The next step for Poland in its process for membership into the ESA is for the Director General of the ESA, Jean-Jacques Dordain, and the Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, to sign the Accession Agreement.
Further, Poland will conduct its own ratification process over the next several months. Once completed successfully Poland will become the 20th member state of the ESA.
It is expected that Poland will become an ESA member sometime in the period from late 2012 to early 2013.
The press releases from the ESA ("ESA Council approves the accession of Poland") states, "Poland will participate as of today [July 13, 2012] as an observer in ESA Council. Poland has been a European Cooperating State since the signature of its ECS agreement in April 2007."
|
|
Currently, the ESA has 19 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Not all member countries of the European Union (EU) are members of ESA, and (vice-versa) not all ESA member states are members of the EU.
Even though the ESA is an independent organization, with no direct ties to the EU, it does maintain a close working relationship with the European Union.
