Brazil pays no debt and is suspended from astronomy observatory

An agreement signed in 2010 between the then Ministry of Science and Technology of the Brazilian Federal Government and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) gave Brazil freedom to participate in the international consortium dedicated to research in astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. However, the failure to comply with the country's officialization as a group member and the lack of settlement of the financial obligations provided for in the agreement forced ESO to suspend Brazil's participation from April 1.

Given that the accession agreement should not be concluded in the immediate future, the ESO Council has decided to suspend the procedure.

To remain part of the consortium, Brazil would have to pay him an amount of 270 million euros by 2021, with 130 million euros as initial payment for membership (amount divided into 11 installments) and an annuity of 140 million euros. This would give Brazil equal conditions in the group to 14 other participating countries.

The report from the European Southern Observatory said: “Given that the conclusion of the Accession Agreement should not occur in the immediate future, the ESO Council has decided to suspend the process until Brazil is again in a position to complete its access. to ESO, possibly through renegotiation. With the unanimous support of all member states, ESO remains open to further negotiations with Brazil. In the meantime, the interim measures drawn up in the Accession Agreement will be suspended from 1 April 2018 ”.

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ESO has three state-of-the-art observatories in the Atacama region of Chile, and is the group with the largest infrastructure in the world for observations in the southern hemisphere. The Brazilian Astronomical Society (SAB), however, highlighted the good performance of the Brazilian astronomical community during this period. "In a demonstration of the scientific maturity of the community, we have obtained approval rates for applications similar to those of European countries, including long-term projects and large numbers of nights, as well as telescope time at the busy ALMA, " SAB said in a statement. .

The board of the Brazilian Astronomical Society also said to be in continuous contact with the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC) in search of a joint solution to make the adhesion agreement possible. By note, the ministry said only that "defends the participation of Brazil in the Southern European Observatory and takes steps with the Federal Government to confirm the adhesion to this multilateral entity." The Presidency of the Republic did not comment on the matter.

Brazil pays no debt and is suspended from astronomy observatory via TecMundo