Speech
by the
on
"Europe's Ambitions in Space"
to be made at the
Center for International Science and Technology
Policy
of the George Washington University
in Washington
on February 6, 2002
Not to be released before commencement of speech
Check against delivery
Professor
Logsdon,
Ladies and gentlemen,
it is a great honour and also a great pleasure for me
to speak to you today.
When I received your invitation, Professor Logsdon, I
didn't hesitate for a moment about accepting it. I was pleased to have been
invited not only because of the high standing which the Space Policy Institute
of the George Washington University has in Germany. Above all, I wish to
support your untiring efforts to increase the American space flight community's
understanding for the development of European space flight activities.
"Pay attention to Europe" – this was your
appeal in an article you wrote for the "Space News" of January 2001.
Of course, we Europeans also pay attention to what is happening in the US.
However, we are not only watching what is happening
on the other side of the Atlantic, but we also want to strengthen our ties and
expand our cooperation. That is why I have come to meet you here today.
I would like to use this opportunity first to present
to you the new European Space Strategy and then point out the prospects which
it opens up for the relationship between Europeans and Americans – a
relationship characterized by cooperation and competition alike (II).
I.
According to the Hungarian writer György Konrád,
Europe is a work in progress rather than a defined territory. On both sides of
the Atlantic we are seeing today how Europe is growing together, how it is
taking over new tasks and how it is meeting new challenges.
We want to make Europe a global player. Our goal is
to make the European Union the most
"competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world".
Research and technology are the most important
driving forces in this process. And we feel that space flight is of strategic
importance in a Europe that is growing in importance in economic and political
terms.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Already today, European space activities are much
more than the sum of all national efforts, they are a joint venture supported
by the European countries. That is the secret of their strength.
We want to make even better use in the future of the
great potential of European space activities. This is the goal of the new European Space Strategy which was adopted in agreement between the EU
Research Council and the ESA Ministerial Council at the end of 2000.
While ESA has developed as a European organization,
it is not part of the European Union. This separation of scientific and
technological knowhow on the one hand and political and administrative
structures on the other has, over the last two years above all, become an
obstacle to the further development of space activities and also developed into
a drawback in worldwide competition.
There are two main reasons for this development:
·
Space
technology today is not only an interesting subject of research, but
increasingly it is also the basis of
important commercial applications and government-supported infrastructures.
Modern telecommunication, effective traffic control and earth observation for
the purpose of environmental and climate protection are inconceivable today
without space technology. If we want to make better use of these applications
and put the existing infrastructure increasingly to the service of people, we
must establish closer links between Europe's political and its scientific and
technological structures.
·
The
second reason is that space technology is a "political" technology. Government funding in the past
was often motivated by political and strategic considerations. The
international markets for space products are not without restrictions. Space
industry therefore has to rely on support by policy-makers. ESA on its own was
no longer able to meet the challenges involved.
The previous separation of
scientific and technological structures on the one hand and political and
administrative structures on the other was overcome by a decision taken by the
ESA Ministerial Conference in Edinburgh in November 2001.
We agreed to increase institutional cooperation between
the EU and ESA. This means that ESA will be a service provider for EU
policy-makers. In other words, the European Union will in future be able to use
ESA as a tool for realizing its political goals and implementing its projects.
To be able to do so, EU member states will give space activities higher
political and financial priority.
This new European Space
Strategy gives a new face to European space policy.
What specific goals are
important to Europeans in this connection? What are our priorities?
·
The
European Space Strategy is aimed at providing Europe with its own access to space, thereby making it
independent in this key area.
·
In
addition, we will expand mainly those activities which develop basic
technologies and hence are the key to developing
new products and services.
·
But
the most important goal of the European Space Strategy is the consistent use of
space technologies to seize market
opportunities and to meet the needs
of societies. We are pursuing this goal by implementing two projects in
particular: the European satellite navigation system Galileo and the earth
observation initiative "Global Monitoring for Environment and
Security" (GMES).
Ladies and gentlemen,
The European Space Strategy
will not remain paperwork. At ESA's Ministerial Conference in Edinburgh, we
made important decisions on concrete steps concerning our launcher, earth
observation, extraterrestrial research and utilization of the International Space
Station. This will further sharpen the profile of European space policy.
In the future, the Ministerial
Council of ESA and the EU Research Council will meet on a regular basis and
draw up a joint European space programme
by the year 2003. This program will pool the joint activities by ESA and the EU
as well as member states' national activities. National space programs will be
coordinated with the European Space Strategy.
Ladies and gentlemen,
You may wonder why European
countries still need national space programs now that we have a European Space
Strategy. And why did the German government launch a new national space program
in May 2001, if three quarters of its public expenditure on space activities go
into European programs anyway?
There is a simple answer: The
main purpose of the German space program is to determine the political,
strategic and programmatic goals to be pursued by investing our public money.
We are not distributing money through a scatter-gun approach, but we are setting priorities in important areas where
Germany seeks a leading role within Europe and on a worldwide scale. Of
these fields, I would like to mention synthetic apertur radar technology, which
holds great promise for earth observation, future launcher systems, multimedia
services, robotics, telemedicine and space science.
In addition, our German space
program contains a part which we call the "national program". This
includes all purely national activities and our bilateral cooperation with
nations active in space like the United States.
II.
Let me say a few words about
the outlook for US-German cooperation.
Since the beginning of German
space activities in the early sixties, America has been our most important
overseas partner. Over the past four decades, we have cooperated in numerous
research missions, in Spacelab missions and earth observation projects under
the SRTM mission, to name a few important examples.
Our space relations have a
dual character: on the one hand we are closely cooperating as equal partners for our
mutual benefit. On the other hand space activities are a global business today, in which
competition is becoming more and more fierce, in particular competition between
Europe and the US.
The Europeans must make great
efforts today in order to be able to compete with American industry, which
benefits from massive investments in the defense sector. Military leadership
and information supremacy are among the declared political goals of the United
States, for which the Administration makes available considerable amounts of
money.
We in Europe do not want to compete with the US only by
adopting ever-increasing space budgets. We are relying above all on intelligent
strategies, in particular on the European Space Strategy.
Increasing competition must
not lead to what might be called "fortress mentality". That would not
be beneficial for either side. Quite on the contrary, we must regard
competition as enriching our experience. In my view, competition is a motor of
progress – a motor not only driving the development of improved technologies
but also the provision of affordable services.
Although some politicians
still want to build fortresses, industry is already designing transatlantic
alliances which are to become reality even in the course of this decade. We
should therefore not close the door to the positive developments resulting from
competition. We must rather create an
environment which ensures fair competition, in particular in the fields of
trade, export regulations, protection of intellectual property, assignment of
frequencies and, last but not least, government support.
Ladies and gentlemen,
let me cover only two current
projects which illustrate quite well the dual character of our relations: I am
referring to the satellite navigation system Galileo and the International
Space Station.
·
I
firmly believe that Europe needs a satellite navigation system of its own. Galileo is the basis for a traffic
guidance system with public access for everyone and therefore constitutes a
crucial competitive factor for the European Economic Area.
The existing American Global
Positioning System and Galileo should not be seen as separate or opposed
systems but they are to supplement each other so that both sides can reap the
greatest benefit possible. I advocate that the two systems be designed to
include joint interfaces so that they can be combined with each other.
·
The
second project is the International
Space Station. The construction of the Station is not only the most
important technology project of all times, but it is also the climax of a long
series of joint missions. For Europe, participation in the ISS means an
enormous effort. Germany in particular, has accepted a great financial burden:
it shoulders more than 40% of the European share in building the Station.
Nearly half of this year's German contribution to ESA has been appropriated for
the ISS.
In view of this burden we are
very much concerned about the discussion currently underway in the US on the
future of the ISS. The European ISS
project partners reaffirmed their ISS commitments at the ESA Ministerial
Conference. They expect the US to honor their commitments, too. It is
obvious that Europe cannot contribute more than it promised to provide. Europe
is not able to bear additional burdens.
I therefore urge our American
partners to do everything they can in
order to ensure further extension of the ISS as agreed. Europe has already
made huge investments; a loss could not be justified. If this project turned
out a failure, this would mean a setback for international cooperation in
general, with implications going far beyond the space sector.
I am using the opportunity of
the many talks which I am now conducting in the US to obtain a clearer picture
of future cooperation between Europe and America.
The German decision in favor
of the Space Station was first and foremost a political decision in favor of
close cooperation with the US. It would be very unfortunate if this consensus
were called into question by a counter-development in the US.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The ISS offers enormous
opportunities as a permanently manned laboratory in space. Let us therefore
join forces to find ways in which we can use the potential of this unique
research facility in order to achieve scientific progress and economic
development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Europe is today playing an
increasingly important role in the world. Within Europe, we are pooling our
resources. At the same time we are looking to the other parts of the world. We
see ourselves as a strong competitor and as a promoter of international partnership.
Your appeal to "pay
attention to Europe", as I see it, is a call for competition and
partnership.
Let us shape competition and
partnership to achieve mutual benefit.
Thank you.