It seems like a fair idea: an European organisation to explore space subsidised with tax money from its members states. In return for their investment the industries from each state are to receive a level of contracts proportional to the investment of each state in relation to the total budget of the programme run by the agency (and agreed by all member states). Hence state A pays for 19% of the total budget of the programme and thus the industry hosted in state A is to receive a total of 19% of contractual work ordered by the agency in order to execute the activities for the programme.
By the same token the distribution of the nationalities of the employees working at the agency should also reflect the proportion of investment of each member nation to the total budget.
This is nice in theory and perhaps it worked well at outset of the development of the space industry in Europe in the 1960-70s roughly. However the scheme is outdated and inadequate for the fast changing and competitive world of today. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to understand that this way of working leads to sub-optimal performance.
An industry from state A that already used up its percentage of contracts for the year, but that is very much qualified to compete for this or that contract, could ‘simply’ open a dependency in state E that has not yet filled its annual contract cup and compete from there. I know this is an oversimplification of the real situation for sure, there is subcontracting and what more, but in the essence that is it.
For a person of nationality A who is 200% the best candidate for a job opening that is offered at the agency, but whose nationality A is not under-represented (hence even- or over-represented), getting another passport from nation E in order to stand any chance at all for an application is not so simple.
I have zero experience with industrial contracts, though I have talked to many people in the Science Programme in the context of my filmmaking activities for several missions. I do have a body of experience applying for jobs at ESA. It is clear to me, though the process is rather non-transparent, that nationality is at the top of the selection process: wrong nationality = chop chop. The question whether the candidate is the best qualified for the position is irrelevant at this stage of the selection.
In the end, ESA is not hiring the best candidates, nor is it contracting the best companies. As a result we in Europe are missing out on the best performance when it comes to space exploration. True, it is an good performance, but it is not the best, it cannot be. This needs to change! In the fast world of today Europe cannot afford ‘good’, we need the best. We need to think as one Europe, not as a bunch of separate nations. That is valid in many areas of human, technological and industrial activity and this discussion is on the news all the time. Space is an area by excellence to start doing that. One of the easiest ways is to forget the idea of proportional distribution of contracts and talent and just go for the best. Only then can ESA become a European Super Agency.
The decision for a change in mode of operation is with the member states. They determine how ESA works. Hence, if you agree with the above, then contact the ESA delegation and representatives for your state (often in the Ministry of Science / Technology or whatever variants there are) and explain your concern. It will surely take time, but in the end, ESA is paid with tax money from all of us!
p.s. in the latest job announcement for planetary science at ESA (https://jobs.esa.int/job/Noordwijk-Planetary-Scientist/1439984133/) the last section of the announcement reads “taking into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the Member States”. It is a standard phrase with all announcements. However the link to the table with the current distribution of the nationalities of the employees is missing. Up until not long ago this information was always easily available with each job announcement. If you are thinking of applying and you are not from an under-represented member state, don’t get your hopes up, don’t invest too much time and be prepared to be disappointed.
