Europe's Space Policies and their relevance to the EU's Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)

The following study, written by Rebecca Johnson on behalf of the Acronym Institute and ISIS-Europe (link to ISIS Europe), with research assistance from Stephen Pullinger and Aline Dewaele, was commissioned in 2006 by the European Parliament Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union.

"The study analyses Europe's space programmes and argues for an effective European Space Policy to manage the civil-military interface and national-regional interests to enable Europe to benefit from a more effective coordination of technologies and assets for the purpose of enhancing European and international security, while preventing destabilising developments, such as the testing, deployment or use of anti-satellite weapons or weapons in and from space.

Europe's Space Policies and their relevance to ESDP (PDF), by Rebecca Johnson, published by the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, June 19, 2006.

HEADING THE SPACE SECURITY PANEL AT THE E-PARLIAMENT: Brief Summary for the Ideas Database on Space Security:

To be discussed and valorized by the eParliament's Expert and Legislators Panel on Space Security.

Title:

SPT-Space Preservation Treaty - Economy and Security for a New World Cooperative Space Age Industry: How to Transform the Obsolete War Economy into a Prosperous, Sustainable, Peaceful, World Cooperative New Energy & Space Exploration Economy

Summary:

- Stop the escalation of weapons into that place above all our heads before it expands into outer space.

- Initiate a Treaty-Signing Process whereby a growing caucus of Individuals and small groups of Nation State Leaders Sign, Ratify & Promote The Space Preservation Treaty that will ban all space-based weapons and establish the Outer Space Peace-Keeping Agency with technology dedicated to monitor outer space to enforce the ban and to use that same technology to verify agreements on Earth.

- Transform space weapons R&D, testing and manufacturing into expanded, financially prosperous, technologically feasible, and socially responsible, space exploration with new energy spin-offs.

The Idea:

It is through the Space Preservation Treaty that we must, not just ban all space-based weapons, discarding and assuring less threats to our world but; we can begin a world change movement by an extense international cooperation for global peace, global security and global sustainable development. Redirecting the goals of the weapons and warfare economy, transforming the war industry into a new space age economy and industry that will, under international law, apply the diverse existing solutions to our diverse crisis, for the benefit of all Humanity and the protection of the environment; our home planet.

The Prevention of the weaponization of space, and the transformation of the war economy and industry into a space economy and industry will:

§ Free humans in all societies to live, work, and travel peacefully on earth and in space, instead of creating currently planned for imminent deployment of planned and future space-based weapons. We have only one chance in history to ban all space-based weapons.

§ Create a new global economic stimulus package based on the development of a whole new and exciting Space Age marketplace that will be established as humans officially acknowledge that we are evolving from being an earth-bound species that was limited by man-made and geographical boundaries as well as belief systems, into a space-bound species that is based on new knowledge and that has unlimited peace-based possibilities.

§ Create Space Age programs that will produce clean and safe New Energy and other needed technology, with an abundance of new products and services.

Links:

- ICIS: www.peaceinspace.com
- CCIS: www.peaceinspace.org
- NPAE: www.pazenelespacio.org
- How to ban Warfare and Weapons in Space - Create a Space Preservation Treaty Conference:
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/peaceinspaceorg/2005/08/strategy_campai.html
- More about the Space Preservation Treaty Signing-Conference:
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/peaceinspaceorg/2006/11/space_preservat.html
- Treaty Comparison Charts:
http://www.peaceinspace.com/sp_chart.shtml
- ACDN France, Space Preservation Treaty-Signing Conference:
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/peaceinspaceorg/2006/04/acdn_france_spa.html
- Petition Drive on Missile Defense & the Canada Space Preservation Act:
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/peaceinspaceorg/2004/10/a_hrefhttppeace_6.html
- Canada’s Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew hints at supporting a U.N. Space Preservation Treaty Conference: (English and French)
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/peaceinspaceorg/2005/08/canadas_foreign.html
- Eisenhower Institute, New Frontiers in Space: http://www.eisenhowerinstitute.org/programs/globalpartnerships/fos/newfrontier/weapons.htm
- WEU Assembly:
http://www.assembly-weu.org/en/documents/sessions_ordinaires/rpt/2006/1932.php?PHPSESSID=44eed6328b83232221ce0856d93e7d47
- H.R. 2420 - Space Preservation Act 2005, US House of Representatives:
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/peaceinspaceorg/2005/08/us_house_of_rep.html

"Europe does not desire and does not see dominance of space as a goal, neither for itself, nor for any other State Member or Nation"

Ana Maria Gomez, MEP. (Portugal)
Vice-President of the Security and Defense Comite at the European Parliament:

- "Only at the European Union, it is spent more than 5 billion dollars in military and civil space projects".

ESPI: e-Parliament:

Introduction of the Space Preservation Treaty into the discussion Panel of Experts and Legislators on Space Security, create debate on the various and profound implications of the Treaty, desglose the Treaty comparison of other ideas and pieces of legislations homólogous in the concerne of the regulations of the civil & militar activities in space, as projects for international law, under the United Nations; and invite European Leaders in working cooperatively to ban space-based weapons and transform the war economy and industry by signing and presenting ratification instruments to the UN Depositary, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

¿What is eParliament? (PDF)

European Space Preservation Initiative, Launches!

The Initiative launches with the introduction of the SPT-Space Preservation Treaty into the eParliament's Discussion Panel. Hearing directed by Jesper Grolin, Executive Director for the eParliament.

Economy and Security for a New World Cooperative Space Age Industry

Importance of space preservation and Implications of the SPT-Space Preservation Treaty

(Extract)

All societies, long through-out the planet, reflect a great preoccupation about Peace. There is a real intention in achieving it though, we have to remember we are immersed in the war business. The whole global economy is based on the centralization of energy and the war and weapons industry. We must just analyze accurately the facts that repeat constantly in terms of the war economy equation. The equation, in fact, is very simple: First, you must choose a target, an enemy; we have seen this situation going on since the communist/soviet threat, going through the japanness, until the decentrilized international terrorism. Next, is to deploy the old weapons. Then you test the new ones and finally, you prepare the budgets for the next ones. Well, that's why it is virtually irrelevant that people around the world claim anything to stop this; there are contracts and budgets to run through.

The problem is reaching a real peace scenario, based on international cooperation. To achive this, we need real actions, international laws that will permit us to induce the necessary changes for, utilizing the same infrastructures, transform and redirect goals and activities of the weapons industry.

Do to the reality that 3/4rds of the space industry (civil and military) has been launched and manufactured at and from military platforms, that on the other hand must continue beeing in this way, because we are not talking about deleting those infrastructures and jobs but, about redirecting those funds and resources used for R&D and testing of all those projects on space-based weapons which we don't want over our heads, into projects, products and services focused in the existing diverse solutions for the humanitarian and ecological crisis.

We must have in mind that thee funds and resources aplied to the weapons industry, in not just comming from the military sector, but universities, labs and other government departments and private sector. Was is known as the "military-industrial complex", the so preoccupaidly claimed named by Eisenhower, at the end of his mandate, in 1961.

It is important in not entering the discussion on which kind of weapons we are talking about. The SPT-Space Preservation Treaty especifies already, the permanent ban of all space-based weapons or any other weapons system based on space-based technology. This also means, there will be a prohibition on any kind of system capable of targeting and/or destroing any kind of object, in space, in the atmosfere or on Earth.

These named systems and military satelites, operatively in orbit, today, can be used to monitor Earth and outer space. Not only to verify and guarantee the permanent ban of all space-based weapons but to analyze the planet, the profitable resources and services in space and on Earth, for the benefit of all and in a peaceful and cooperative manner with the intention in offering existing solutions to the basic and necessary problems for a sustainable development; as for example, agriculture applications, population movements, climate reconnaissance, humanitarian rescue operations and other services that we could have achieved more extensively and positively, decades ago. We can create new systems and services, creating literally thousands of new jobs, for a world cooperative new space age economy and industry.

Under the premise of defense, the efforts and projects to make prevail the war economy/industry equation irrevocably permanent are ongoing. There is a continuing effort to stablish the subventions, the funding and the technologies to develop, test, constuct and deploy space-based weapons before we now what they are and why do we need them. Note we are not talking about hugh space systems, remember you can target any spot on the planet from three different places in orbit, using only three satellites. These space-based weapons systems are too costly, destabilizing, unnecessary and they won't protect us from anything. We do not need them. All these efforts to deploy space-based weapons are clear attitude to "control" and "dominate" space. This attitute is far more preoccupant than the weapons itself.

...

"2nd Rally for International Disarmament - Nuclear, Biological and Chemical", Saints - France 2005

SPACE PRESERVATION TREATY SIGNING CONFERENCE: "2nd Rally for International Disarmament - Nuclear, Biological and Chemical
Saintes (France) 6-8 May 2005

Download SPACEPRESTREATY.mp3