27/07/2004

The agreement on Greece's accession to the European Space Agency (ESA) was signed on 19 July 2004, at the Agency's Paris headquarters by the Greek Minister for Development, D. Sioufas, and ESA Director General, J.J. Dordain. The Greek General Secretary for Research and Technology, I. Tsoukalas, was also present at the ceremony.

The accession of Greece to ESA as a full member is of great importance for the country's research and technology sector. "As a member of the EU and the ESA we will contribute, at all levels, to the policy making in the areas of research, technology, space industry as well as security and defence", underlined D. Sioufas after the signature of the agreement.

The Minister for Development assessed that the accession of Greece to ESA will boost the country's competitiveness and yield significant profits. He also stressed that Greece needs to detach from the traditional sectors of the economy and develop new areas, such as Space, that create added value and, at the same time, upgrade the products of the traditional sectors.

Mr Sioufas underlined that, due to the territorial morphology (mountainous and insular) of Greece, its geographical position as the gateway of Europe to the Middle East and Asia, as well as its vicinity with less developed countries, "the demands for use and development of specialized applications of space technology have increased, especially in crucial economic sectors, such as the mercantile marine sector. The areas of telecommunications, satellite navigation and earth observation are our main priorities".

The ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain warmly welcomed Greece to the European Space Agency, and stressed "We look forward to the new member state fruitfully extending its participation in various fields, including the new space programmes Europe is preparing for the future".

The General Secretary for Research and Technology, I. Tsoukalas, underlined that "We should draw up and realize very studiously not only the strategic plan for the development of the committees that are foreseen in the accession agreement, but also the operational plan that will allow us to exploit the possibilities offered by ESA to science and the economy in Greece".

The route to the accession to ESA

The signature of the accession agreement ratifies a procedure dating back in the early 1990s. Greece submitted the application for accession in 2003, although Greek bodies have been participating successfully in ESA optional programmes such as ARTES, GMES and GSTP since 2001.

Greece is expected to become officially a full member of ESA by 1 December 2005, after the conclusion of the necessary procedures at national level and the ratification of the agreement by the Greek Parliament. A transitional period of 6 months is to follow, during which the following goals will be pursued, on the basis of a mutual accepted action plan: reinforcement of the relevant infrastructure as well as the realisation of actions for the adjustment, education and awareness of users (industry, enterprises, scientific community, etc) in order to fully utilize the services and the programmes of the Agency.

About ESA

The European Space Agency was founded 35 years ago, aiming at the promotion of scientific research and technological cooperation among the member states in the area of Space and its applications exclusively for peaceful means (communications, environment, development, etc). It is noted that ESA set the satellite Mars Express in the orbit of Mars in 2003, and participates in the development of the International Space Station.

Although directly linked to the European Union, ESA is an independent organisation and includes members even outside the EU. Luxembourg is also expected to become a full member of ESA soon. The new accessions - Greece and Luxembourg - will raise the number of the ESA members to 17 (15 member states of the EU, Swiss, Norway). Canada and Hungary also cooperate with ESA.

The benefits of accession for Greece As a full member of ESA, Greece will participate equally with the other member states in the decision-making process for the Space policy at European level. Greek companies will be able to participate in more programmes, thereby improving their technology base, enhancing their competitiveness and creating jobs for specialized scientific staff. The universities and the research organisations of the country will also have access to big European Space programmes.

Some of the applications that have been developed within the framework of the ESA programmes and are of utmost importance for Greece concern areas such as: emergency crisis management (floods, earthquakes, forest fires), wide-scale mapping, the monitoring of protected regions, safe navigation, the development of know-how for monitoring the atmosphere, easy dissemination of data and information even in remote regions of the country. There will be great benefits for the sectors of tele-education and tele-medicine, as well as for the defence and the security of the country.

The agreement also allows Greece to train students and scientific staff at the headquarters of ESA, under a special fellowship programme.