The CM22, the Ministerial Council Meeting of the European Space Agency (ESA), concluded in Paris with the Agency’s decision to strengthen the European position in the international arena in order to achieve competitiveness and independence in space. The ESA Ministerial Councils are three-yearly meetings in which the activities and financial allocations for ESA’s mandatory and optional programmes of the next three years are decided. Italy is the third largest contributor to ESA, just after France, and the largest contributor to optional programs. The Italian delegation was led by the Minister of Economic Development Adolfo Urso, freshly appointed by the Council of Ministers to the coordination of space and aerospace policies, accompanied by Ambassador Luca Sabbatucci, permanent representative of Italy to international organizations in Paris, and the President of the Italian Space Agency, Giorgio Saccoccia. On the occasion of CM22, the economic budget of this ministerial session was defined, leading to a total contribution of 16.9 billion euros. Italy's commitment is more than three billion euros over the next five years, with an increase of more than 20% compared to the previous ministerial meeting in 2019. This increase represents about 18.2% of the overall contribution of the 22 Member States and places Italy in third place after Germany and France.
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