European Inter-parliamentary Conference on Space : Final document

welcome the presence of a member of the Austrian Bundesrat ;

wish to thank the Italian institutions, authorities and agencies for organising the event, and the European Space Agency for hosting the event in its Italian headquarters;

take note of the will of the U.K. Parliamentary Space Group (not present at the seminar) to remain member of CIEE;

express their satisfaction for the active participation of members of the European Parliament and the European Commission, of representatives of the countries involved in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and of senior officials of their space agencies (or similar bodies), as well as of representatives of space companies of CIEE countries;

confirm the common orientations and hopes expressed at the previous meetings (Paris, 29th-30th April 1999; Italy, 12th-14th October 2000);

emphasise the common will to consider CIEE as the parliamentary consultative forum on space-related programmes, on the commitment to build a “spacefaring Europe” and on the hope to make the European Union strategically independent in this sector, namely in the field of critical technology;

take note of the conclusions reached during the Seminar ("Galileo: a strategic project for Europe", "Research activities in the space sector - developments in the European region”, "European programmes and projects in the space sector funding and investments - developments and trends”, and "Intellectual property, trade legislation, the exportation of space products and technology - developments at European and international level"), particularly with respect to the need to harmonise space activities and to create a common ground for the main driving forces of the space industry (research and development), thus facilitating the transfer of knowledge acquired through common programmes and bringing together a competitive space industry with a well-structured and co-ordinated scientific community;

underline the fundamental role and the importance of the space field

• whose development is a crucial element to effectively meet the challenges posed by the modernisation of society in the most effective way and to actively participate in the on-going globalisation, which, indeed, requires a high degree of competitiveness;
• whose boundaries go well beyond the European Union, and should also include the territories of other countries, particularly those involved in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership;

• whose progress depend on harmonious integration and constant synergy between research and production, also by appropriate transfers of technology;

   

draw the attention of the European Parliament to

• the need to work out co-ordinated policies, which meet the demands of both the public and the private sectors, directing them towards shared objectives, so as to ensure the integration of space technology into the information society. The applications thereof should be used for satellite navigation, environment protection, earth observation and the development of innovative services, and they should also be made accessible to non-EU countries participating in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, thus implementing the decisions adopted at the Barcelona Conference of 27th and 28th November 1995;
• the need to harmonise the principles of public-private partnership in European space projects;
• the need for simultaneous measures of human resources, training, and on the coordination of research activities in this specific sector, as well as on the transfer and dissemination of the results achieved, particularly to SMEs, so as to enable them to specialise on the development of related applications;
• the need for establish, within the European Union, a specific connection among EU research centres, research networks and excellence centres of the space agencies and space industries in each country, as well as among all the leading companies concerned, so as to co-ordinate and harmonise their initiatives with a view to increasing the return on investments and the funds allocated to the individual players and to meet the standards of innovation and competitiveness required by the European system;

• the need for the implementation of the European Space Strategy, adopted on 16th November 2000 by European research ministers.

   

point out to the EU-Council and the ESA-Council

1. the need to realise the following structural elements in accordance to the European Space Strategy:

a)implementation of an institutional co-operation between ESA and E.U. (with ESA in future also acting as an agency for the Union);

b)further development of the European Network of Centres fully in the spirit of the E.U. initiative to set up an “European research area”;

c)implementation of the proposal of the E.U./ ESA-Task-Force to be released at the end of 2001, in order to:

• attract profit re-investments on the space sector;
• multiply the capability and performance of individual players;
• orient and enhance professional skills;
• interface between the scientific Centres and Agencies operating in the space area within the European Union;
• circulate EU space programmes and promote related applications also in the countries involved in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership;

2. the need to promptly start the development and validation stage of EU satellite constellation, as envisaged by the "Galileo,"-programme. Its political and strategic priority is essential to ensure the competitiveness of the European space system, as was declared by the Council at the Nice meeting (7'h-9th' December 2000);

3. the need inside the globalisation framework to find out, in a short time, a solution for dual use application;

4. the need to define as soon as possible a system for global monitoring for environment and security (GMES) and to welcome a timely implementation of such system.

The Parliamentary Groups of space, finally:

a)express their satisfaction for the momentum given to the CIEE during the year of the Italian chairmanship;

b) encourage other EU Countries to join the CIEE, in line with the Co-operation Chart signed in Paris on April 29th, 1999;

c) take note with satisfaction that the next chairmanship will be taken over by the Parliamentary Space Group of the Belgian Kingdom, in 2002 by the United Kingdom, in 2003 by the Federal Republic of Germany, with the hope that in 2004, it will be taken over by the Parliamentary Group of space of the Kingdom of Spain.

First Deputy Chairperson of the Parliamentary Space Group of the Kingdom of Belgium
Sen. Michiel MAERTENS

The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Space Group of the French Republic
Rt. Hon. Pierre DUCOUT

The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Aerospace Group of the Federal Republic of Germany
Rt. Hon. Kurt ROSSMANITH

The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Space Group of the Republic of Italy
Rt. Hon. Francesco ALOISIO

The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Space Group of the Kingdom of Spain
Rt. Hon. Sergio GOMEZ-ALBA RUIZ

The Representative of the Bundesrat of the Republic of Austria
Rt. Hon. Wilhelm GRISSEMANN