The first European Space Council will be held in Brussels on 25 November 2004. The occasion will comprise joint and concomitant meetings of the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Union (EU) Councils, including ministers in charge of space affairs, internal markets, industry and research.
This first Space Council represents a major political milestone for Europe in space, offering ministers representing all 27 EU and/or ESA Member States their first opportunity to jointly discuss the development of an overall ‘European Space Programme’.
The meeting is to be chaired jointly by Edelgard Buhlman, German Minister for Education and Research and current Chair of the ESA Council, and Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs and current Chair of the EU Competitiveness Council. Representing the European Commission and ESA executives, respectively, will be Günther Verheugen, EC Vice-President and Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, and Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director-General.
A second Space Council meeting is expected to follow in the spring of 2005, with a European Space Programme to be defined by the end of 2005.
