The House of Lords EU Internal Market Sub-Committee has written to
MP, Minister of State for
Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, to raise concerns
about the progress of, and the Government’s commitment to UK
space programmes after Brexit.
The letter highlights the UK’s outstanding experience, expertise
and heritage in EU space programmes and the speed at which
uncertainty has already impacted the UK space sector. The letter
calls on the Government to act quickly to achieve an agreement that
preserves UK access to EU space programmes.
The letter follows a roundtable discussion held
by the Sub-Committee on Thursday 15 March 2018 on the impact of
Brexit on the UK space sector with witnesses from academia,
research facilities, professional bodies and industry. The
Sub-Committee followed up the evidence session with a highly
informative visit to the ‘space cluster’ at Harwell Campus. Much
of the evidence heard related to the UK’s participation in the
EU’s Galileo and Copernicus programmes. The threat to UK
participation and access to Galileo was felt most sharply in
relation to the programme’s security aspects, specifically the
Public Regulated Service (PRS), which is restricted to qualified
government users—one of which would have been the Ministry of
Defence.
Letter
attached.
Notes to Editors
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The House of Lords EU Internal Market
Sub-Committee scrutinises EU policy and proposals
which affect the internal market, infrastructure and
employment, as well as the implications of Brexit in those
areas. Find out more about the Committee here.
