EU space industrial policy

- points to relevant aspects to be regulated in the context of the nascent EU space policy: industrial standards, issues related to technical operations and commercial exploitation of satellite communication infrastructure;

- agrees that demand-oriented public policy making for the EU's space sector is intended to empower users, but cannot be reduced to consumer subsidies;

- urges the European Commission to establish the criteria of public usefulness in the service of the competences and needs of public authorities that will be used in evaluating user demand;

- points out that a close relationship between the local/regional level, which is working with industries to detect and support their first steps, and the national/community levels, should be a vital aspect of the EU industrial policy;

- wishes to draw attention to the evidence derived from local and regional best practices that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, Copernicus/GMES downstream services cater to the needs of public policy and have demonstrated their usefulness for public goals;

- suggests that services and applications developed on the basis of space technologies could be co-financed from the Structural Funds, provided that there is enough political will and awareness on the part of those managing the funds. A mechanism of this kind has already been employed in the 2007-2013 Financial Framework, where unused cohesion funds/ERDF funding was reallocated to a new priority: satellite based broadband internet for remote regions;

- expresses the opinion that the operational phase of Copernicus is crucial for the economic breakthrough of new technology developments, but that financial support will be required in order to overcome the start-up costs connected with the uptake of new technology by a variety of users.