View Treaty - E105577

Cooperation Agreement between the Government of Canada and the European Space Agency

THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA (hereinafter referred to as “Canada”),

and

THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY, an intergovernmental organisation established by the Convention referred to in the preamble of this Agreement (hereinafter referred to as “the Agency”),

hereinafter individually referred to as “Party” or collectively as “the Parties”,

HAVING REGARD to the long lasting cooperation between the Agency and Canada, for exclusively peaceful purposes, in the fields of space research and technology and their space applications;

HAVING REGARD to the legal foundation successfully laid for such cooperation since 1979, notably through the Cooperation Agreements between the Agency and Canada;

HAVING REGARD to the Convention for the Establishment of a European Space Agency, signed on 30 May 1975 and entered into force on 30 October 1980, the Council Rules of Procedure and the Council Resolution ESA/C/XXII/Res.3 of 13 December 1977 on the Agency’s legal liability;

HAVING REGARD to the United Nations treaties on outer space to which Canada is a party and of which the Agency has declared its acceptance of the rights and obligations provided for therein;

CONSIDERING the mutual benefits brought by their cooperation, which has been implemented by the participation of Canada, through the Canadian Space Agency, in several of the Agency's activities and programmes;

DESIRING to pursue and to strengthen further their close cooperation;

Have agreed as follows:

Article I

Purpose

The purpose of this Agreement is to provide for the long-term continuing framework for close cooperation between the Agency and Canada for the period specified in Article XIII of this Agreement.

Article II

Benefits, participation and implementation

Cooperation between the Parties under this Agreement shall be mutually beneficial and implemented in accordance with the following:

1. Canada shall participate in and benefit from the Agency’s Basic Activities, except the item “Technology Development”.

2. Canada may participate in other parts of the Agency’s activities and programmes or operational activities in accordance with detailed arrangements to be concluded in each case between the Agency and Canada in accordance with Article XIV.2 of the Agency’s Convention.

3. The detailed arrangements to be concluded subject to paragraph 2 of this Article may adjudge to Canada the rights and obligations of a participating State as set forth in the Declaration concerning the optional programme in question, in the applicable implementing rules and in any other decisions governing the execution of said programme.

Article III

Financial contributions

1. Canada shall contribute annually to the Agency's Basic Activities under the General Budget in its initially approved version, excluding the item “Technology Development”. Canada’s scale of contributions shall be calculated using the methodology established for the Member States of the Agency, at a rate of 50% compared to the latter, and shall be adopted in accordance with Article XIII.1 of the Agency’s Convention.

2. Canada shall contribute to the other activities and programmes in which it participates in accordance with the provisions of the detailed arrangements concluded pursuant to Article II (2) of this Agreement.

3. Canada’s contributions as provided for in this Article shall be updated and paid in conformity with the rules and procedures in force in the Agency for all Member States.

Article IV

Representation and voting rights

Canada shall participate in the meetings of the Agency's delegate bodies in accordance with the following:

(a) Representation

1. Canada, with the exception of paragraph 2 (i) of this Article, shall have the right to be represented at meetings of the Council of the Agency and at meetings of its subordinate bodies competent in any capacity to deal with the activities and programmes, including parts or phases thereof, in which Canada participates pursuant to Article II of this Agreement.

2. Canada may be authorised, either at its request or that of one or more Member States of the Agency, to be represented at:

i. restricted meetings, or parts thereof, of the bodies specified in paragraph 1 of this Article;

ii. meetings of any subordinate body concerned with activities and programmes in which Canada does not participate, in an observer capacity; and

iii. meetings of potential participating States dealing with the preparation of programmes, in order to express its opinion.

Acceptance of such requests shall require the approval, in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure, of the Council, subordinate body or Member States of the Agency concerned and, in the case of activities solely funded by a third party, of the third party.

3. Canada shall in any case be represented by not more than two delegates who may be accompanied by advisors.

(b) Voting rights

4. In relation to Canada’s participation in the Agency’s Basic Activities as established by Article II (1) of this Agreement, Canada:

i. shall have the right to vote on procurement actions which are financed by the part of the Basic Activities to which it contributes; and

ii. shall not have the right to vote, but to state its opinion, on the General Budget or on matters related to it.

5. In relation to Canada’s participation in other parts of the Agency’s activities and programmes as governed by the detailed arrangements concluded in accordance with Article II (2) of this Agreement, Canada:

i. shall have the right to vote on questions relating to those activities and programmes, including parts or phases thereof, to which it contributes; and

ii. shall have the right to recommend and approve the respective annual budgets.

6. Canada shall not have the right to vote on matters:

i. affecting the rights and obligations of Member States of the Agency, as outlined in particular in Article XI.5 of the Agency's Convention;

ii. relating to the institutional framework of the Agency; or

iii. being of a regulatory nature.

Article V

Industrial policy

With respect to the geographical distribution of contracts relating to the activities and programmes in which Canada participates, the Agency shall:

i. ensure a fair industrial return to Canada for Basic Activities, excluding the item “Technology Development”; and

ii. for optional activities and programmes, and consistent with the detailed arrangements referred to in Article II of this Agreement, implement for Canada the applicable rules developed for those activities and programmes, to the same extent as for the other participating States.

Article VI

Information

1. Canada shall have access and corresponding duties, to the same extent as Member States of the Agency, to information, including contract reports, relating to the activities and programmes in which it participates.

2. Protected or classified information may only be exchanged on the basis of terms and conditions to be mutually agreed between the Parties in accordance with their respective legal frameworks.

Article VII

Use of facilities, services and products

1. Canada shall endeavour, to the extent that it is consistent with its policy, to make use for its own purposes of the space facilities, services and products of the Agency and of its Member States, developed within the framework of the Agency, including launching means.

2. On their side, the Agency and its Member States shall endeavour, to the extent that it is consistent with their policies, to make use for their own purposes of Canadian space facilities, services and products.

3. The Agency may make its facilities available to Canada under the terms of Articles V.2 and IX.1 of the Agency’s Convention, to be applied mutatis mutandis

Article VIII

Consultations

1. The Parties agree to keep each other regularly informed about, and consult together on, their space plans, programmes and projects, and to study problems of common interest. To this end, the Parties shall exchange scientific and technical documents and general information as appropriate, including for the purpose of promoting the development and implementation of space law, account being taken of their respective regulations.

2. The Parties shall also consult together when they are represented at international conferences and meetings related to space activities, for the purpose of exchanging views on matters of mutual concern, and they shall seek to harmonise, as appropriate, their positions on matters which are likely to have a bearing on the implementation of space programmes and activities jointly undertaken.

Article IX

Additional arrangements

1. In addition to cooperation under this Agreement, the Parties may also enter into additional arrangements for cooperating in individual bilateral projects in space activities pursued by both Parties, and for the exchange of personnel.

2. Approval of any such additional arrangements, which shall not modify the rights and obligations of the Parties under this Agreement, shall be subject to the Parties’ relevant rules and procedures.

Article X

Privileges and immunities

1. The Agency shall have, in Canada, the legal capacities of a body corporate set out in section 1 of Article I of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations (“UN Convention”). 

2. The Agency shall have, in Canada, to such extent as may be required for the performance of its functions, the privileges and immunities set out in sections 2 to 5, paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 7 and section 8 of Article II and sections 9 and 10 of Article III of the UN Convention. 

3. Staff members of the Agency as described in Article XII.2 of the Agency’s Convention shall have, in Canada, to such extent as may be required for the performance of their functions, the privileges and immunities set out in section 18 of Article V of the UN Convention, except that paragraphs (b) and (g) of section 18 of Article V of the UN Convention shall not apply to staff members of the Agency that are Canadian citizens residing or ordinarily resident in Canada.

4. The privileges and immunities in paragraph 3 of this Article are accorded to staff members in the interest of the Agency and not for the personal benefit of the individuals themselves. The Director General of the Agency shall have the right and the duty to waive the immunity of any staff members in any case where, in the Director General’s opinion, the immunity would impede the course of justice and can be waived without prejudice to the interests of the Agency. In the case of the Director General, the immunity may be waived by the Council of the Agency.

5. Representatives of Member States of the Agency shall have, in Canada, to such extent as may be required for the performance of their functions in respect of the mandate of the Agency, the privileges and immunities set out in sections 11 and 12 of Article IV of the UN Convention.

6. The privileges and immunities in paragraph 5 of this Article are accorded to the Representatives of Member States of the Agency not for the personal benefit of the individuals themselves but in order to safeguard the independent exercise of their functions in connection with the Agency. Consequently, a Member State has the right to waive the immunity of its Representative in any case where in the opinion of the Member State the immunity would impede the course of justice and can be waived without prejudice to the purpose for which immunity is accorded.

7. Should the Agency wish to establish a presence in Canada, the Parties may consider whether further privileges and immunities will be required.

Article XI

Amendment

This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent. The Party wishing to amend a provision of this Agreement shall notify the other Party in writing. Any amendment shall enter into force when each Party has notified the other in writing of its acceptance of the said amendment in accordance with its own procedures.

Article XII

Dispute resolution

Where a dispute arises in relation to the application or interpretation of this Agreement or of detailed arrangements concluded pursuant to Article II (2) of this Agreement and which cannot be settled amicably between the Parties, such dispute shall, at the request of either Party, be submitted to arbitration. In such case, the provisions of Article XVII of the Agency’s Convention shall apply mutatis mutandis unless the Parties agree otherwise.

Article XIII

Entry into force, renewal and termination

1. Each Party shall notify the other Party in writing of the completion of its respective procedures for the entry into force of this Agreement. This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the second of these notifications and shall remain in force until 1 January 2030.

2. During the fifth year following the entry into force of this Agreement, the Parties shall proceed to a formal review of their cooperation under this Agreement.

3. This Agreement may be renewed for further periods by mutual agreement in writing. The present Agreement may remain in force during a mutually agreed time necessary to complete the procedures for such renewal.

4. is Agreement may be terminated upon one year's written notice by either Party before the end of this period, in accordance with the following:

i. Detailed arrangements concluded pursuant to Article II of this Agreement and in force at the time of the Agreement’s termination shall remain in force in accordance with their respective terms.

ii. If the Agreement ceases to have effect on account of such termination, its provisions shall continue to apply for the period and to the extent necessary to accomplish the rights and obligations of such detailed arrangements.

iii. Taking into account any outstanding obligation incurred under Article II of this Agreement, Canada shall contribute to the Basic Activities, except the item “Technology Development”, at a rate to be mutually agreed.

5. If the Agency is dissolved before the termination of this Agreement, this Agreement shall terminate on the date of the dissolution of the Agency. Canada’s remaining rights and obligations shall be governed by the relevant provisions of Article XXV of the Agency’s Convention.

Done at Paris on 12 February 2019, in two originals, in the English, French and German languages, all three versions being equally authentic.

Johann-Dietrich Wörner
For the European Space Agency

 

Sylvain Laporte
For the Government of Canada