European Space Agency

Resolution concerning Decisions on Agency Programmes and Finances

(adopted on 20 October 1995)

The Council, meeting at Ministerial Level,

HAVING REGARD to the Resolution on the implementation of the European long-term space plan and programmes, adopted at Ministerial Level in Granada on 10 November 1992 (ESA/C-M/CIV/Res.1 (Final)),

HAVING REGARD to the Director General's Overview and Proposal on the Agency's Policy and Programmes (ESA/C-M(95)5),

HAVING REGARD to the Director General's report on the review of the Agency's internal operations (ESA/C(95)96),

HAVING REGARD to the work done in the Agency's delegate bodies to examine in detail the Director General's proposals on the programmes and activities calling for decisions at this meeting and to prepare the corresponding legal instruments, and CONSCIOUS of the urgency of those decisions for reinforcing the Agency's role and presence in worldwide space activities,

CHAPTER I - PROGRAMMES

A. The International Space Station

WHEREAS the International Space Station programme is currently the greatest cooperative endeavour undertaken by spacefaring nations and CONSIDERING that such a programme is bound to set significant scientific and technical challenges,

HAVING REGARD to the letter addressed on 29 November 1993 by the IGA Coordinating Committee's Chairman to his US counterpart which outlined the specific European requests to be met during the IGA negotiation process and to the letter of 6 October 1995 of the NASA Administrator to the ESA Director General,

HAVING REGARD to the Act in Council of 15 February 1994 (ESA/C/CXI/Act-ISSP(Final)) and to the Resolution on Europe's participation in the International Space Station programme of 23 March 1995 (ESA/C/CXVII/Res.1(Final)),

HAVING REGARD to the report (ESA/C-M(95)8) on the amendments, formulated in the current negotiation process involving Russia, to the Agreement among the Government of the United States of America, Governments of Member States of the European Space Agency, the Government of Japan and the Government of Canada on Cooperation in the Detailed Design, Development, Operation and Utilisation of the Permanently Manned Civil Space Station (hereinafter the 'IGA'), signed on 29 September 1988 (ESA/C(95)89, rev.1), and to the Arrangement for the provisional application of the IGA, effective on the date of its signature on 29 September 1988,

HAVING REGARD to the report (ESA/C-M(95)8) on the amendments proposed to the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency on Cooperation in the Detailed Design, Development, Operation and Utilisation of the Permanently Manned Space Station (hereinafter the 'MOU'), signed on 29 September 1988 (ESA/C(95)89, rev.1),

A.1. Subscription of programme Declarations

  1. WELCOMES the subscription by the States participating in the development programme, of the Declaration on the European participation in the International Space Station and the entry into force on this day of this Declaration (ESA/PB-MS/XI/Dec.1 (Final)) in accordance with Chapter I.C of this Resolution, allocating for completion of the programme a financial envelope of 2651.2 million accounting units at mid-1995 economic conditions over the period 1996-2004.

  2. NOTES that the European contribution to the International Space Station shall consist of the Columbus Orbital Facility (COF), a general-purpose pressurised laboratory, the provision of logistics services using Ariane-5 and the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and of orbital manoeuvring capabilities by the ATV, complemented by utilisation preparation activities with a view to multidisciplinary utilisation of the Space Station by the European Partner, and NOTES further that a decision by the end of 1997 will be taken by Member States concerned, on the basis of proposals to be presented in due time by the Director General, on the continuation of activities concerning the development of a crew transport vehicle.

  3. WELCOMES the subscription, by the States participating in the programme, of the Declaration on Microgravity Facilities for Columbus (MFC) and the entry into force on this day of that Declaration (ESA/PB-MG/XLV/Dec.1 (Final)) in accordance with Chapter I.C of this Resolution, for the purpose of developing the facilities necessary to take advantage, during execution of the exploitation programme referred to in Section A.3 of this Chapter, of utilisation opportunities afforded to the European Partner, thus allocating for completion of the programme a financial envelope of 206.7 million accounting units at mid-1995 economic conditions over the period 1997-2003.

A.2. Finalisation of the IGA and MOU negotiation process

  1. APPRECIATES the progress made in the negotiation process by the International Partners, in particular as regards the inclusion of Russia in the International Space Station partnership and CONSIDERS that the amendments to the IGA and MOU already identified and the plan of action outlined in ESA/C-M(95)8 for the timely finalisation of the current negotiation process represent significant progress towards meeting the specific European demands, primarily those resulting from the adoption at Ministerial Level of ESA/C-M/CIV/Res. 1(Final), communicated to the other Partners at the outset of the negotiations and outlined in Section VII of ESA/PB-MS/XI/Dec.1(Final).

  2. CONSIDERING that the Declaration on the European participation in the International Space Station development programme referred to above stipulates: that the European Partner's share of the International Space Station annual common operations obligations shall:
    (a) not exceed 0.6 Ariane-5/ATVequivalent flight per year,
    (b) be fulfilled by means of Ariane-5/ATV and other European services, such as provision of personnel, in such a way that the objective of no exchange of funds will be achieved;

    MANDATES the European Partner's spokesman and the Director General to negotiate the necessary amendments to the IGA and to the MOU between ESA and NASA respectively to provide the legal basis for the implementation of the above-mentioned stipulations.

  3. EXPRESSES its support for finalisation of the current IGA and MOU negotiation process by 30 June 1996 at the latest; NOTES that Member States concerned intend to review the results of the negotiation, bearing in mind the terms of the Declarations on the programmes referred to in Section A.1, and in this connection INVITES the Director General, as soon as the negotiation process is finalised, to submit the draft amended MOU between NASA and ESA, and supporting documentation, to the Agency's competent bodies for completion of the examination and approval procedures, with a view to its signature on the same date as the amended IGA.

  4. INVITES Member States which are signatories to the IGA, and others intending to join the European Partner States, to make appropriate arrangements for the concomitant signing of the legal instrument confirming the amendments to the IGA and the related Arrangement for the provisional implementation of the IGA,

  5. INVITES the Member States participating in the development programme referred to in Section A.1.1 of this Chapter which are not yet among the European Partner States to initiate the procedures required for becoming IGA signatory States so as to ensure proper legal cover at international level for activities conducted in the framework of the above-mentioned development programme.

A.3. Exploitation programme

  1. WELCOMES AND SUPPORTS the agreement of the States participating in the development programme referred to in Section A.1.1 of this Chapter to set up and participate in a programme for the exploitation by the European Partner of the International Space Station implemented in successive phases from 2001 until the end of the Space Station's lifetime, planned for 2013, in accordance with the principles and mechanisms detailed in Section VII of ESA/PB-MS/XI/Dec. 1(Final).

  2. INVITES Member States which have not subscribed the Declaration on the development programme referred to in Section A.1.1 of this Chapter to participate in the exploitation of the International Space Station by the European Partner.

  3. ENCOURAGES the community of European users, together with Member States through their nationally-funded programmes, to make appropriate arrangements for the purpose of taking maximum advantage of the utilisation opportunities offered by the International Space Station; INVITES the States participating in existing and future programmes of the Agency to make where appropriate, the best use of the opportunities offered by the International Space Station and to take this opportunity into account in their planning, and INVITES further the Director General to regularly elaborate proposals for utilisation plans accordingly.

B. Ariane-5 Complementary Programmes and European access to space

HAVING REGARD to the successful commercial exploitation of the Ariane launcher and its resulting benefits for Europe and the trend of the international commercial market in launch services, in particular the advent of new operators and the heightened competition,

CONSIDERING that the European launch services industry must operate under conditions comparable to those of other spacefaring nations and that the needs of Agency Member States for launch services, in particular availability at the lowest possible cost, are best served by the widest possible marketing of the Ariane launchers throughout the world,

HAVING REGARD to the Resolution updating the Resolution on the CSG 1993-2000 for the period 1996-2000 (ESA/C/CXXI/Res.1 (Final)), complemented by the Resolution on the CSG fee (ESA/C/CXXI/Res.2 (Final)), both Resolutions adopted on 28 September 1995, and to the Resolution on the Ariane-5 complementary programmes (ESA/C/CXVII/Res.2 (Final)) adopted on 23 March 1995,

HAVING REGARD to the role that the Ariane-5 launcher in combination with the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is called upon to play in the International Space Station programme,

CONVINCED that suitable measures should be taken, in cooperation with Arianespace, to ensure the success of Ariane-5 exploitation, to maintain and consolidate Ariane-5's reliability, to reduce the production costs, to improve commercial competitiveness and to maintain the Ariane-5 infrastructure as a strategic European asset,

NOTING the importance of adapting the launcher to evolving user requirements, and NOTING the start-up of the Ariane-5 Evolution preparatory programme (ESA/PB-ARIANE/CXLV/Dec.1(Final) rev.1.),

NOTING the agreement under the form of an exchange of letters between the Agency and Arianespace confirming Arianespace's acceptance of the new Ariane launch pricing policy (ESA/PB-ARIANE(95)66) and the commitment made by Arianespace and the European launcher industry to contribute to the transition from Ariane-4 to Ariane-5,

  1. REAFFIRMS that European autonomous access to space constitutes a strategic asset bringing political and economic benefits for Europe, and STRESSES that development of the European launcher capability is an integral part of a coherent overall European space policy.

  2. UNDERLINES the need for international arrangements to ensure fair conditions in the launcher market.

  3. (a) WELCOMES the above-mentioned agreement with Arianespace as endorsed by the Participants in the Declaration on the Ariane launcher production, concerning in particular a new pricing policy for the Ariane launcher;

    (b) TAKING into account the international environment in the commercial launcher sector, CONSIDERS that this agreement with Arianespace constitutes an important step towards ensuring that Member States take full advantage of the Ariane launchers and their facilities across the range of their national and international space-related activities, and ENCOURAGES Member States to make appropriate arrangements for the purpose of granting preference to the utilisation of the Ariane launcher according to the terms of the Declaration on the Ariane launcher production and of Chapter V of the Resolution No. 1 adopted at Granada in November 1992.

  4. WELCOMES the subscription by the States participating in the Ariane-5 complementary programmes, and the entry into force on this day, of the following programme Declarations in accordance with Chapter I.C of this Resolution:
    - the Additional Declaration on the Ariane-5 Evolution programme (ESA/PB-ARIANE/CLIV/Dec.1 (Final)), with a financial envelope for completion of the programme of 1026.2 millionaccounting units at mid-1995 economic conditions for the period 1996-2003;
    - the Additional Declaration on the Ariane-5 Infrastructure programme (ESA/PB-ARIANE/CLIV/Dec.2 (Final)), with a financial envelope of 335.7 million accounting units at mid-1995 economic conditions for the period 1996-2000;
    - the Additional Declaration on the Ariane-5 ARTA programme (ESA/PB-ARIANE/CLIV /Dec.3 (Final)) with a financial envelope of 351.5 million accounting units at mid-1995 economic conditions for the period 1996-2000.

C. Entry into force of the Declarations

NOTES that the participating States concerned have agreed to the simultaneousness of the entry into force of the Declaration on the European participation in the International Space Station development programme, the Declaration on the MFC programme, and the three Declarations on the Ariane-5 complementary programmes referred to in this Chapter, subject to receipt of confirmation of contributions pending.

CHAPTER II - LEVEL OF RESOURCES FOR MANDATORY ACTIVITIES 1996-2000

HAVING REGARD to Articles V.1(a) and XI.5(a)(ii) and (iii) of the Convention,

RECALLING the Resolution on the level of resources for the mandatory activities covering the period 1991-1995 (ESA/C/XCIII/Res.3 (Final)) adopted on 13 December 1990,

NOTING that it was not possible to vote as required by the Convention (article XI.5.a.iii), before the end of the current five year period the new level of resources for the period 1994-1998 and that due to this fact the next five-year period of the level of resources has now to cover the period 1996-2000,

HAVING REGARD to the Resolution on the scale of contributions for mandatory activities for the years 1994-1996 (ESA/C/CXI/Res.2(Final)) adopted on 16 December 1993,

HAVING REGARD to the Director General's proposal for the level of resources for the mandatory activities covering the period 1996-2000 (ESA/C-M(95)6),

  1. AGREES that the Level of Resources for mandatory activities for the years 1996-2000 will include the Scientific Programme, the General Budget, as well as the costs for the part of the Transformation Programme related to mandatory activities, which are necessary from 1996 to 1999 to achieve the savings planned in the Science Programme and in the General Budget;

  2. DECIDES by unanimous vote to put at the disposal of the Agency for the General Budget, the Scientific Programme and the relevant Transformation Programme for the period 1996-2000, the amount of 2553.2 million accounting units at mid-1995 economic conditions, consisting of 804.2 million accounting units for the General Budget, 1735 million accounting units for the Scientific Programme and 14 million accounting units for the part of the Transformation Programme related to mandatory activities (an amount of 65 million accounting units being foreseen as other income, the remaining part being contributions); as an indication, an annual breakdown is given below.

                        (Amounts in MAU at mid-1995 economic conditions)

    
YEARS                 1996    1997     1998    1999     2000     TOTAL

    
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME  347.0   347.0    347.0   347.0    347.0    1735

    
GENERAL BUDGET        166.5   162.5    158.4   158.4    158.4    804.2

    
TRANSFORMATION
PROGRAMME             1.6     4.4      6.0     2.0               14.0
  3. DECIDES furthermore that:

    (a) the Scientific Programme will not be subject to economic updating for price and conversion rate variations for the years 1997 and 1998 as long as the yearly variation for this Programme does not exceed 3% per annum;

    (b) if the 3% level is exceeded in either year, the difference between that level and the actual percentage increase will give rise to an equivalent updating of the Scientific Programme;

  4. NOTES the determination of the Director General to implement efficiency improvement measures with the aim to reduce both internal and industrial costs of the activities of the Scientific Programme and INVITES the Director General to report to Council in June 1998 on the effects of these measures as well as on the consequences of the introduction of the ECU and the new charging policy referred to in paragraph 6 hereafter.

    INVITES the Director General to take full account of these consequences when making his proposal for the level of resources for the years 1999-2003.

  5. UNDERLINES the Member States' determination to vote unanimously in 1998 the Level of Resources for the period 1999-2003 and as a consequence, DECIDES that if no new level of resources is adopted in 1998, the provisions in paragraph 3(a) and (b) above shall continue to apply in 1999 and 2000, until a new level of resources is adopted, and the amounts in the table above shall form the basis for the adoption of the relevant budgets. If the budgets proposed for those years are above the levels contained in the table above after application of the provisions of paragraph 3(b) above, they shall be adopted by a unanimous vote.

  6. UNDERLINES the need to define and to implement a new charging policy taking into account, in particular, the interests of the Scientific Programme and to achieve its entry into force by 1 January 1997, thus ensuring continuity with the special measures adopted for the Scientific Programme by the Council on 13 December 1990 (ESA/C/XCIII/Res.3 (Final)) and on 17 September 1991 (ESA/C/XCV/Res. 2 (Final)), it being understood that these special measures would be extended by one year, should the entry into force of the new charging policy be postponed to 1 January 1998.

  7. AGREES to set up a Working Group of Council composed of financial experts, preferably using the competent delegate body, with the task of reviewing, within the applicable provisions of the Convention, the Agency's system of calculating the scale of contributions for the funding of mandatory activities with a view to submit a report and INVITES the Director General, on the basis of this report, to formulate a proposal to Council at Ministerial Level for approval and implementation of the relevant decisions as from 1 January 1997.

CHAPTER III - INDUSTRIAL POLICY MATTERS

RECALLING the objectives of the Agency's industrial policy as set out in Article VII of the Convention, namely to meet the requirements of the European space programme in a cost-effective manner, to improve the worldwide competitiveness of European industry, to ensure that all Member States participate in an equitable manner in implementing the European space programme, and to exploit the advantages of free competitive bidding except where this would be incompatible with other defined objectives of industrial policy.

A. Correction of overall industrial return imbalances

RECALLING the decision taken by Council, meeting at Ministerial Level in Granada in November 1992, to fix at 0.96 the lower limit for the cumulative return coefficient referred to in Article IV.6. of Annex V to the Convention, below which special measures have to be taken at the end of 1996 on the basis of Article V.1 of Annex V to the Convention,

HAVING REGARD to the industrial return coefficient situation at the end of June 1995, as reported in document ESA/C(95)65, rev.1 and TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the continuous unsatisfactory situation of the industrial return of Italy,

  1. CONSIDERS favourably the Director General's proposal to take corrective actions in anticipation to the formal review and TAKES NOTE of the actions already taken by the Director General under approved programmes.

  2. APPRECIATES the effort already made by Participating States to introduce, in the Declarations of programmes referred to in Chapter I of this Resolution specific measures for correcting overall industrial return imbalances and ENCOURAGES other Member States with an overall return coefficient above 1 as at 30 June 1995 to complement these initiatives before end 1996 in order to alleviate current imbalances and facilitate the formal review to take place at the end of 1996.

  3. INVITES the Director General to monitor the results of the above measures and, taking into account these results, to propose complementary measures under programmes already approved, or to be approved by the end of 1996, for the purpose of reducing residual imbalances.

B. Improvement of procurement procedures

STRESSING the importance of procurement procedures to the cost-effectiveness of the Agency's programmes and to European industry's competitiveness,

INVITES the Director General, within the provisions of Article VII and Annex V of the Convention and the Agency's Contract Regulations

(a) to significantly increase the number of competitive tenders,

(b) to significantly reduce the volume of cost reimbursement contracts by placing, whenever practical, fixed price contracts, making increased use of financial incentives and penalties for contractors as a means of sharing the risk between ESA and industry,

(c) to convert those cost reimbursement contracts which are necessary to fixed price contracts as soon as possible in order to limit the exposure of ESA to cost overruns.

C. Review of the Agency's industrial policy

CONSIDERING the reflections and proposals of the Member States, the Agency, the European Commission and industry with regard to strengthening the competitiveness of European industry, and TAKING INTO ACCOUNT changes in the economic and industrial environment,

UNDERSTANDING that industrial policy is crucial for the future of ESA and requires a positive commitment from all Member States to formulate common positions,

  1. DECIDES to set up a Council Working Group composed of high-level representatives from Member States with the task of reviewing the Agency's industrial policy.

  2. INVITES the Council at delegate level to elaborate and approve the terms of reference of such a Working Group by 1 January 1996 which should comprise, among other tasks:

    (a) assessing the industrial environment and its potential evolution;

    (b) examining current industrial policy's rules and procedures;

    (c) examining the reasons behind the industrial return structural surplus and deficit situations;

    (d) proposing adaptations of the Agency's industrial policy, including if necessary amendments to Annex V of the Convention;

  3. INVITES the Director General, on the basis of the report of the Council Working Group, to formulate a proposal t to t Council at Ministerial Level for approval and implementation of the relevant decisions as from 1 January 1997.

CHAPTER IV - REFORM OF FINANCIAL SYSTEM - INTRODUCTION OF THE ECU

RECALLING that ESA/C-M/CIV/Res.1 (Final) adopted at Ministerial Level in Granada had created the framework for embarking on the reform of the Agency's financial system, taking due account of the principles of neutrality and non-transfer of funds between Member States,

RECALLING the work performed by the Council Working Group on the Reform of the Financial System of the Agency,

HAVING REGARD to the Resolution ESA/C/CXXI/Res. 3 (Final) adopted on 11 October 1995, on the technical modalities for the implementation of the Reform of the Financial System,

DECIDES to reform the Agency's financial system as of 1 January 1997 so as to allow for the introduction of a single payment unit in the form of the ECU as defined in ESA/C(95)100, rev. 3, and REPLACES to this end Article V of Annex II to the Convention with the following text, with effect from 1 January 1997:

Article V

  1. The budgets of the Agency shall be expressed in ECU as currently defined by the European Union's competent bodies and subsequently in the European payment unit which may replace it as soon as it is set into force by these bodies.

  2. Each Member State shall pay its contribution in ECU and in the subsequent replacement for it as referred to in paragraph 1 above.

Resolution on Directions for the Agency's Policy
and Future Programmes

(adopted on 20 October 1995)

The Council, meeting at Ministerial Level,

HAVING REGARD to the Resolutions of Granada on 10 November 1992 (ESA/C-M/CIV/Res. 1(final)) on the implementation of the European long-term space plan and programmes, ESA/C-M/CIV/Res.2 (final) on international cooperation, and ESA/C-M/CIV/Res.3 (final) on space cooperation with the Russian Federation,

HAVING REGARD to the Director General's Overview and Proposal on the Agency's Policy and Programmes (ESA/C-M(95)5),

WELCOMING the arrival of Finland on 1 January 1995 as the fourteenth Member State of the Agency,

RECALLING the mission of the Agency as defined in Article II of the Convention,

NOTING the achievements obtained by the Agency in various fields, in particular, Science, Launchers, Earth Observation, Telecommunications and Microgravity,

CHAPTER I - OBJECTIVES AND PRIORITIES

STRESSING the strategic, economic, technological and social aspects of space activities,

RECOGNISING with satisfaction that the efforts of Member States through the Agency have resulted in placing Europe at the forefront of space research and technology and their applications, and NOTING that these efforts have also led to the building up of competitive sectors within the industry and successful operators of space systems,

NOTING the role of space activities and programmes as a contributing element to the continuing process of European integration,

NOTING the evolution in the world-wide political and economical environment leading on the one hand to increased possibilities for international cooperation and on the other hand to greater competition between space service providers,

  1. (a) APPRECIATES the work performed by the Long-term Space Policy Committee as reflected in its report (ESA/C-M(95)4); TAKES NOTE of its contents and vision for future space activities, and EXPRESSES THE WISH that the Committee continue its work so as to give Member States a framework for long-term strategic thinking on European space policy;

    (b) INVITES the Director General to prepare an evaluation and discussion process within the relevant bodies of the Agency as input for its future planning.

  2. STRESSES that in order to prepare Europe for the challenges and opportunities of the next century, the main objectives of the Agency are to be focused on:

    (a) providing the means of making use of the unique environment of space for scientific research and the development of applications;

    (b) promoting research and development of advanced space technologies, new space applications and suitable methods of carrying out space activities and ensuring the transfer of application activities to appropriate entities for operational and commercial exploitation;

    (c) enhancing Europe's capability to access space at the lowest costs for users and ensuring the most efficient exploitation of Ariane as a competitive European launch asset;

    (d) furthering the participation of Europe in international space infrastructure programmes and their exploitation with elements and services able to assert the European identity and to prepare technologies for longer term exploration and exploitation endeavours;

    (e) ensuring that the programmes of the Agency contribute to promoting the world-wide competitiveness of European industry.

CHAPTER II - PROGRAMMES

HAVING REGARD to the Resolution concerning Decisions on Agency Programmes and Finances (ESA/C/CXXII/Res.1) adopted on 20 October 1995,

HAVING REGARD to the constraints on the resources which Member States can contribute to the Agency's Programmes,

WELCOMES the Director General's Overview and Proposal on the Agency's Policy and Programmes (ESA/C-M(95)5) as the framework for the following directions:

1. Scientific Programme

  1. WELCOMES and ENDORSES the continuation of the Horizon 2000 Programme and its evolution into the Horizon 2000 Plus Programme in accordance with the decisions on the Level of Resources;

  2. INVITES the Director General to initiate the preparatory activities leading to Horizon 2000 Plus in accordance with his Proposal mentioned above.

2. Earth Observation

  1. WELCOMES the progress towards a European policy for Earth Observation from space being achieved by the Agency in cooperation with the European Commission, Eumetsat and Member States, as an important step towards identifying and meeting the needs of users and APPROVES in principle the concept described in the Director General's Proposal of two distinct themes:
    - the study of planet Earth for scientific research purposes (Earth Explorer) corresponding to needs expressed by the relevant scientific and other user communities, and the development of relevant technologies;
    - pre-operational and operational activities corresponding to needs expressed by user organisations and conducted in cooperation with these organisations (Earth Watch).

  2. INVITES the Director General to develop proposals for implementing the Earth Explorer objectives in close consultation with the user communities;

  3. INVITES the Director General to continue the Agency's concerted efforts with Eumetsat, the European Commission and other relevant European entities to define further activities having operational objectives together with their respective roles and responsibilities, and to encourage the progressive transfer of responsibilities from the Agency to operational entities, and INVITES the Director General to bring forward appropriate proposals.

3. Telecommunications

  1. RECOGNISES the benefits of having set up the Agency's Programme of Advanced Research in Telecommunications System (ARTES); WELCOMES and ENDORSES the objective to promote, in conjunction with user entities and industry, new fields of applications such as navigation, mobile communications and multimedia information, and to contribute to the reinforcement of the competitiveness of the European telecommunications industry;

  2. INVITES the Director General to make specific programme proposals for new advanced telecommunications applications in conjunction with the users and in close consultation with the Commission of the European Union, for example for a European contribution to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and to the future Global Information Infrastructure (GII);

  3. INVITES the Director General to propose cooperation schemes, in particular with users, operators and industry in order to meet the objectives mentioned above, taking into account the organisational efforts made by the European space telecommunications sector as a whole;

  4. INVITES the States Participating in the DRTM Programme to review the mission requirements in consultation with the potential users and to adjust the planning accordingly.

4. Microgravity

STRESSES the need for the continuation of a microgravity research programme and WELCOMES the EMIR-2 programme which will ensure the extension of basic and applied research in physical sciences and life sciences using, in particular sounding rockets, retrievable carriers and the International Space Station capabilities, and INVITES all Member States to subscribe the EMIR 2 Declaration (ESA/PB- MG/XLIV/Dec.1(Final)).

5. Future Launchers

NOTING that the use and commercial exploitation of space would be stimulated and new avenues for space exploration opened if launch costs could be significantly reduced,

NOTING that adaptation of Ariane to evolving market requirements is one of the main factors to its success,

NOTING the large amount of enabling technology to be developed and demonstrated before the start of the development of a new generation of launch vehicles can be envisaged in Europe,

  1. STRESSES the need to maintain in Europe a competitive launcher capability in the long term which ensures an affordable independent European access to space, and the importance to prepare for a future launcher;

  2. INVITES the Director General to elaborate in due time a proposal on a future launcher preparatory programme to validate new technologies and technical concepts at system and sub-system level, so as to prepare for development of further Ariane-5 improvements and of a new generation of launchers.

6. Manned space flights

  1. RECOGNISES the unique potential offered by the International Space Station in the areas of scientific research, technology and applications,

  2. STRESSING the interest for Europe to participate in the manned spaceflight effort, INVITES the Director General to enhance the experience gained in this field by the Agency, its Member States and industry and to reflect on new opportunities in this field, including flight opportunities for Agency astronauts.

7. Exploration

NOTING the contents of the report of the Long-term Space Policy Committee with regard to the long-term interest of an international exploration programme,

  1. APPRECIATES, in particular, the concept of a four-stepped international lunar programme, as described in ESA/C-M(95)5.

  2. TAKES NOTE of the Director General's intention to elaborate and make proposals on the European contribution to precursor missions for the first step of such a programme.

8. Technology

HAVING REGARD to the benefits of the various Agency's technology programmes (such as TRP, GSTP and ARTES) in the success of the Agency's scientific and application programmes and in the competitiveness of industry, and to the need to refocus and reinforce the relevant efforts in view of the future challenges;

INVITES the Director General to propose a coherent plan of Research and Technology consistent with the challenging objectives of future Agency programmes, customer needs in emerging commercial applications and new markets, in conjunction with Member States and industry.

9. New Missions

(a) Small missions opportunities
WELCOMES the initiative taken by the Director General to study ways to stimulate European industry to provide competitive opportunities for small missions and INVITES the Director General to work with Member States, industry and research organisations towards small missions implementation.

(b) Management of natural and technical risks
CONVINCED of the contribution of space techniques to the management of natural and technical risks,

WELCOMES the initiative of the Director General to perform support activities in close cooperation with the Council of Europe, the European Union and national entities from Member States or non-Member States and INVITES the Director General to make proposals to Member States for such support activities on the basis of the results of the ongoing studies.

CHAPTER III - THE AGENCY AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

(Internal functioning and external relations)

RECOGNISING the achievements in the overall efficiency of the Agency, and CONSIDERING the need for further improvement, with the aim of preparing to meet new and increasing challenges within the prevailing public funding constraints,

CONSIDERING that this improvement in efficiency can best be achieved by adapting the Agency's operations, intensifying synergy and complementarity of the Agency's activities with those of national and other European Organisations, and taking advantage of the benefits of international cooperation,

NOTING the progress made in defining and setting up cooperative endeavours with European organisations such as Eumetsat and the European Commission and with space-faring countries such as Canada, the United States, Russia and Japan,

NOTING that the Agency has already concluded Cooperation Agreements with Poland, Hungary, Rumania and Greece and that Portugal and the Czech Republic have expressed great interest in establishing a cooperation according to Article XIV.1 of the Convention,

1. The internal functioning of the Agency

HAVING REGARD to the various reviews on the internal functioning, and to the Director General's Report on the Agency's internal operations (ESA/C(95)96),

  1. WELCOMES and SUPPORTS the adaptation already identified by the Director General to the internal structure and functioning of the Agency and INVITES him to pursue his effort within the next 3 years, in order to provide the most efficient framework for implementing the activities and programmes entrusted to the Agency;

  2. WELCOMES the Director General's proposal to conduct a Transformation Programme having as objective to:
    - bring the Agency's resources into line with the requirements of the programmes and activities entrusted to it;
    - improve the efficiency in the management and in the cost control of these resources to the benefit of better achieving the Agency's mission;
    - improve the Agency's interaction with industry especially in its procurement methods;
    - implement a unique cost control system for all Agency activities based on an up-to-date cost accounting system.

  3. NOTES the estimation provided in the Director General's Proposal on the so far identified cost-savings and on the cost for executing the Transformation Programme;

  4. NOTES that the savings stemming from the increase in efficiency obtained through the Transformation Programme will, in case of the optional programmes, be used first to offset the relevant cost of the Transformation Programme and then be credited to the programme in question; and NOTES further that, for mandatory activities, foreseen savings and associated cost are included in the Level of Resources 1996-2000.

  5. INVITES the Director General to keep the Council informed every six months on the implementation of the above transformation programme, and to submit in the light of the experience gained additional proposals for further improvement in efficiency and cost-savings.

2. Cooperation with other organisations in Europe

  1. WELCOMES the cooperation under way on meteorology and climatology between the Agency and Eumetsat, between the Agency and the European Commission in the fields of navigation and observation of the Earth and its environment, as well as between the Agency and Eutelsat in the field of telecommunications;

  2. INVITES the Director General to work with other organisations in Europe at national and European level, in particular the European Commission, taking into account their respective roles, to ensure the synergy and complementarity of their respective activities, in particular in science, Earth observation, telecommunications, microgravity and technology in a coherent European space policy and to reinforce the position of Europe in the world-wide space activities.

3. Cooperation with other space-faring nations

  1. WELCOMES the results of the mid-term review of the cooperation Agreement with Canada and APPRECIATES the benefits of such a long-standing cooperation; and APPRECIATES as well cooperation with Canada in the context of the International Space Station;

  2. WELCOMES the efforts undertaken by the Director General to deepen the long-standing cooperation with the United States, to carry out joint activities with Russia and to lay the basis for closer cooperation with Japan, in particular in the frame of the International Space Station and of the Scientific Programme;

  3. INVITES the Director General to pursue his endeavours of strengthening the ties with the Agency's partners, in particular in global environmental systems and in future exploration programmes.

4. Cooperation with Developing Countries

NOTING the Resolution ESA/C/CXVI/Res.1(Final) adopted on 22 February 1995 and the lines of action specified in it,

  1. WELCOMES the actions taken by the Director General to make international and national organisations and entities with responsibilities for development aid aware of the potential contributions offered by the space technology and applications for Developing Countries;

  2. INVITES the Director General to pursue within the provisions of the above-mentioned Resolution, activities aiming at demonstrating the capabilities of European space technology, in particular as they relate to meeting the developing countries' needs.

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Right Left Up Home ESA Bulletin Nr. 84.
Published November 1995.
Developed by ESA-ESRIN ID/D.