On Wednesday 13 January, Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that there can be no strategic autonomy on Earth if it is not guaranteed in space.
Quoting a recent report by the EU Institute for Security Studies at the Space Conference, he said: “Without strategic autonomy in space, there can be no strategic autonomy on Earth”.
The High Representative believes that space is a crucial element in the work to develop the EU’s strategic autonomy: it is “one of the ‘frontlines’ of strategic autonomy” and a “strategic challenge”.
“Space is an enabler. Our presence in space enables us to achieve our goals in science, economy and security. In this way, our European space sector is an enabler of European strategic autonomy”, he explained.
Borrell emphasised that the Galileo, Egnos and Copernicus services will help to expand the EU’s foreign and security policy, as they are able to provide crucial operational capabilities such as precision navigation, surveillance, communications and situational awareness.
And, while the EU is already doing a lot, it needs to do more, he said. “Developing robust space capabilities will remain a central objective over the next few years”, he said.
Borrell explained that the future of the EU’s space policy is based on two pillars: security from space and security of space. Security from space is about protecting the security of the EU and its citizens, including improving situational awareness to deal with security situations such as disaster response, border and maritime surveillance and terrorist attacks.
Security in space is about protecting the security of the Union in space. This pillar has two components: the EU’s ability to react to threats to the Union’s space assets, and the monitoring of space traffic. “These two pillars are based on a solid foundation: the ‘3SOS initiative’. 3SOS stands for the Safety, Security and Sustainability of Outer Space. This is an EU campaign promoting ‘good behaviour’ in outer space amid concerns about orbital debris and arms race” the High Representative said.
The issue of good behaviour has become more important as, according to Nathalie Loiseau, the chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence, there are increasing numbers of actors in space and not all of them “share the same interests in space. Competition is not necessarily peaceful”. In a debate at the Space Conference, she noted that threatening the ability of other actors to use space had clearly become an objective for some countries, and cited China and Russia.
Loiseau believes that if the EU is going to continue to defend multilateralism, it has to do more, especially in terms of synergies. “Developing the CSDP, CSDP missions and defence initiatives has to include space to the fullest extent”, she said. “Synergies between the European Defence Fund (EDF), the space programmes,Horizon 2020 and the Recovery Plan need to be guaranteed in order to support the space sector”, the MEP added.
According to Timo Pesonen, Director General of the Commission’s DG DEFIS, approximately €25 billion has been allocated to defence and space in the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, if the EDF, space programmes, Horizon 2020 and military mobility are taken into account.
In addition to finance, Loiseau called on the EU to do more in terms of regulation. She felt that it was a matter of regret that the Critical Infrastructure Directive does not include space, and that the EU’s new screening mechanism for foreign direct investments should protect the space sector from external influences. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)