Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-19-Speech-3-231"
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Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, I am very grateful to Mr Pribetich for giving me the opportunity to begin a speech on a highly technical subject with a line from a poem by my favourite French poet Guillaume Apollinaire: ‘
I believe that the French Presidency has already taken considerable steps towards giving European space policy the importance which it genuinely deserves.
However, one thing still needs to be resolved. The Community budget only provides research funding for GMES. We have no operational funds. Next year, we will need a small amount of operational funding for the first time and this has already been cleared with the budgetary authority. However, we need to find a long-term solution, because it is clear that GMES is not a system which will fund itself. It will generate an income, but this will never cover the costs. GMES is a European infrastructure project and this is how we need to look at it in order to ensure that long-term funding is available.
Next year, we will draw up an accurate schedule and action plan for the future implementation of the GMES initiative. In summary, in 2009 the Commission will present a proposal for financing the initial deployment of GMES in 2011 on the basis of a detailed impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis.
Galileo has already been discussed. I simply want to say here that, as a result of the effective cooperation between the institutions, the Galileo and EGNOS programmes now have a solid legal basis and can be put into operation. The implementation of Galileo and EGNOS also forms part of the plan but, of course, we need to find out whether the requirement in the GNSS Regulation to complete the Galileo system by 2013 can also be met by industry. This will become clear in the course of the tendering procedure.
I would like to urge the European space industry to make use of the major opportunity presented by Galileo, to work together with us as closely as possible and to mobilise all of its resources. For us, Galileo is one of the most important, if not the most important, industrial policy projects and we must ensure that it runs smoothly.
This involves issues raised by the resolution, such as the questions of competition which arise in relation to international business practices and public procurement markets. It is true that different international regulations govern the procurement practices in the space industry. These practices differ depending on whether services or goods are being procured and, above all, depending on which countries have signed the relevant agreements. During the process of awarding contracts for the Galileo deployment phase, the Commission has strictly applied the principle of reciprocity and we hope that this has given a boost to the negotiations with third countries on the mutual opening up of markets.
One final point, and I am very grateful that Parliament has considered this, is the question of the involvement of small and medium-sized companies in European space activities. This is very important to me, because there are only a few large-scale European players in the space industry. There are only a handful of European countries which can really have a presence in space. However, many others are making contributions and I am very pleased to see that specialist space technology is increasingly being developed in a number of Member States, particularly the new Member States, by small and medium-sized companies which are providing often extremely complex and highly advanced products and services. For this reason, it is important that we ensure that small and medium-sized companies are given an appropriate proportion of the orders on major projects. This proportion is set at 40% and the Commission will do everything in its power to make sure that the proportion is adhered to.
This is not a purely economic issue, it is also a political question, because this will allow us to ensure that European space-related activities are not regarded simply as the privilege of a few large European countries, but are seen as something which all 27 countries are involved in and can benefit from.
We have made major progress in recent years and, for the first time, we have a European space policy, which we have never had before. We have a framework for a common European policy in which the Commission plays a coordinating role. We have achieved a high level of agreement on the strategic, environmental and economic importance of the space policy for Europe. No one opposes this. I would like to highlight specifically the meeting of the European Space Council at the end of July at the Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana, where, for the first time, it became clear that Europe is ready for this new departure into space.
We have also been able to demonstrate that the European space industry is highly competitive. When we compare the money which Europe can spend on activities in space with that which our American friends spend, for example, we are in a good position. Europe plays a leading role in satellite technology and in carrier rocket technology. We have the best carrier rocket systems in the world. In Kourou, we have an infrastructure which is not to be found anywhere else in the world. Our contribution to the International Space Station in the form of the space laboratory demonstrates the high level of European space technology. I am also very pleased that the ESA has carried out a whole series of successful research expeditions within our solar system which other countries have not been able to achieve.
As Europeans, we have absolutely no reason for hiding behind others. The collaboration between the European Commission and the ESA is excellent and the division of work is functioning smoothly. Against the background of this effective cooperation, there is not the slightest reason to consider changing the structures in this area.
However, there are problems which we still have to solve. As Europeans, we have no independent access to space. We cannot send people into space or bring them back again. We have to decide whether or not we want to be dependent on others in the long term. I do not want to hide my own opinion from you. Europe needs an independent and secure means of access to space. We will also have to consider what form the next major missions to research the solar system should take. In my opinion, the next large-scale missions can only be regarded as tasks carried out on behalf of the whole of the human race. We should avoid all types of national or regional competition. In any case, our policy aims to achieve the highest possible level of cooperation. This will be the subject of the conference which Mr Jouyet has just been speaking about and which the Commission is organising next year.
To ensure that it is clear to everyone, we want to discuss what will be the next major mission that goes beyond the pure technical application of space-based technologies. What is the next large-scale mission, the next major objective which will satisfy the human urge to explore space? Space-based technology is completely indispensable to our civilisation, our security and our economy. You only need to think of all our communication technology or the financial markets, which would not function at all without satellites.
It is right that there should be a strong security component to this policy. We are not trying to ignore that. We have been able to establish a regular and structured dialogue between the Council and the Commission, which includes the European Defence Agency and the EU Satellite Centre. This dialogue is intended to result in improved coordination between civilian, security and defence-related space activities.
From the perspective of the environment, the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) system, which is currently under development, represents the European response to the global environmental crisis. This system will provide us with the data and information we need to act and react with foresight when disasters occur. Of course, our two flagship projects – GMES and Galileo – are making an important contribution to the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy by ensuring that there is a strong industrial and technological basis in Europe for space-based applications.
As far as GMES is concerned, I am very pleased to be able to tell you that, only a few days ago, the Commission accepted a communication at my suggestion which relates to the organisation of the funding and the questions of cooperation with GMES. The Competitiveness Council will be looking at this in a few days. It is true to say that GMES is on the right track. The first demonstration projects have started and, as far as I can see, we will be able to meet the schedule. We are in full agreement with the ESA about the space-based infrastructure of GMES. The ESA has already made good progress on the development of the European satellites which we need for this system, so the prospects are good."@en1
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