----- Original Message ----- From: Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <mailto:Undisclosed-Recipient:;@mindspring.com> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 1:55 PM Subject: European Militarization of Space Dear friends! Infos auf Deutsch zu den europ�ischen Pl�nen, den Weltraum st�rker zu militarisieren, gerne bei mir! Recent documents and communications from the European Space Agency (ESA) > and the European Commission leave no doubt: in parallel to creating a > European Security and Defense Program, Europe also prepares for an > increased use of space for military purposes. This is not to be ignored. > > Below, you will find a short article with some details. In addition, a > "European" section has been created on the website > http://www.space4peace.org, the site of the Global Network Against > Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. There, you will find links to > several of the relevant key documents as well as a draft letter to ESA > President Edelgard Bulmahn. She is the German Minister for Research and > Education and will hold the ESA office for the next two years. Some of > the documents are available in English and German. On the website of the > European Union, you will also find versions of the official EU documents > in the other European languages. > > Please, use the letter - either as-is or in any other way you think > appropriate - to support our efforts to prevent a European > militarization of space. If you want the WinWord file of the letter or > the text in a mail body to modify it for your own purposes, send me > mail. > > If you publish a newsletter or magazin and want to inform your readers > about this, contact me. Provided I find enough time, I am willing to > write articles. > > Feel free to forward this mail. > > In peace > Regina Hagen > Darmstaedter Friedensforum and > Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space > ************************************************************ > > The European Space Agency expansion to militarism > >From Regina Hagen and Bruce Gagnon of The Global Network Against Weapons > and Nuclear Power in Space and Dave Webb from Yorkshire CND > > When reading the following, please remember: > > � The EU was upset with the U.S. over the war with Yugoslavia. > � The U.S. withheld vital military reconnaissance information from the > EU in that war in order to stay in control of the military operation. > � This angered the EU and these new developments are partly a result of > them wanting their own space capability. > > INFORMATION > > This week, the European Space Agency (ESA) released a report from the > So called "three wise men" who had been asked to think about the future > of ESA and ESA strategy in the light of the expansion of the European > Union. > > ESA and the European Council published a joint strategy paper on the > role of space for Europe. > > The main conclusions are: > � ESA should be expanded to act as the sole agency for all European > space endeavours. > � The European Council should become the body to define the European > Space Policy and the guidelines for its implementation. > � The European Commission should define the regulatory framework under > which space activities are conducted and be a member of the ESA Council. > � "The European Parliament should be given the opportunity to regularly > discuss and review the European Space Policy." Note: the EP is not meant > to control ESA and European space policy. > > This should be viewed in the light of the Eastern expansion of the > European Union and the move towards a joint European Security and > Defense Policy (ESDP). Just this week, the Western European Union - the > "military" arm of SOME of the EU member states - ceased to exist. From > now on, the EU is responsible for security and defense - including > out-of-area missions and ensuring that the "interests" of Europe and > European citizens are secured. > > The "wise men report" and other recent EU and ESA papers explicitly > point to the fact that dual-use is inherent to all space technology. > Moreover, it is suggested explicitly that use should be made of this, > and: > > "We thus see it as logical to use the capabilities of ESA also for the > development of the more security-oriented aspects of the European Space > Policy". > > So far, the ESA statute limits its activities to peaceful purposes. In > this context, the report says: > > "As the efforts of the European Union in these fields are geared to the > so-called Petersburg tasks of peace strengthening in the form of > conflict prevention and crisis management, including civil and > environmental emergencies, we do not see any problem with the Convention > of ESA." > > The war in Kosovo was considered a "civil emergency" and Europe has > since decided that it no longer wants to depend on US systems for > observation, navigation, etc. for military use. > > The quote also combines environmental emergencies and "wider" security. > Perhaps Europe is already be making plans for when continued > environmental degradation and resource conflicts become more > important... The report goes on: > > "Embarking on development of a European defence system including also a > space component will also provide a significant part of European public > investment that is missing today compared with the US." > > "Increasingly, we see the space infrastructure necessary for commercial > and other public sector applications moving together with those > necessary for different security needs". > > These are related to earth observation (the Global Monitoring for > Environment and Security - GMES - program), telecommunication and > navagiation (the European GPS system - GALILEO). With respect to > GALILEO, the report says: > > "It should be recalled that GPS is a US military funded and controlled > system, incorporating in particular the capability of selective > shutdowns over certain areas in times of conflict. Galileo should have a > similar capability, which in turn would imply suitable mechanisms for > taking such decisions" > > The "wise men" clearly position Europe as THE counterpart and "equal > partner" of the US in terms of the strategic goals of "dominance in > space" and "information superiority". > > "By developing its own infrastructure, Europe will ... PREVENT OTHER > COMPETITORS (from Asia in particular) FROM DEVELOPING THEIR OWN > INFRASTRUCTRE. By doing that Europe will become the alternative to the > US for the world, will consolidate its number 2 position in space and > will therefore be able to become a privileged partner on global issiues > and large-scale international developments." > (Emphasis added) > > It is also clear that, like NASA, science and manned missions are needed > to get public acceptance of the space programs: > > "Science and manned spaceflights are and will remain important parts of > space activities, contributing to the public awareness of space > programmes as a whole". > > DOCUMENTS > See website of Global Network at http://www.space4peace.org (new section > on "Europe"= > http://ravel.esrin.esa.it/docs/wisemen_report.pdf > http://ravel.esrin.esa.it/docs/annex1_wisemen.pdf > http://ravel.esrin.esa.it/docs/annex2_wisemen.pdf
