Ministerial Council, Berlin, 2005
At the Ministerial Council in Berlin in 2005, from left to right: Hans de Groene, Chair Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, Jean-Jacques Dordain, Karlheinz Kreuzberg and European Commissioner Günter Verheugen.
At this meeting on 5-6 December 2005, ministers took decisions on the Level of Resources for 2006-2010 for the scientific and basic activities; on the continuation of ongoing optional programmes (EOEP, ISS Exploitation Period 2, and ELIPS Period 2); on launcher evolution; on ARTES and on new programmes (GMES Space Component and Aurora, comprising the first exploration mission ExoMars and a core programme to prepare future exploration missions). They also approved an overall European launcher policy.