Doc. 8018
12 February 1998

International space co-operation on the Moon by the Council of Europe

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mr Lorenzi and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.       Recommendation 1341 (1997) on European space policies urged the governments of member and observer states of the Council of Europe « to examine the feasibility of installing a permanent base on the Moon ». This stood for a firm political stance taken by an international forum comprising 40 member states, especially if we consider that this document is focused on an issue on which the general public, if correctly informed, is likely to develop broad interest and consent.

2.       Then why is Europe relatively lagging behind in this field ? To answer this question, a parallel must be drawn with European initiative in defence and conflict prevention. It is essential that the international community takes direct peace-keeping commitments. But it is politically wrong and morally unacceptable that Europe, as it too often does, delegates such responsibility to the United States. This has happened for too long also in the outer space sector, although Europe is an economic giant. Outer space and defence therefore represent two obstacles in the path towards European integration.

3.       This is the core of the problem : how and why should Europe be made ? At the turn of the century, many of the member countries of the Council of Europe are committed in an ambitious project which finds in the single currency called « Euro » the tool to build a European Union merely founded on strictly economic and financial grounds. Apart from the difficulties typical of political unification, Europe needs more than ever to effectively trigger such a process, not through coercion and exclusion, as is the case with the Euro, but in a field which all countries of the world will inescapably have to deal with in the next millennium : the outer space, its conquest, the first permanent human settlements outside planet Earth. Man’s trade, industrial and scientific activities will have to reckon with this new frontier in the future.

4.       In this realistic perspective, we must be aware that the lead role tomorrow will be played by the courageous and able investors of today. Among these, we may include the member states of the Council of Europe, which in this field, with the exception of Russia, have played a secondary role, in spite of their many and unquestionable economic achievements. The reasons for this backwardness and lack of commitment are political and amongst these is the European incapability to merge and respond to the generational challenge coming from outer space, which could successfully complete the pioneering process which moved from the Old Continent a few centuries ago.

5.       A reason for Europe’s neglect of technological over-development many be found in the post-war shock. In reality, the space race of the two winning superpowers, Russia and America, in the 1950s and 60s completely left behind all other prospective competitors in a Europe freed from Nazism. The outer space was taken into little consideration also in the field of international law, the Treaty on principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, adopted in London, Moscow and Washington D.C. on 27 January 1967, purports to set limits rather than to regulate.

6.       The reasons for this European deficit stem from a shortage of ideals and political willingness to plan the future, rather than from economic or technical factors. In this connection, President Kennedy played a key symbolic role when he solemnly promised that he would put an American citizen on the Moon in the 1960s. The promise was kept because the USA was undaunted by technical or economic concerns; Thanks to the Americans’ conviction we landed on the Moon. Going back there is much easier today. The moment has come to set up a long-term permanent surface research station or base on the Moon. Europe should not miss this date. The alternative for Europe is: setting the date or buying the ticket.

7.       Indeed, the construction of a base on the Moon has been a recurring issue in both USA and Soviet manned spaceflight programmes, and the subject of extensive discussion in Japan over the past decade. Failure to achieve it owes less to technical difficulties than to lack of political willingness to delve into and democratically promote the issue; and also the inevitable uncertainty over the economic benefits of such an enterprise.

8.       There is little point in discussing such benefits, like mining, for the issue has been well illustrated in 1996 by John S. Lewis in his book “Mining the Sky”. Nor is it necessary to list all direct and indirect economic effects of space activities or the sectors of commercial exploitation of outer space (as mentioned in Written Declaration No. 232 introduced in the Assembly of the Council of Europe on 13 October 1994) to conclude with an unquestionable though unexciting issue: Helium-3 is massively present on the Moon surface and, since it is fairly rare on Earth, in commercial terms it is a prospective fuel for nuclear fusion. This is not enough for citizens: our personal expectations and motivations are far more complex: our instinct of self-preservation and self-improvement is a mixture of deeply rooted features, such as fondness for adventure and discovery, identification of the unknown as the enemy, search for power, eagerness to learn, fight for survival, spirit of competition, pursuit of the immortality of the species.

9.       There is a political challenge that Europe has to respond to and must not lose. A base on the Moon would be technologically feasible for Europe. After all, close international co-operation, especially in the field of carriers (like Ventustar) and with a country having observer status in the Council of Europe, like the United States of America, may ensure intensive exploitation and use of such a structure. We may in this way start the era of human settlements on other celestial bodies, with the conviction that we shall provide mankind with great opportunities not only of knowledge, but also of progress and expansion. In order to summarise the message of this proposal in an evocative and provocative fashion, to the question “Do you want to make Europe?” one may sensibly reply today “Yes, starting from the Moon!”

Signed : ¹

Lorenzi, Italy, NR

Besostri, Italy, SOC

Corrao, Italy, SOC

De Carolis, Italy, SOC

Diana, Italy, EPP/CD

Evangelisti, Italy, SOC

Filimonov, Russia, UEL

Giannattasio, Italy, EPP/CD

Gnaga, Italy, NR

Lauricella, Italy, SOC

Martelli, Italy, EDG

Oleinik, Russia, UEL

Pozza Tasca, Italy, LDR

Rizzi, Italy, SOC

Speroni, Italy, NR

Squarcialupi, Italy, SOC

Turini, Italy, EDG

Volcic, Italy, SOC