Proposition 52K1326

Projet de loi portant assentiment à l'Accord de coopération concernant un système mondial de navigation par satellite (GNSS) - GALILEO entre la Communauté européenne et ses Etats membres et la République populaire de Chine, fait à Pékin le 30 octobre 2003.

General information ¶

Submitted by

The Senate

Submission date

May 13, 2008

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

China European Space Agency European Union international agreement satellite satellite navigation

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA LDD MR

Voted to reject

FN VB

Party dissidents ¶

• Hans Bonte (Vooruit) abstained from voting.

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

July 10, 2008 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

I would like to ask something unorthodox. The draft laws under agenda items 10, 11 and 12, with no. 1326/1, no. 1327/1 and no. 1328/1, have the same object. I would like to give an oral report on the three draft laws together.

Mr. Speaker, colleagues, this is about approving the cooperation agreement on the famous GALILEO, a system that is not insignificant and that we want to establish in Europe.

In the first of the three drafts, a few questions were asked by colleague Roel Deseyn and by myself. After all, it is not insignificant to emphasize that an agreement is being drafted here with the People’s Republic of China. The question was asked in the committee what the content of such an agreement is, what the various aspects are.

Colleague Deseyn also wanted to know whether China would also intervene with its own participation in the satellite event that involves that system. The answer is not insignificant. The government says China will intervene for 200 million euros in this cooperation. Detailed, there are a number of millions of euros to finance the work to be entrusted to the Chinese industry and 130 million euros to cover the contribution in cash or in kind from the operation.

However, I would like to briefly emphasize before the Chamber that this agreement between Galileo Europe and China concerns scientific research, the allocation of radio frequencies at the international level, the certification of Galileo standards, the industrial activities, the development of services and markets derived from the application and the development of regional and local systems.

This will naturally come into play if the various countries, with a minimum of 16, have ratified this agreement.

The committee unanimously approved the articles of the draft.

Mr. President of the Council, No. 1327 was also not insignificant by the questions asked by colleague Deseyn and by myself to examine the content of the agreements between the famous GPS system we know and the GALILEO system that we will be able to use here later.

Here the question is clear. The answer is that too. The exchange of information between the well-known GPS and Galileo is only about interoperability. It is therefore merely a matter of promoting, making available and using the system of GALILEO by the Member States and the USA, from a viewpoint of compatibility, radio frequencies and, in a sense, free access to the market.

Mr. Speaker, I come to a third similar bill containing the Cooperation Agreement.

The agreement that we have concluded with Israel is not without importance. And the question in the committee was relevant. I was the one who had the honor of putting it on. It can be seen that the Israeli government will pay a contribution of 19 million euros as a participation. And to the question of whether this also affects the so-called activities of sensitive and secure technologies, the government replied that this would be the subject of specific agreements between those who approve GALILEO and the State of Israel.

So far, Mr. Speaker, my comment, on behalf of the committee, in an oral report. I will be able to come back in a few moments for a final report.

I thank you for this report.

Mr. Deseyn, you were not registered as a speaker, but that does not matter. You get the word.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you, and also thank reporter De Croo for the very good report. We heard more tonight than we could hear in the committee, which immediately illustrates the importance of this reporting.

One of the questions concerned the failure of the system, within the framework of the cooperation on the interoperability of GALILEO and GPS. I would like to ask the government, here represented by Minister Turtelboom and the Secretary of State, if this aspect can be specifically included in the negotiations on future contracts so that we can still have a reliable partner in the future with GPS. I spoke in the committee about the fall outs for security and defense reasons, which the Americans apply, whether or not bound to the presence of a strategic person on a particular part of the territory. It is important that, within the framework of democratic control, Parliament can be given an overview or at least accountability if the system is unavailable at any given moment. I say this primarily from a concern for the technological industry that is actually crushing the knowledge economy in Belgium and Flanders. When one cannot rely on it for a hundred percent, one cannot come to accurate calculations and some high-tech applications cannot run as it should. Galileo will mean a performance of the system, but GPS remains an essential supplement in this regard, which is why I am concerned.