In conclusions adopted on Monday 10 May (see EUROPE 12717/5), Member States highlighted the particular importance of the role of the space sector in ensuring the security and safety of the European Union.
Thus, the EU Council recognises (point 21) that space, alongside cyberspace and the high seas, is part of the global commons, before noting that these commons are increasingly subject to “unilateral appropriation attempts” and “gatekeeping and conflictual behaviours”. It added that it was determined to ensure “secure European access” to these global commons.
In this context, the EU Council reaffirms the “growing” importance of space for the EU’s autonomy and underlines (point 24) the security dimension of the future EU space programme as well as the role of the High Representative, the Member States and the Commission in addressing threats. It therefore calls for further “strategic” reflections on space and its security and defence dimensions, without forgetting the civilian dimension of the space programme.
Space is gaining importance in European policy, as the recent update of the industrial strategy showed with the announcement of the launch of a possible new alliance to develop space launchers (see EUROPE 12713/6), again with a view to securing access to space for the EU.
In this context, the European Commission launched an internal survey in February, seen by EUROPE, among the industrial actors in the space sector to determine the technical specificities of future European launchers after 2025. This initiative reportedly annoyed the European Space Agency (ESA), which takes a dim view of the European Commission’s interference in technical matters. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)