“Rediscovering our spirit of conquest to build a new France. » During the 2017 presidential campaign, Emmanuel Macron presented himself as the candidate of the “Progressivism”, carrying an optimistic vision of the future. Way to caricature his adversaries of the time as the candidates “of decline and defeat”. Five years later, the former economy minister who became head of state has come a long way. But the position remains the same.
“Not depending on the choice of others, that is our ambition”, Emmanuel Macron
While his announcement of candidacy for the presidential election is imminent – it should take place next week, according to his entourage – Emmanuel Macron again played this refrain, Wednesday February 16, during a summit devoted to space, in Toulouse, as part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).
“Space cannot be an area of lawlessness”
It front of “Fanaticism” and to “selfishness”, the Head of State urged the twenty-seven member countries to “carrying an ambitious vision of the conquest of space”. An area in which Europe must absolutely catch up with its competitors, according to him, in order to defend its “sovereignty”. A key word that Mr. Macron repeated many times, during a speech lasting around thirty minutes, to underline the importance for the EU of building its strategic independence from powers such as the United States. United, China or Russia. But also vis-à-vis “large private multinationals”, in particular the American SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk, or Amazon. “Not depending on the choice of others, that is our ambition”, he summarized. Whether in Internet access, satellite navigation, or observing the movements of the various armies on the planet.
An objective, which, according to him, passes through the construction of “reusable microlaunchers”. But also by the development by Europe of its own constellation of satellites. After an agreement on this subject, Wednesday, in Toulouse, during a meeting of the twenty-seven European ministers responsible for space, Mr. Macron stressed the importance of having an autonomous and secure Internet network. Without forgetting to insist on the need to build “regulatory framework” to better protect European satellites against “assaults” which multiply. “Space cannot be a lawless zone”, he warned. A reference to the anti-satellite missile launch, carried out by Russia, in November 2021, which endangered members of the International Space Station.
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