SPAIN TO FOLLOW EU CONSENSUS ON SPACE DEBRIS

UNCLAS MADRID 000674 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR OES/SAT AND EUR/WE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TSPA SP UNPUOS UNGA SUBJECT: SPAIN TO FOLLOW EU CONSENSUS ON SPACE DEBRIS REF: STATE 18202 ¶1. ESTHOFF made reftel points February 4 to: (1) MFA International Economic Relations Directorate Coordinator for Land, Sea and Air Issues Juan Luis de Laborde Bardan; and, (2) National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) Director for Multilateral Cooperation Alider Cragnolini. ESTHOFF outlined the USG approach to space debris mitigation in the run-up to the next session of the COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC) and requested information on Spain's position regarding this basket of issues. ¶2. De Laborde informed ESTHOFF February 22 that Spain differs with the U.S. on several of the points contained in reftel nonpaper. He said the crux of the problem was arriving at the correct balance between the interests of space-faring nations (as represented by the Inter-Agency Debris Coordinating Committee) and those of the broader international community (as represented by the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and its subcommittees such as the STSC. Without entering into detail, de Laborde intimated that the U.S. approach leaned too far in favor of the former at the expense of the latter. ¶3. Regarding the specific issue of the expected scope of COPUOS' Legal Subcommittee (LSC),de Laborde said the U.S. vision appeared to overly limit the LSC's scope of activities. He added that the LSC should be given more independence and "broader competency." ¶4. After delivering what he realized was "bad news" (from the USG perspective),de Laborde said "not to worry," as he expected that the February 21 - March 4 sessions of the COPUOS STSC would not take any decisive action. De Laborde characterized COPUOS' work style as excruciatingly slow and noted its tendency to postpone action on controversial issues. He underscored that there would be an EU consensus position at these meetings and that Madrid would support it. De Laborde closed with a somewhat cryptic, and seemingly contradictory, note, stating that the economic interests of the space-faring nations were simply too great to permit unwanted UN interference. MANZANARES