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Yet various views exist on what this can mean and hence a dialogue is necessary to find the right balance. This is normal as various interests exist and as I wrote in an earlier blog "New business models (revisited)", sometimes both time and aid is necessary to adapt from an existing status to a new one driven by new technologies, ways of doing business etc. We are pleased to have started a number of discussions with agencies responsible for the delivery of Copernicus services and are optimistic that this can lead to some long term planning and realistic partnerships. But this must be developed into a broader platform and for this we definitely need to work with both ESA and the EC.

Hence, I welcome the approach by ESA reflected in the announcement for space exploration and look forward to developing ideas on how Europe can become more responsive with a stronger role for the EO services industry to prepare for and to lead change. This will mean taking some decisions but together we can all benefit. The first decision should be to construct a means for structured dialogue between the stakeholders as a prelude to creating new partnerships in Europe.