EU Commission calls for increased funds for space development

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 10, 2003

EU Commission calls for increased funds for space development

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The Commission of the European Union (EU) is calling for more funds from EU members for space development so that the bloc will not lag behind in space industry, according to Germany's paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung to be published on Monday.

Philippe Busquin, EU's commissioner for scientific research, is to release on Monday a "white paper" on a EU plan for space development and detailed proposals, the newspaper reported.

The document says that the current amount of EU space funds is inadequate and new investment by the member countries is a must for the space research and development.

The EU space funds totals 5.38 billion euros at present and the EU Commission believes that an annual increase of 4.6 percent of investment in the field will be necessary.

Space development guarantees job opportunities and economic competitiveness, with 300,000 people working in 2,000 space enterprises in Europe, and investment in this field will gain a 7 to 8-time income in return, says Busquin's report.

The Galileo Satellite Navigation Program will reap a sales volume of 100 billion euros and create 40,000 more job opportunities in 2010, according to the European Commission.

The potential value of new space technology applied to environment protection, transportation, communications and other sectors is estimated at 350 billion euros, the report says.

Last month, EU Enterprise Commissioner Erkki Liikanen raised some proposals to promote the space industry, including a better environment through creating an internal market for the European military products. Otherwise, European space industries will lose its competitiveness and more brain drains will ensue, he warned.

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