European Ministers emphasize the role of space for the security of Europe.

Meeting in Brussels on December 6, the 29 Ministers of the ESA-EU Space Council underlined the importance of space systems for security. They drew attention to the role of satellite systems – particularly Galileo, EGNOS and GMES – as the backbone for improving Europe’s response to emergencies.

Pre-operational Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) services are already available. The Ministers from EU and ESA Member States urged the European Commission to accelerate the transition to full operations, in support of EU external actions. The Ministers reaffirmed GMES as a priority for the EU, and urged the European Commission to take the necessary and timely actions to secure the continuity of the programme and the services it supplies to users.

GMES will work hand-in-hand with the high-accuracy Public Regulated Service of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellite system.