Principles of governance
The governance of the Programme shall be based on the following principles:
(a)
a clear distribution of tasks and responsibilities between the entities involved in the implementation of the Programme;
(b)
ensuring the relevance of the governance structure to the specific needs of the Programme and measures, as appropriate;
(c)
strong control of the Programme, including strict adherence to cost, schedule and performance by all the entities, according to their respective roles and the tasks conferred on them, in accordance with this Regulation;
(d)
transparent and cost-efficient management;
(e)
service continuity and necessary infrastructure continuity, including security monitoring and management, and protection from relevant threats;
(f)
systematic and structured consideration of the needs of users of the data, information and services provided by the Programme, as well as of related scientific and technological evolutions;
(g)
constant efforts to control and mitigate risks.
Role of the Member States
1. The Member States may contribute with their technical competence, know-how and assistance, in particular in the field of safety and security, or, where appropriate and possible, by making available to the Programme the data, information, services and infrastructure located on their territory.
2. Where possible, the Member States shall aim to ensure coherence and complementarity of the relevant activities and interoperability of their capacities under their recovery and resilience plans under Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 29 ) with the Programme.
3. The Member States shall take all the necessary measures to ensure the smooth functioning of the Programme.
4. The Member States may help to secure and protect, at the appropriate level, the frequencies required for the Programme.
5. The Member States and the Commission may cooperate to widen the uptake of governmental services provided by the Programme.
6. In the field of security, the Member States shall perform the tasks referred to in Article 42 of Regulation (EU) 2021/696.
7. The Member States shall provide their operational needs in order to consolidate the capacity and further detail the specifications of their governmental services. They shall also advise the Commission on any matter within their respective fields of competence, in particular by providing input for the preparation of the implementing acts.
8. The Commission may entrust, by means of contribution agreements, specific tasks to Member State organisations, where such organisations have been designated by the Member State concerned. The Commission shall adopt the contribution decisions regarding the contribution agreements by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 47(2).
Role of the Commission
1. The Commission shall have overall responsibility for the implementation of the Programme, including in the field of security, without prejudice to Member States’ prerogatives in the area of national security. The Commission shall, in accordance with this Regulation, determine the priorities and evolution of the Programme, in line with the duly established user requirements, and shall supervise its implementation, without prejudice to other policies of the Union.
2. The Commission shall ensure a clear division of tasks and responsibilities between the various entities involved in the Programme and shall coordinate the activities of those entities. The Commission shall also ensure that all the entrusted entities involved in the implementation of the Programme protect the interests of the Union, guarantee the sound management of the Union’s funds and comply with the Financial Regulation and this Regulation.
3. The Commission shall procure, award and sign the contracts referred to in Article 19.
4. The Commission may entrust tasks concerning the Programme to the Agency and ESA under indirect management, according to their respective roles and responsibilities, as set out under Articles 27 and 28. In order to facilitate the achievement of the objectives referred to in Article 3 and promote the most efficient cooperation between the Commission, the Agency and ESA, the Commission may establish contribution agreements with each entrusted entity.
The Commission shall adopt the contribution decisions regarding the contribution agreements by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 47(2).
5. Without prejudice to the tasks of the contractors referred to in Article 19, the Agency or other entrusted entities, the Commission shall ensure the uptake and use of the governmental services. It shall ensure complementarity, consistency, synergies and links between the Programme and other Union actions and programmes.
6. Where appropriate, the Commission shall ensure the coherence of activities performed in the context of the Programme with the activities already carried out in the space domain at Union, national or international level. It shall encourage cooperation between the Member States, facilitate interoperability of their technological capacities and developments in the space domain, and, where relevant to the Programme, aim to ensure coherence of the secure connectivity system with the relevant activities and interoperability of capacities developed under the national recovery and resilience plans.
7. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Programme committee referred to in Article 47(1) of the interim and final results of the evaluation of any procurement procedures and of any contracts, including subcontracts, with public and private entities.
Role of the Agency
1. The own task of the Agency shall be to ensure, through its Security Accreditation Board, the security accreditation of the governmental infrastructure and governmental services in accordance with Chapter II of Title V of Regulation (EU) 2021/696.
2. The Commission shall entrust, by means of one or more contribution agreements, subject to the operational readiness of the Agency, in particular in terms of adequate level of human resources, the following tasks to the Agency:
(a)
all or part of the operational management of the governmental infrastructure of the Programme;
(b)
operational security of the governmental infrastructure, including risk and threat analysis, security monitoring, in particular setting technical specifications and operational procedures, and monitoring their compliance with the general security requirements referred to in Article 30(3).
(c)
provision of the governmental services, in particular through the GOVSATCOM Hub;
(d)
management of the contracts referred to in Article 19, after their award and signature;
(e)
overarching coordination of user-related aspects of the governmental services in close collaboration with Member States, relevant Union agencies, the EEAS and other entities;
(f)
undertaking activities related to user uptake of services offered by the Programme without affecting the activities performed by the contractors under the contracts referred to in Article 19.
3. The Commission may entrust, by means of one or more contribution agreements, other tasks to the Agency, on the basis of the needs of the Programme.
4. Where activities are entrusted to the Agency, appropriate financial, human and administrative resources shall be ensured for their implementation. For that purpose, the Commission may allocate part of the budget for the activities entrusted to the Agency for the funding of human resources necessary for their implementation.
5. By way of derogation from Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation and subject to the Commission’s assessment of the protection of the Union’s interests, the Agency may entrust, by means of contribution agreements, specific activities to other entities, within their respective fields of competence, under the conditions of indirect management applying to the Commission.
Role of ESA
1. Provided that the interest of the Union is protected, ESA shall, within the field of its expertise, be entrusted with the following tasks:
(a)
the supervision of the development, of the validation and of the related deployment activities referred to in Article 4(1), point (a), and of the development and evolution referred to in Article 4(1), point (e), undertaken within the framework of contracts referred to in Article 19, in accordance with terms and conditions to be agreed in the contribution agreements referred to in Article 26(4), ensuring coordination between the tasks and budget entrusted to ESA under this Article and possible contribution by ESA, as referred to in Article 16;
(b)
the provision of its expertise to the Commission including for the preparation of specifications and implementation of the technical aspects of the Programme;
(c)
the provision of support with regard to the evaluation of contracts concluded under Article 19;
(d)
tasks related to the space and related ground segment of the EuroQCI referred to in Article 4(1), point (c).
2. On the basis of an assessment by the Commission, ESA may be entrusted with other tasks on the basis of the needs of the Programme, provided that those tasks do not duplicate activities performed by another entity in the context of the Programme and that they aim to improve the efficiency of the implementation of the Programme’s activities.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
