Switzerland wants to join EU Copernicus scheme

A view of the Alps from 2016 generated by multiple scans from the Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite, which were then stitched together to create a complete image. ESA

The Swiss government has moved to initiate talks with the European Union (EU) about participating in the multi-billion-euro Copernicus Earth observation programme.

The EU and the European Space Agency (ESA) launched Copernicus in 1998 with the goal of providing a wide range of geographic data and information such as environmental monitoring. The ambitious observation programme is intended to help Europe have independent access to global data.

“Association to Copernicus would allow Switzerland to have a say in shaping the programme, ensure access to this data in the long term and allow industry to participate in the programme’s procurements,” the government said in a statementExternal link on February 16.

To join the EU scheme, Switzerland must negotiate a bilateral association agreement with Brussels and submit it to the Swiss parliament for approval, the government said.

The Copernicus programme comprises six Sentinel satellite missions, designed to supply data to help policymakers shape environmental legislation or react to emergencies such as natural disasters or humanitarian crises.

The ESA, of which Switzerland is a founding member, is responsible for developing the satellites, while the EU manages the data and services provided by the Copernicus programme and ensures its long-term operability in partnership with the ESA, EU member states and EU agencies.

Copernicus is one of the EU’s two flagship space programmes along with satellite-navigation initiative Galileo, which is meant to rival the dominant US Global Positioning System, or GPS.

It cost an estimated €6.7 billion (CHF7.01 billion) to set up and operate between 1998-2020. It has been estimated that the Copernicus observation data will help boost Europe’s economy by €30 billion up until 2030.

Cold front

Wednesday’s announcement comes amid frosty ties between Switzerland – which is not an EU member – and Brussels.

Years of talks to bind Switzerland more closely to the EU’s single market collapsed last May when the Swiss government ditched a draft 2018 treaty cementing ties with its biggest trading partner.

Brussels had been pushing for a decade for a treaty that would sit atop a patchwork of bilateral accords. EU-Swiss ties are currently governed by more than 100 bilateral agreements stretching back to 1972.

Ignazio Cassis, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, declared in a newspaper interview earlier this month that the Swiss government was now working towards fresh talks with the EU.