National Council in favor of comprehensive cooperation with the EU in the space sector
Published: Thursday, Sep 26th 2024, 10:40
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Switzerland is to seek comprehensive cooperation with the EU in the space sector. However, this cooperation is to be negotiated separately from the negotiations with Brussels, which have been ongoing since last March.
On Thursday, the National Council adopted a motion with this demand by 95 votes to 88. It will now go to the Council of States. It was submitted by its Security Policy Committee (SIK-N). It is based on growing cyber risks in space, digitalization and critical infrastructures.
The Federal Council stated in a report that Switzerland's limited space infrastructure means that it is reliant on international cooperation in order to protect its interests and increase its competitiveness, the SIK-N wrote. Such cooperation with the EU makes sense.
Since March, Brussels and Bern have once again been negotiating the future relationship between Switzerland and the EU. The motion demands that the negotiations on cooperation in the space sector be conducted separately so as not to "overload the well-balanced current negotiating mandate", as it writes.
Specifically, the motion calls for negotiations with Brussels on comprehensive cooperation in the space sector to be explored in advance. The Foreign Affairs Committees would then have to be consulted on the negotiating mandate. According to the SIK-N, full association is particularly necessary for the Copernicus program.
Thomas Hurter (SVP/SH) proposed a no vote for the minority, saying that cooperation already exists in space programs such as that of the European Space Agency (ESA). And if we wanted strong cooperation, it would have to be with the space organization NASA or the USA. The Federal Council also rejected the motion and referred to the existing cooperation.
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