SPACE COUNCIL : MINISTERS REAFFIRM SUPPORT FOR GMES.

The Space Council, held on 6 December 2011 in Brussels, mainly revolved around the European Earth monitoring programme (GMES). Member states and manufacturers are worried about the future of this project since the European Commission wants its financing to stay outside the multiannual budget (2014-2020) framework. Antonio Tajani, the commissioner in charge of the space policy, is using every opportunity to say so.

The idea is not a popular one with many countries, including France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Tajani had come to present to the ministers a very recent Commission communication (30 November) on GMES and its operation after 2014 (COM(2011)831). In this communication, the Commission proposes establishing - via an intergovernmental agreement reached as part of the Council - a specific GMES fund aimed to finance the GMES from 2014 - with the management of the fund delegated to the Commission. This fund would replace traditional Community financing. The 27 member states would participate financially in this GMES fund, with their contribution based on their gross national income (GNI). According to the Commission, the envelope that is necessary for GMES activities between 2014 and 2020 - ie said GMES fund - would be capped at 5.8 billion.

Previously, the Commission had cast aside two other options: enhanced cooperation, which would require the participation of those states that are specifically interested (this was not found to be a satisfactory option given that is does not uphold the EU27' dimension of the programme); and industry participation (not retained because of the past experience with Galileo, the European satellite navigation programme). The problem with the proposed fund is that it can obviously not be counted as part of the EU budget; therefore, member states that want financing as part of the EU budget have made it clear they are against it. For these states, removing the GMES from the EU budget would be a signal that the EU is distancing itself from the programme. Tajani has repeatedly stated that this is far from being the case - in fact, the...