Translation of "conseil du secteur spatial " (French → English) :

EUROPA - EU law and publications - EUR-Lex - EUR-Lex - 52013DC0108 - EN - COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU SPACE INDUSTRIAL POLICY RELEASING THE POTENTIAL FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE SPACE SECTOR

10. Notes that any increase in the use of space assets by the military must not reduce and limit civilian use and possible future civilian applications; calls on the Member States and the VP/HR to initiate a review of the outdated 1967 Outer Space Treaty or to initiate a new regulatory framework which takes into account technological progress since the 1960s; underlines also the urgent need to reduce the risk of collision due to the growing number of satellites and space debris; welcomes the initiative of the Commission to propose the organisational framework for the establishment and operation of a European space surveillance and tracking system (SST); welcomes equally the EU-sponsored multilateral initiative towards an International C ...[+++]ode of Conduct for Space Activities as a way of introducing norms of behaviour in space as it seeks to achieve enhanced safety, security, and sustainability in space by emphasising that space activities should involve a high degree of care, due diligence, and appropriate transparency, with the aim of building confidence among space sector actors worldwide; believes that any new framework must take into account the views of all Member States and be strategically devised, looking at the long-term future of the industry, effectively preventing an arms race in outer space and ensuring the prohibition of harmful interference with space objects;

1. Welcomes the Commission Communication of 28 February 2013 entitled EU Space Industrial Policy - Releasing the Potential for Economic Growth in the Space Sector (COM(2013)0108) as an important step towards the EU’s strategic independence in space technology; calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase their efforts to build capabilities guaranteeing autonomous access to space via European launchers and satellites; stresses the need to support efforts to strengthen European cooperation in the sector in order to overcome the high level of fragm ...[+++]entation, especially with regard to the institutional demand side; is convinced that only a more cost-efficient and consolidated European space industry can be internationally competitive; stresses that European space industrial policy must be further developed in coordination with the European Space Agency (ESA) to ensure complementarities;

7. Notes the fact mentioned in the communication that 60 % of electronics on board European satellites are currently imported from the US; calls for an initiative on how to protect sensitive or personal data in this context and also to use the current public procurement process to ensure wherever possible that the purchase of space infrastructure from Member States is used as a further driver of growth in the sector; recognises that employees within the space sector are educationally and technologically skilled to the highest calibr ...[+++]e; notes, however, that the sector continues to suffer from a shortage of key specific skills, which range from engineering disciplines to physics degrees, which must be addressed; urges the Commission, the ESA, the EDA and the Member States to identify critical technologies in the context of the joint European non-dependence process and to develop alternatives which are less dependent on third countries; recalls the risk that the US might, in the event of disagreement, close down or block European space infrastructure;

E. whereas the European space industry has a consolidated turnover of EUR 6.5 billion and employs over 34 500 highly skilled people, and whereas in this period of economic difficulty the importance of that industry as a sector with strong growth and innovation potential, and as a creator of jobs with high added value, should be brought to the fore;

(2a) The Resolution "Taking forward the European Space Policy" of 26 September 2008 adopted at the fifth joint and concomitant meeting of the Council of the European Union and of the Council of the European Space Agency at Ministerial Level stressed the need to develop adequate EU instruments and funding schemes, 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; and to allow appropriate long-term Union investment in space-related research and for the operation of sustainable space-based applications for th ...[+++]e benefit of the Union and its citizens, in particular by examining all space-related policy consequences within the framework of the next financial perspective.