The European Parliament adopted a report on Space capabilities for European security and defence drafted by MEP Bogdan Zdrojewski. The document underlines the possibilities that have been gained by the Member States thanks to the EU programs, Copernicus and Galileo, in the areas of adequate positioning, border monitoring, air and maritime travel control, as well as the analysis of climate change.

“Positioning services and Earth observation capabilities, offered by the EU programs, Galileo and Copernicus respectively, should be used in order to assure the security of EU citizens” said the rapporteur, Bogdan Zdrojewski. “The common satellite systems serve the authorities responsible for securing borders, coordination of maritime and aerial transport, but also in agriculture or the scientists analyse the composition of atmosphere and track the climate changes. But we should not be afraid to say that they can also serve the Common Security and Defence Policy”.

The report underlines that a singular system of efficient transmission of data from the satellites to the relevant services should be thoroughly analysed in order to fully use the capabilities that the EU is building. What should also be stressed is the need for long-term financial guarantees of the space programs so that they can be further developed according to their potential.

“Space technologies are simply a good investment both for our security and economy” underlines Bogdan Zdrojewski, European Parliament’s rapporteur on space capabilities for European security and defence.