Space Industry Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting) Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Neil Coyle
Main Page: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)Department Debates - View all Neil Coyle's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Space Industry Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)
Neil Coyle ExcerptsTuesday 23rd January 2018
(6 years, 10 months ago)
Public Bill CommitteesRead Full debate Space Industry Act 2018 View all Space Industry Act 2018 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Public Bill Committee Amendments as at 23 January 2018 - (23 Jan 2018)
Joseph Johnson
The European Space Agency delivers a number of programmes for the European Union, but we continue to be a member of the ESA in our own right and, as I said, we are contributing record amounts—more than €1.4 billion in the current budget period.
Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab)
For absolute clarity, is the Minister suggesting that payments via the EU could still be possible, in contrast with the Foreign Secretary’s position on that matter?
Joseph Johnson
I am not going to parse comments by others that I have not seen, but I can confirm that we remain a full member of the European Space Agency in our own right, we are contributing record amounts to its budget, and we have every expectation of continuing to be a full member of that organisation long into the future.
On the new clause’s requirement to undertake an assessment, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union provided the relevant Committees with reports for many sectors, including one for the UK space sector, on 27 November. As the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire said, that report contained a description of the sector, the current EU regulatory regime, existing frameworks for the facilitation of trade between countries in the sector, and sector views.