The Commission adopted, on 26 April 2007, a Communication on European Space Policy, accompanied by a Commission staff working paper on the preliminary elements for a European Space Programme.
Jointly drafted by the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA), these documents are expected to serve as a tool for the EU and ESA and member states to co-ordinate a joint European space effort and pool resources, as no single member state will able to conquer space. The aim is also to combine efforts to maintain the competitiveness of European space industries.
With regards Galileo, the policy document states that "Europe is committed to establishing a sustainable global civil navigation satellite system under the control of the EU", and that "it is essential to ensure that Galileo will be deployed without further delay".
This view was supported by the European Parliament. In a resolution on Galileo adopted on the same day, it described its "deep concern" over the stalling concession negotiations and the costs such a delay will have for the project.
"Galileo is an essential project and we don't have the option of giving up. Now the question is to what extent we can fund it from public funds," said Commissioner Verheugen presenting the EU's new space policy, the key messages of which are:
- Europe needs better and more effective co-ordination of civil space programmes between ESA, EU and the individual EU member states to ensure value for money and eliminate unnecessary duplication;
- current European space flagship projects Galileo and GMES need to be fully developed and exploited;
- the EU needs to be guaranteed independent access to space;
- synergy between defence and civil space programmes and technologies as well as the interoperability of civil/military systems need to be increased, and;
- space policy needs to be coherent with the EU's external relations.
The document on the preliminary elements of the European Space Programme in the fields of applications and foundations represents a non-binding collection of activities that are currently ongoing and envisaged in the short term (ie satellite navigation, earth observation, satellite communications, security and defence, science and technology, international space station and exploration of the solar system and access to space).
The Space Programme also outlines an indicative budget for major European-level activities for 2007-2013. The Commission is set to fund space-related activities with around €3 billion and ESA with some €23bn. The overall national contributions are around €14bn.
