Ministers from Member States will be invited by the French Presidency of the Council of the EU to give their views on the measures to be implemented at the national and European levels to strengthen the resilience of the space programme and the competitiveness of the ecosystem during a debate in the Competitiveness Council on Friday, 10 June.
Several topics are addressed in the Presidency’s scoping paper: increasingly aggressive international competition, autonomous access to space, protection and monitoring of space infrastructures, and even the recent proposal for a new constellation for secure connectivity (see EUROPE 12947/6). In light of recent developments in Ukraine, the security and defence dimension is also addressed.
“Feedback on the implementation of this decision in the context of the war in Ukraine may lead to changes in this decision to improve the [European] Union’s response to growing threats and ensure close coordination with Member States”, the document reads.
It goes on to add, “In this context, we need to reflect on these issues in order to effectively contribute to the work on the space strategy for security and defence”. The European Commission adopted a Communication on an Action Plan on synergies between civil, defence, and space industries in February 2021 (see EUROPE 12663/13).
In addition, Member States will adopt two sets of conclusions at this Competitiveness Council: one on the future of Copernicus between now and 2035 (see EUROPE 12958/13) and another on managing space traffic (see EUROPE 12958/24). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)