Vers une stratégie spatiale de l'Union européenne au service du citoyen

- points out that local and regional authorities make a significant contribution to the development of the space technologies sector by creating clusters and competitiveness zones that bring together manufacturers (including SMEs), higher education institutions and scientific research. They thus play a key role in the processes of innovation and technology transfer;

- highlights the fact that local and regional authorities also have a key role as users;

- expects that, now that the EU's competence has been expanded, local and regional authorities will be sustainably and comprehensively involved in drafting and implementing European space policy;

- urges the Commission to propose how long-term funding for the operation of GMES infrastructure can be guaranteed within the EU budget in future, and rejects the Commission's proposal that it be financed outside the EU budget: GMES, like Galileo, is a European project and therefore belongs in the EU budget in order to guarantee both financial sustainability and transparency and democratic oversight of the funding;

- emphatically recommends that the establishment of regional GMES development and application centres should be promoted and that European networks such as NEREUS should be supported and helped to develop.