EUMETSAT’s 52nd Special Council met on 4th March at the Justus Liebig House
in Darmstadt, Germany.

The main issue addressed at the meeting was the extension of the MSG Programme,
encompassing the procurement of a fourth MSG satellite (MSG-4).

All 18 Member States unanimously agreed on the content of the proposed extension and, on
that basis formally opened the approval process for the MSG Programme extension. “Never
have there been so many decisions taken with an unanimous vote,” said EUMETSAT’s Director-
General Dr. Tillmann Mohr after the event.

The approval process itself made major progress at the meeting, with all 18 Member States
voting in favour of the Programme Extension. However, some Member States will have to
confirm their commitment and it is expected that by the end of 2003, the MSG Programme
Extension will fully be approved. This extension represents a budget of € 391 millions which will
be added to the current total envelope of the MSG Programme – which amounts to € 1673
millions at 2003 economic conditions.

In the meantime EUMETSAT has been authorised by Council to start with industrial activities of
the MSG Programme Extension by April 2003. This early start will enable the continuity with
ongoing industrial activities on MSG-2 and MSG-3 and preserve the affordability of the
procurement of the fourth satellite.

The unanimous voting stresses the importance of the programme extension for the continuous
availability of the operational MSG service until 2015, at which time a Meteosat Third
Generation system is expected to become available. This reflects the consensus on the critical
contribution of EUMETSAT satellite services to weather forecasting and climate monitoring, and
the commitment of the Member States to the development of European meteorological satellite
systems.

Notes to the editor

The Council guides the general policy of EUMETSAT and its financial commitments and is
empowered to decide by unanimous vote, by a two-thirds majority or by a simple majority. Each
of the Member States is represented and the national delegation includes a participant from the
respective National Meteorological Service. The Council meets at least twice a year. The
Council is supported by several subsidiary delegate bodies, including the Policy Advisory
Committee (PAC), the Scientific and Technical Group (STG), the Administrative and Finance
Group (AFG) and the Working Group on data Policy (WGP). These bodies also meet two or
three times a year, preparing the decisions of the full Council.

The first of the Meteosat Second Generation satellite series was launched end of August 2002
and is currently in commissioning phase. The new system will offer more frequent and
advanced imagery and is one example of successful European cooperation.

Over the past 25 years data from Meteosat satellites has not only provided vital inputs to
Europe’s meteorological services and their forecasting systems but has also been invaluable to
research communities in Europe and elsewhere in a wide variety of fields including
meteorology, climate, agriculture, veterinary and environmental monitoring in general.
EUMETSAT is an intergovernmental organisation that establishes and maintains operational
meteorological satellites for 18 European States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom). EUMETSAT also has four Cooperating
States (The Slovak Republic, Hungary, Poland and Croatia). Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia
and Romania will become Cooperative States in the near future. The images and the data from
Meteosat make a significant contribution to weather forecasting and to the monitoring of the
global climate.

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