Key Benefits:
President of the Republic,
On the report of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Considering articles 52 to 55 of the Constitution;
Considering Act No. 2003-1223 of 22 December 2003 authorizing the approval of the agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Italian Republic on cooperation on Earth observation;
Having regard to the amended Decree No. 53-192 of 14 March 1953 concerning the ratification and publication of the international commitments undertaken by France;
In view of Decree No. 72-766 of 16 August 1972 on the publication of the Agreement on Communication for Defence, of Technical Information, signed in Brussels on 19 October 1970,
Decrete:
The agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Italian Republic on cooperation on Earth observation, signed in Turin on 29 January 2001, will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs are responsible for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
A C C O R D
BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC RELATING TO A COOPERATION ON THE OBSERVATION OF THE TERRE
The Government of the French Republic, on the one hand,
and
The Government of the Italian Republic, on the other hand,
below designated "Parties",
Considering the NATO Agreement on the Communication of Technical Information for Defence, signed in Brussels on 19 October 1970, as well as its enforcement procedures, approved by the North Atlantic Council on 1 January 1971;
Considering the Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Italian Republic concerning cooperation in the field of defence materials signed on 9 November 1983 and its annex;
Considering the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council of 10 and 11 December 1999 on European Common Security and Defence Policy;
Noting that the Delegate General for the Order of the Ministry of Defence and the Director of Technology of the Ministry of Research, for the French Party on the one hand and the Secretary General of Defense of the Ministry of Defence and the Director of the Department of Prospective and Research Development of the Ministry of Research, for the Italian Party on the other, adopted on 23 March 2000 a Declaration of Intent on Civil and Military Cooperation in the Field of Space Observation
Noting the cooperation between the Ministry of Defence of the French Republic and the Ministry of Defence of the Italian Republic on the HELIOS military satellite observation system;
Aware of their common interest in an analysis of potential synergies between their respective spatial observation programmes, namely COSMO-SKYMED and PLEIADES;
Wishing to increase their respective Earth observation capabilities and save their national resources, through cooperation in the development of a European dual Earth observation system, using high performance optical and radar sensors;
Affirming their common desire to contribute to the implementation of a European Earth observation system as a contribution to the GMES initiative, within the framework of the European Space Strategy,
agreed that:
Article I
For the purposes of this Agreement, the following terms are defined as follows:
(a) "Technical information prior to the Agreement": information not generated as part of the implementation of this Agreement;
(b) "Technical information derived from the Agreement": information generated as part of the implementation of this Agreement;
(c) "contractor": any private or public industrial enterprise performing work under a contract under specific arrangements relating to this Agreement;
(d) "Defence needs": use by or for the armed forces of one of the Parties. This definition does not include sales or transfers to third parties;
(e) "Dual system": satellite observation system developed under this Agreement for military and civilian use (institutional and commercial), based on the French and Italian programmes of small satellites PLEIADES and COSMO-SKYMED;
(f) "GMES": "Global Monitoring Environment and Security" global monitoring of the environment and security;
(g) "HELIOS": a military Earth observation system using optical observation satellites;
(h) "Information": any information, knowledge or data, technical or non-technical, irrespective of the form or characteristics, generated or used in the performance of this Agreement;
(i) "Resources": access to system programming and access to data;
(j) "SPOT": Civil space observation system using optical observation satellites;
(k) "Technical information": recorded or printed information of a scientific or technical nature, irrespective of the form, characteristics of the document or format. This may include, for example, experimental data and test results, specifications, design models and processes, patentable or non-patentable inventions, discoveries, technical descriptions and other technical works, topography of mask arrangements for semiconductor circuits, technical records and manufacturing records, industrial secrets and know-how, as well as information relating to industrial techniques. This information may be presented in the form of documents, illustrations, drawings and other graphical representations, records on disks or film (optical, magnetic or laser reading), programming software such as a database, printed outputs of computer memory content or data stored in memory in a computer or in any other form;
(l) "Tiers": any person or entity not signatory to this Agreement;
(m) "User": any person or entity authorized by this Agreement to access or implement the system.
Article II
1. The purpose of this Agreement is to implement cooperation on the establishment of a Earth observation capacity using optical and radar sensors and primarily the definition of the framework in which the dual-use system is developed and used.
This system, combined with military and civilian systems, is intended to meet the mission specifications determined by exchange of letters between the Parties on the occasion of the signing of this Agreement.
To this end, Parties shall:
(a) Develop and use a dual system using small optical and radar satellites, as well as the associated terrestrial segment;
(b) Use military and civilian satellite systems currently in service or under development;
(c) Consider the development of other sensors, including broad optical field sensors.
2. The dual system to be developed includes:
(a) An optical component comprising two (2) satellites and associated terrestrial functions, developed under the control of the French Party;
(b) A radar component comprising four (4) satellites and associated earth functions, developed under the control of the Italian Party;
(c) A common ground component developed by both Parties.
The dual system is deployed according to a scenario described in the exchange of letters referred to in the first paragraph of this article. Its architecture allows to meet the requirements of the dual use concept described in Article V.
3. The dual system is implemented through a three-phase program as described in Article III.
The dual system ensures:
(a) Protection of defence interests in terms of security and priority of mission requests;
(b) Satisfaction with the needs of civilian or commercial users, in terms of general operational capacity, rapid access to data, availability and quality of images, as well as the competitiveness of the services provided.
4. The rules relating to the use of military and civilian systems currently in service or under development (HELIOS and SPOT families) are subject to specific agreements or arrangements, as part of this cooperation.
5. The proposed cooperation in the development and use of other observation satellite systems, such as broad-based optical satellites, is subject to specific agreements or arrangements as part of this cooperation. The development of a broad field optical capacity is considered to be a continuation of the SPOT 5.
6. This Agreement defines general principles valid for all phases of such cooperation. Provisions relating to each phase of the dual system programme (including common studies, development, production, launch and use of the dual system) are defined in specific agreements or arrangements which are in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. The two Parties shall jointly communicate the list of national administrations and agencies designated for the purposes of the terms of this Agreement.
Article III
1. Cooperation on the dual system consists of the following phases, governed by specific agreements or arrangements:
Phase 1. - Joint studies;
Phase 2. - Development, production and launch;
Phase 3. - Use.
2. Phase 1 concerns the technical characteristics, performance, architecture, development plan, timing and costs of the dual system, based on Article VI of this Agreement and the exchange of letters referred to in Article II.1 of this Agreement.
Phase 2 covers the development and production of all satellites, associated ground functions and the common ground component, including system launches and flight recipes. It ends in the flight recipe of the last satellite of the dual system.
Phase 3 deals with the use of the dual system from the end of the flight recipe of the first satellite.
Article IV
1. Under this Agreement, Parties shall establish a Steering Committee (CD) composed of representatives of both Parties. Each delegation is composed of five maximum members, including at least one representative of the Ministry of Defence and one representative of the Ministry of Research, and appoints its head of delegation.
2. The Steering Committee:
(a) Assure the general management of cooperation;
(b) Proposes specific agreements or arrangements to meet the military and civilian needs and requirements of both Parties with respect to the performance, timing, conditions of use and access to data;
(c) Decides on the cost and distribution aspects of the financial contribution of each Party;
(d) Recommends to the authorized authorities the approval of the amendments to this Agreement and the associated special agreements or arrangements;
(e) Ensure respect for the security aspects of cooperation, in accordance with existing security agreements;
(f) Provides an opinion on any request for participation in such cooperation as provided for in Article XIII.
3. The Steering Committee, whose composition is diplomatically communicated within three months of the entry into force of the Agreement, meets at least twice a year, alternately in Italy and France. Other meetings may be held at the request of either Party. Each meeting is chaired by the head of delegation of the host Party. The host Party shall provide the secretariat and prepare the record.
Any decision of the Steering Committee shall be taken jointly. The Steering Committee may establish working groups when deemed necessary. The Steering Committee may also use national experts to resolve specific issues.
Article V
1. The use of the dual system is open to several categories of users: public, institutional, private and commercial. The system to provide services to users within the Departments of Defense of the Parties, the following constraints, strictly related to defence requirements, must be met:
(a) Priority in daily mission planning:
(i) Requests for missions issued by the Departments of Defence, consistent with the needs expressed in the exchange of letters referred to in Article II.1 of this Agreement, shall be given priority;
(ii) In crisis situations, where requests from Parties are considered to be very urgent, the system must be able to reprogram the mission and process the data from the satellite as soon as possible and, in any event, prior to any other request, including those from the Departments of Defense of the Parties.
(b) Confidentiality:
(i) Only users of the Departments of Defence of the Parties are empowered to know the requests for missions, plans and outputs of their Department of Defense;
(ii) The planning of applications is the responsibility of each entity, civil and military;
(iii) Requests from the Departments of Defence are consolidated into a common plan under the control of the authorities of the Ministries of Defence;
(iv) Monitoring the conformity of the civilian plan with the common safety rules, as well as the validation of the "final work plan for sensors", are provided by government security agencies with the appropriate software tools;
(v) The measures described above will be implemented by a coordination body whose staff will be both civilian and military and will be established by a specific agreement.
(c) Communications security:
Appropriate means are implemented to ensure secure connections between the various components of the system. In addition, data from the Departments of Defense are coded through appropriate national or multinational encryption keys.
(d) Access to raw data from civil archives:
Users within the Departments of Defense have free access to the raw data from the civil archives, in accordance with the common rules for the use of data that are subject to a specific agreement.
(e) Use of Departments of Defence products:
Products derived from specific requirements of the Departments of Defense may eventually be communicated to commercial or private users, after application of the degradation and declassification process, in accordance with the common rules for the use of data that are subject to a specific arrangement.
(f) Government control:
(i) Parties have the right to veto requests for missions and the dissemination of archive data, with the exception of requests from the Departments of Defense of the Parties;
(ii) Parties have access to mission requests from other users of the system.
This control is exercised by government security agencies.
2. Parties agree to jointly study and develop procedures for degradation of classified images in order to lower the classification level.
3. The common rules for the use of data from the dual system governing the use, reproduction, diffusion, archiving, destruction, protection and non-distribution of data are defined before the expiry of phase 1, in a specific arrangement on the use of the system.
Article VI
1. General:
Parties intend to contribute in a balanced manner to cooperation throughout its duration.
This balance takes into account:
(a) Financial contributions to the costs of phases 1 and 2 of the dual system;
(b) The value of resources made available to cooperation by each Party.
2. Costs related to the dual system.
The French Party contributes by the provision of the optical component whose indicative cost has been estimated by the Parties to 440 million euros (economic conditions 1/2000).
The Italian Party contributes by the provision of the radar component whose indicative cost has been estimated by the Parties to 570 million euros (economic conditions 1/2000).
Each Party contributes 50 per cent to the financing of the jointly developed land segment whose indicative cost has been estimated by the Parties at 60 million euros (economic conditions 1/2000).
Each Party undertakes to finance the operational costs of the space segment and the facilities necessary for its operation under its responsibility.
Each Party shall bear the operational costs of the facilities of the other terrestrial segments deployed in its territory for its national needs.
Formal commitments on the costs of each phase are made under the various phases agreements.
The total cost of the system, including the cost of operational operation, is defined at the end of Phase 1.
Cross-financial participations are studied in Phase 1.
3. Costs related to military and civilian satellite systems currently used or under development:
The systems currently under development (SPOT 5 and Hélios II) remain funded as originally planned. The investment of the French Ministry of Defence in Helios II is called upon to meet the optical defence requirements under the conditions defined in Article II.4 and Article VII.
4. Costs for possible development of future systems:
The costs of future systems are subject to specific agreements or arrangements.
Article VII
1. The objective of the Parties is to achieve equitable sharing of the resources of the dual system, in accordance with the provisions of Article V.1 and within the limits of their respective needs expressed in the exchange of letters referred to in Article II.1 of this Agreement. This sharing of resources is detailed at the end of phase 1, to take into account, inter alia:
(a) The final configuration and characteristics of the dual system when fully deployed;
(b) The deployment strategy and the profile of the financial contributions of each Party.
2. The Italian Party has access to a percentage of the resources of the civilian and military satellite systems currently operated or under development (i.e. SPOT 5 and Helios II) in exchange for access to SAR resources. In particular, access to all HELIOS II satellite performance is granted solely for defence purposes, in exchange for access to all performance of the SAR component, including submetric capabilities (see definition in the exchange of letters referred to in Article II.1 of this Agreement).
The rules relating to this exchange of capacities are specified in specific arrangements, as part of this cooperation.
3. The sharing of all resources, including those referred to in Articles VII.1 and VII.2, is reviewed periodically in order to comply with the contribution profiles referred to in Article VI.2 on an ongoing basis.
4. The gross data of the dual system of civil origin are made available to users of the Departments of Defense at their request, with a contribution to determining the cost of use and maintenance of the archives, at no additional cost, in accordance with the common rules of use of the data to be aggregated.
Article VIII
1. The Parties agree on the following principles:
(a) The data requested by either Department of Defense is owned by the Department of Defense who requested the programming.
(b) For other data:
(i) the French Party owns data generated by the optical component;
(ii) the Italian Party owns data generated by the radar component.
2. Civil and commercial distribution:
In accordance with the common provisions on the use of data set out in Article V, for the distribution and marketing of products derived from the dual satellite system, Parties define a common distribution policy during Phase 1. Each Party shall designate a body responsible for ensuring the interface with civilian and commercial users, as well as for the realization, promotion and distribution of data for civilian and commercial users.
Article IX
1. General:
Parties recognize that the success of cooperation depends on the rapid and complete exchange of information necessary for cooperation on the dual system. Parties intend to exchange all necessary information and user rights in order to achieve this objective.
2. Technical information prior to the Agreement:
(a) Communication:
Subject to the law of third parties and the provisions of Article XII, each Party shall communicate to the other Party any technical information prior to the Agreement necessary or useful to achieve the above-mentioned objective.
(b) Use:
Subject to the rights of third parties, each Party may use or make use, on reasonable terms, of technical information prior to the Agreement referred to in paragraph IX.2. a, for the needs of cooperation and on the basis of the need to know about it.
In the implementation of future phases, if the right to use such technical information prior to the Agreement has not been established in the previous phases, the use shall be made on just and reasonable terms if the owner of the rights does not carry out the work itself.
3. Technical information from the Agreement:
The owner of the technical information derived from the Agreement is the Party or contractor that generates it.
(a) Communication:
Each Party shall provide the other Party, in accordance with the provisions of Article XII, without charge, the technical information derived from the Agreement requested on the basis of the need to know it.
(b) Use:
Each Party may use or make use of information obtained from this Agreement free of charge, received in accordance with the provisions of Article IX 3. a, only for its governmental needs and on the basis of the need to know.
4. General information security measures:
(a) All unclassified property rights information is identified, marked and processed as unclassified information. All classified information subject to property rights are identified and marked as such;
(b) The provisions of the NATO Agreement on the Communication of Technical Information for Defence, signed on 19 October 1970, as well as its procedures for the implementation of 1 January 1971, are applicable to this Agreement.
Article X
1. In order to proceed with sales and transfers and the issuance of licences in relation to the program, Parties shall apply their national laws and regulations governing the export of weapons equipment and technology in a spirit of cooperation and in accordance with the provisions that they would have taken separately.
2. No Party may sell, assign, communicate or hand over to a third party, with the exception of the French and Italian Space Agency, technical information from the Agreement or material incorporating such information, not more than material acquired or produced jointly for the execution of cooperation without the prior written agreement of the other Party. In addition, no Party may authorize the sale, communication or assignment, including by the owner of the information or equipment, without the prior written agreement of the other Party. This agreement is subject to the written commitment of the recipient:
(a) Not to dispose of or authorize the subsequent assignment of such equipment or information;
(b) Use or authorize use of this material or information only for the purposes specified by the Parties.
3. No Party may sell, assign, communicate or surrender to a third party, except for the French and Italian Space Agency, any pre-existing material or information provided by the other Party, without the prior written consent of the Party in question. The latter is the only authority to authorize or obtain authorization for such transfers and, where appropriate, to indicate the method and conditions of such transfers.
Article XI
1. In the event of responsablity incurred by the fact or on the occasion of activities undertaken in the performance of official duties and in the interest of cooperation, the following provisions apply:
(a) Each Party shall waive any claim for compensation against the other Party for damages or losses caused to its civilian or military personnel, property by the personnel or agents of the other Party. This provision does not apply if the damage or loss is done by a contractor. If, however, such damage or loss results from a heavy or intentional fault of a Party, a member of its staff or agents, the Party shall bear the cost of repair alone;
(b) Claims for compensation filed by third parties in the event of damage or loss of any kind caused by one of the staff members or an agent of the Parties are processed by the Party in the territory of which the damage occurred. Repair costs are also shared between Parties. If, however, the damage or loss results from a heavy or intentional fault of a staff member or agents of one of the Parties, the latter alone bears the cost of repair.
2. In the event of loss or damage to the common property of the Parties or caused by such property, if the costs of the repair cannot be recovered from a third party, the costs of compensation shall also be shared between the Parties.
Article XII
1. The classified information generated or exchanged under this Agreement shall be used, transmitted, archived, processed and safeguarded in accordance with the provisions of the General Agreement on Security between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Italian Republic concerning the safeguarding of protected information signed on 1 February 1978.
2. The information generated or exchanged under this Agreement may be classified up to the "secret defense" levels for the French Party and, for the Italian Party, "Streto".
Article XIII
The Parties recognize that cooperation in Earth observation is open to all States of the European Union, as well as to European multilateral organizations.
Article XIV
Any dispute concerning the interpretation or implementation of this Agreement shall be resolved only by diplomatic means.
Article XV
Each Party shall notify the other of the fulfilment of the constitutional procedures required for the entry into force of this Agreement, which shall take effect on the first day of the second month following the day on which the second notification is received.
If for a period of two years no agreement or arrangement for the application of this Agreement is signed or in force, then this Agreement shall be deemed to be deducted.
Each Party may denounce this Agreement with a twelve-month notice. In this case, Parties shall conduct consultations to determine the reasonable assistance that may be provided by the Party that denounces to the other Party in order to continue its activities beyond the notice period.
This denunciation does not jeopardize the commitments made by Parties in respect of security and intellectual property under the implementation of this Agreement.
The termination of this Agreement shall result in the simultaneous termination of all arrangements made for its implementation.
In faith, the representatives of the two Parties have signed and affixed this Agreement.
Done in Turin on 29 January 2001, in two copies in French and Italian, both texts being equally authentic.
For the Government
of the French Republic:
Lionel Jospin
Prime Minister
For the Government
of the Italian Republic:
Giuliano Amato
President of the Council of Ministers
Done in Paris, October 26, 2004.
Jacques Chirac
By the President of the Republic:
The Prime Minister,
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Michel Barnier
