EU Cites Need for Strong Space Policy to Face Global Challenges

April 27, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

The EC considers space to be a strategic and high value-added growth sector on which the European economy relies. Emergency services and communications, satellite navigation systems, live sports, news and weather coverage and financial transactions are some examples from day-to-day life that depend more and more on space applications.

To ensure a leading European role in these socially and economically important fields, the EC feels EU countries need to join hands to successfully develop powerful space systems and technologies.

The April 26 communication from the EC and ESA will be sent for endorsement to the European Space Council, a joint meeting of competitiveness ministers and ESA representatives from member states, which will discuss the new policy on May 22.

Günter Verheugen, EC vice president responsible for enterprise and industry policy, said, "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. Moreover, space has always been a source of inspiration which helps people to think outside and beyond the limits and to innovate. Today's proposal marks a milestone, to ensure that Europe does not miss out on the important opportunities that space technology offers."

Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA director general, said, "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 and to open up to the new dimension that Europe is asking us to take on in support of its policies."

Space technology will increasingly serve Europe's domestic and global policy ambitions. It can help to achieve important European objectives. Environment and security policies, including the response to global climate change, are good examples. Others are in transport, research, agriculture, fisheries, development aid and weather forecasts. By an optimal use of space technology, tsunamis could, for instance, be more predictable.

The new communication on European space policy sets out orientations for:

• Coordinating more effective civil space programmes between ESA, EU and its respective member states to ensure value for money spent and to eliminate unnecessary duplication, thus meeting shared European needs.
• Developing and exploiting European space applications, such as GALILEO, GMES (Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security) and satellite communications applications.
• Preserving EU autonomous access to space.
• Increasing synergy between defence and civil space programmes and technologies and pursuing, in particular, interoperability of civil/military systems.
• Ensuring that space policy is coherent with and supports the EU's external relationships.

Finally, as space policy increasingly gains an EU dimension, the goal remains for closer and more efficient cooperation between the EC and ESA. Both are currently evaluating scenarios for optimising the organisation of space activities in Europe.

Europe's competitiveness in space
The space industry plays a crucial role in maintaining Europe's industrial and technological capability for transportation, communication, observation, security and defence. Two-thirds of the European industry turnover comes from institutional customers, while in the U.S. this is around 85%. More than half of the U.S. budget is invested by the military, while in Europe it is less than a fifth. Furthermore, budgets for space are five times smaller in Europe than in the U.S. In addition, new competitors from China and India are emerging.

Europe needs to maintain a competitive space sector by investing in new technologies and operational systems. Space policy and other policies should be mutually reinforcing. Public authorities must create the framework conditions to enable companies to become fit to tackle global markets. A focused industry policy should aim at improving the regulatory framework specific to the space sector, and on increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of public investment in space.

Facts about the European space industry
European space industry manufacturing turnover in 2005 was €4.4 billion, with a workforce of 28,000. Globally, the industry generates a considerable downstream industry about five times bigger than in the space segment. It also showcases European high-tech skills. Despite the relatively low European investment in space, today's European space industry is highly competitive and secures 40% of the world markets for manufacturing, launching and operating satellites.

For more information on the multitude of space applications (such as GMES, GALILEO and satellite communications), see Memo/07/154. Also see the EU web site on European Space Policy.

Source: European Commission.