DEFENCE : GALILEO AND GMES MAY HAVE MILITARY USERS BUT UNDER CIVILIAN CONTROL.

Transport Europe, June, 2007

The EU27 plus Switzerland and Norway, both of which are also part of the European Space Agency (ESA), agreed on 23 May on a resolution on European space policy. In the resolution, they say that "the uses made by any military users of Galileo or GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) must be consistent with the principle that Galileo and GMES are civil systems under civil control". Any change to this principle would require changes to the EU Treaties and the framework of the ESA Convention.

The signatories of the resolution recognised the potential for dual use of space technologies [civilian and defence applications] and said that "Europe can [ ] improve coordination between defence and civilian space programmes, pursuing in particular the...