Slovenia ratifies ESA membership documents
Ljubljana, 23 October - The National Assembly ratified on Wednesday the agreement under which Slovenia will become a full member of the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as two other documents, removing the final hurdle on the country's way to becoming member on 1 January 2025. All three documents were ratified without a vote against.
In addition to the membership agreement, the MPs also ratified the Convention for the establishment of ESA, and an agreement between parties to the ESA Convention and the ESA about protection and exchange of classified information.
The move comes after Prime Minister Robert Golob and ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher signed the agreement under which Slovenia will become a full ESA member in June.
Slovenia filed the request to become a full member in November 2023, launching a process that involved negotiations and readiness reviews, among other things.
Slovenia will become a full member on the day that the ratification documents will be deposited with the French government, presumably on 1 January 2025.
Addressing the National Assembly, Economy Ministry State Secretary Matevž Frangež said that Slovenia had a small but dynamic and fast-growing space sector, and its companies are popular partners in ESA programmes.
"Full membership will provide more opportunities, which will drive the development of technologies and industries that are not important only for space exploration but also for life on Earth," said Frangež.
Slovenia has been cooperating with the ESA since 2009, when it signed the Plan for European Cooperating State (PECS) with the agency. In mid-2016 it signed its associate membership agreement as a step towards full membership.
Since then, more than 30 Slovenian partners have signed 114 contracts with the agency, worth a total of around EUR 42.1 million. At the same time, the number of companies and institutions registered to win ESA projects has been growing, with more than 100 registered so far.
Full membership will bring additional financial obligations, with the membership rising from the current EUR 500,000 a year to some EUR 2.8 million. Moreover, a one-off payment, a sort of entry fee of EUR 1.7 million, is planned in 2025.
But over 90% of the invested funds returns to companies and research facilities involved, the Economy Ministry has said. In the most recent quarter, Slovenia had a coefficient of 1, which means that it received virtually all of the funds back.