Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-01-19-Speech-4-080-000"
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"en.20120119.4.4-080-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, space has now become a pressing topic. This is demonstrated by the acute media interest in the launch of the first two Galileo satellites, which were launched on 21 October 2011 from the European base of Kourou, representing the first step in achieving European Union independence in satellite navigation.
Only if we provide European industry with real, tangible prospects will we be able to demand that industry invest in human resources and complex long-term technologies. Only if European industry maintains its leadership in space know-how will our continent be able to remain a leader in this crucial sector.
As rapporteur on European space policy, this is direction that I have attempted to take. I hope that a convincing vote by Parliament will give force to a text which, in line with Article 189 of the new Treaty, provides for scientific and technological development in a sector whose sustainable growth is essential for the EU.
The achievement of this ambitious goal is, in large part, due to the impetus provided by Article 189 of the Treaty of Lisbon, which clearly and unequivocally gives the European Union responsibility for coordinating and consolidating national space policies and programmes through a joint approach in order to promote scientific and technical progress and industrial competitiveness.
This aim, laid down by the Treaty, recognises the importance of space and the services it generates for EU citizens in social, economic and strategic spheres, considering it essential to enable the European Union to compete on the world stage with its competitors. The treaty therefore provides an authoritative basis designed to achieve ambitious goals. The European institutions must allocate suitable resources and legislative instruments to do so.
On this point, I have had the honour of working over recent months within the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on drawing up the draft report on a space strategy for the European Union that benefits its citizens. I hope that the final version of the text will accurately reflect the ambitious proposals that we have tried to include in the report.
I refer, above all, to the different way in which the two strategic programmes in European space policy, Galileo and Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), have been treated. While firmly endorsing the emphasis that the Commission has thus far placed on Galileo, one of the pillars of European space policy, I believe that, in light of the investments made so far, amounting to as much as EUR 3.5 billion, and the strategic importance of the programme, GMES deserves equal treatment in both economic and strategic terms.
I am convinced that only by developing both programmes in synergy will it be possible to ensure that our continent achieves technological and political independence, providing huge economic and social benefits to European citizens. That is why, in the report approved by the Committee on Industry, which we are to vote on shortly, I expressed my deep regret about the Commission’s decision not to include funding for GMES in the multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020, in the knowledge that the lack of a financing plan providing economic support could mean that the significant investment made to date has been fruitless.
Another important aspect to clarify is the strategy that the Commission decides to adopt on the management aspects of the Galileo and GMES programmes with a view to streamlining the organisational structure and having a precise framework for maintenance costs.
We have also attempted to highlight, in the report, the need for Europe to ensure that it is independent with regard to access to space, and for commercial agreements concluded with third countries to be based on completely reciprocal relations, avoiding dependence on suppliers outside Europe in relation to certain key technologies such as launchers. The latter, together with the creation of a European space situational awareness system and the strengthening of research, are key elements in an ambitious text which we hope will give the answers that European citizens are waiting for.
In order to be far-sighted, European space policy cannot ignore support for industry. At a time like the present, when there is a deep economic crisis, it seems more vital than ever for the EU to provide economic support to the space industry with a view to maintaining our continent’s competitiveness within an increasingly competitive global system."@en1
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