MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
12 May 2003
pursuant to Rule 37(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Guido Bodrato, Brigitte Langenhagen and Giles Bryan Chichester
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on the ministerial meeting of the European Space Agency on 27 May 2003
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B5-0246/2003
B5‑0246/2003
European Parliament resolution on the ministerial meeting of the European Space Agency on 27 May 2003
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its resolution of 17 January 2002 (Alyssandrakis report),
– having regard to its resolution on GALILEO (Langenhagen report in 2001 and Glante report in 2002),
– having regard to the Commission communication on space (Communication in 2000 and Green Paper in January 2003),
– having regard to the fact that the next ministerial meeting of the ESA will be held in May 2003 and should arrive at decisions of major importance for the space sector,
A. mindful of the unprecedented crisis being experienced by the European space industry under the combined effects of an increase in the international supply of launchers, the stagnation in demand for commercial launches and the structural weakness of the European institutional market,
B. mindful of the need to overcome the technical and financial difficulties with the new version of Ariane 5G,
C. whereas the launchers in competition with Ariane benefit from direct and indirect public aid,
D. mindful of, and reaffirming, the attachment of Europeans to maintaining and developing the skills and knowhow acquired over 40 years in the area of space technologies and of their many domestic spin-offs and applications,
1. Reaffirms the need to guarantee Europe independent access to space through the control and development of the appropriate technologies;
2. Asks the Member States of the Union who are members of the European Space Agency to appreciate the scale of the crisis being experienced by the European space sector and the urgent need to provide the necessary solutions for it as well as for reorganisation of the entire European space sector;
3. Urges the Member States concerned to overcome their differences and to give priority to the common European interest so that the financing and management of the GALILEO programme can be finally agreed, so allowing its swift implementation;
4. Welcomes the inclusion of the objective of Europe’s access to space in the current Article 3 of the draft constitutional treaty drawn up by the Convention on the Future of the Union;
5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the European Space Agency.