite communi-
cation services,

WELCOMES the European Commission's activities to further
federate user-driven institutional demand in Europe, stem-
ming from the policies of the European Union,

CALLS FOR the introduction of regular independent quality
and cost-efficiency assessments of large user-oriented space-
based initiatives, involving users and Member States, with the
objective of validating quality, relevance and cost-efficient
performance of the overall systems and their services in the
operational phase in order to further strengthen the user
oriented approach,

6. RECOGNIZES the strategic value of sustainability for GMES
and REAFFIRMS the objective for an operational and autono-
mous capability for GMES before the end of 2008 and
to
EMPHASISES that
propose for GMES in due time and after full consultation
with Member States and ESA, arrangements for:

the European Commission needs

(i) financing, including facilitation of funding by the users

(ii) operational infrastructures, and

(iii) effective management — to become fully operational
and to ensure sustainable services responding to identi-
fied user needs,

WELCOMES the initiatives under the Austrian and German
EU Presidencies towards the European Earth Observation
Services GMES (i.e.
the Graz Dialogue and the Munich
Roadmap),

WELCOMES the approach to set up a preparatory action of
the European Commission for
the operational phase of
GMES,

REAFFIRMS that GMES will use to the maximum extent
possible existing capacities on European and national level,
complementing each other,

7. SUPPORTS the joint efforts of the European institutions, ESA
and the European industry to establish in the coming years a
commercially sustainable global civil navigation satellite
system under European civil control,

B. SECURITY AND DEFENCE

in a user-driven approach,

8. RECOGNIZES that space technologies are often common
between civilian and defence applications and that Europe
coordination
can,
between defence and civilian space programmes, pursuing in
particular the synergies in the domain of security, whilst
respecting the specific requirements of both sectors and the
independent decision competences and financing schemes,

improve

AFFIRMS the need to set up a structured dialogue with the
competent bodies of the Member States and within the EU
Second and Third Pillars and the European Defence Agency
for optimizing synergies between all aspects of the European
Space Policy within the framework of the existing attribution
of competences,

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RECOGNISES that the uses made by any military users of
GALILEO or GMES must be consistent with the principle
that GALILEO and GMES are civil systems under civil
control, and consequently that any change to this principle
would require examination in the framework of Title V/TEU
and in particular Articles 17 and 23 thereof, as well as in the
framework of the ESA Convention,

C. ACCESS TO SPACE

9. EMPHASISES the vital importance for Europe to maintain an
independent, reliable and cost-effective access to space at
affordable conditions, as underlined in the EC-ESA Frame-
work Agreement and in the Resolution on the evolution of
sector adopted during the ESA
the European launcher
Council at Ministerial level in 2005, bearing in mind that a
critical mass of launcher activities is a precondition for the
viability of this sector,

RECOGNIZES the need for Europe to take advantage in a
coherent way of the launcher assets under its control,

INVITES the ESA Director General to ensure continued devel-
opment and coordination of European technological capabil-
ities in order to pursue the long-term competitiveness of the
European launcher sector with the objective to maintain and
increase the presence in the commercial market,

D. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AND EXPLORATION

10. EMPHASISES the political and scientific importance of the
International Space Station (ISS) and of exploration, and
REAFFIRMS the continued strong and unified European
commitment regarding its ISS contributions undertaken by
ESA and its Member States,

CALLS on the international partners to the ISS to continue
their support to ensure that the objectives of ISS partner-
ship are maintained in their entirety, and STRESSES that the
continuity of such partnership is an asset for future explora-
tion endeavours,

ENCOURAGES the utilization of the ISS for research and
development in the European Community's research frame-
work programme,

EMPHASISES the importance of a proactive ESA participa-
tion in the preparation of future international exploration
programmes, with the objective of ensuring a significant
targeted and coordinated European role in this endeavour,

E. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

11. STRESSES the goal of maintaining world class scientific
programmes and a clear European leading role in selected
areas contributing to the build-up of the European Research
Area,

RECOGNISES that the existing combined European skills
and efforts, in particular in the frame of ESA, allow Europe
to succeed in the most challenging enterprises and to reach
a level of excellence for discovery and innovation in the
global context,

CALLS on the European Commission, ESA and Member
States to stimulate educational programmes in Europe,

EMPHASISES the importance of innovation and technolo-
gical development also for the competitiveness of industry
and the commercial success of its products and services,

STRESSES the need for a targeted approach for the develop-
ment of strategic components, concentrating on selected
for which dependency of European
critical components,
industry on international suppliers should be avoided,
in
order to achieve the optimum balance between technolo-
gical independence, strategic cooperation with international
partners and reliance on market forces,

F. GOVERNANCE

12. APPRECIATES that ESA has,

for more than 30 years,
provided an efficient structure for European cooperation on
joint space projects, which could require though further
flexibility and some evolution, and NOTES that the inde-
pendence and reliability of ESA, thanks to the growing
support of its Member States, contributes to the increasing
role of Europe through the successful development of the
European space sector and to the strong position of Euro-
pean space industry on world markets,

REAFFIRMS the roles and responsibilities of the European
Union, ESA and Member States, as identified in the Orienta-
tions of the second meeting of the ‘Space Council’. On the
basis of such roles and in order to draw advantage of ESA
experience and institutional setting, CALLS on the Euro-
pean Commission to draw on the management and tech-
nical expertise of ESA for managing the European Com-
munity-funded R&D space infrastructure programmes with
ESA coordinating the relevant agencies and entities in
Europe,

Such ESA role should also include:

— supporting the European Commission as

technical
in the elaboration of European Community
expert
initiatives involving space-related activities and relevant
work programmes, and in the selection and monitoring
of relevant work contractors,

— the management by ESA of European Community
space-related activities in accordance with the rules of
the European Community,

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INVITES Member States — under the coordination of ESA
— and in the case of significant European Community
activities, in close cooperation with the European Commis-
sion:

— to provide the best expertise for European space
programmes (such as GMES-Space Component, explora-
tion programmes and future launcher programmes),

— to increase synergy between national, ESA and EC
contributions to these programmes leading progres-
sively to an integrated programmatic approach while
respecting national sovereignty,

SUPPORTS the continuation of the Framework Agreement
beyond May 2008 as the basis for the cooperation between
the European Community and ESA, in the understanding
that the Framework Agreement and its implementation will
be periodically assessed and improved,
if necessary, and
RECALLING the invitation expressed in the orientations of
the second meeting of the Space Council for a wide-ranging
appraisal of possible cost-efficient scenarios for optimizing
the organization of space activities in Europe,
INVITES
Member States, the European Commission and the ESA
Director General to look for possible improvements of this
cooperation, in order to further develop the orientations of
the second meeting of the Space Council into more opera-
tional and practical arrangements, notably with regard to
the issues listed in Annex 1,

13. RECOGNIZES the valuable contribution to the European
Space Programme made by EUMETSAT, and INVITES
EUMETSAT to keep participating in future meetings of the
Space Council as an observer,

G INDUSTRIAL POLICY

14. RECOGNIZES that ESA has a flexible and effective indus-
trial policy based on cost-efficiency, competitiveness, fair
distribution of activities and competitive bidding, which
secures adequate industrial capacities, global competitive-
ness and a high degree of inner-European competition for
efficient European cooperation on joint space projects, thus

providing the basis for the successful development of space
in Europe,

EMPHASISES in this context in particular the political and
economic dimension of ESA's ‘fair return’ principle; and the
importance to assess and improve, when necessary,
the
implementation of the ‘fair return’ principle in view of the
future challenges for industry to remain competitive in a
changing environment worldwide while maintaining, and
possibly increasing, Member States' motivation to invest in
space,

15. EMPHASISES the crucial role of SMEs and the supplier
industry for innovation and the exploration of new market
opportunities,

16. INVITES the European Commission to develop adequate
instruments and funding schemes for Community actions
in the space domain, addressing notably the issues listed in
Annex 2, taking into account the specificities of the space
sector, the need to strengthen its overall and its industry's
competitiveness and the necessity of a balanced industrial
structure,

H. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

17. INVITES the European Commission,

the ESA Director
General and the Member States to develop and pursue a
joint strategy and establish a coordination mechanism on
international relations. This strategy should be consistent
with Member State activities and is aimed at strengthening
Europe's role in the global space field and at benefiting
from international cooperation, notably with respect to the
issues listed in Annex 3,

I. IMPLEMENTATION

18. INVITES the European Commission and the ESA Director
General to propose an implementation plan for the Euro-
pean Space Policy in order to establish a process of regular
monitoring and priority setting, taking also into account
the issues listed in the Annexes.

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ANNEX 1

Key issues for further developing the orientations of the second meeting of the Space Council into more opera-
tional and practical arrangements

— Developing financial instruments suitable for an efficient implementation of space projects,

— Identifying final users of GMES services and their needs; develop an integrated and customized offer, including also

the regional and local level,

— Defining the conditions under which satellites belonging to Member States and their data and services will be made
available to GMES; the treatment of the contributions of national programmes to EU-initiatives, here in particular
GMES.

ANNEX 2

Key issues to be considered in the implementation of instruments and funding schemes for Community actions

— Developing a coherent data policy — including data access and pricing — conducive to the rapid development of the

space services sector,

— Encouraging new financing schemes such as Public/Private Partnerships in the market for space applications and

services, including through public support for R&D,

— Provision of suitable measures in support of

technological

innovation,

involving lead-market

initiatives, public

procurement and support for suppliers and small and medium-sized companies and industries.

Key issues to be considered in the development of a strategy for international relations

ANNEX 3

— Improving access to third markets for European space products and services,

— Reducing the cost of acquiring space systems by the targeted use of international cooperation,

— Enabling Europe to participate in ambitious programmes the cost of which is too great for any one space power,

— Attracting international partners to European conceived programmes, like in the case of Galileo and reinforcing the

contribution of Europe to global initiatives, like in the case of GMES,

— Making full use of the potential of space systems for sustainable development, namely in support of developing coun-

tries, in particular in Africa.