Ministers responsible for space took stock on Friday 29 May of progress in the discussions on the EU legislative act on space (Space Act), presented by the Commission in June 2025. “There is still a great deal of work to do”, acknowledged Nicodemos Damianou, the Cypriot Minister, whose country holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU. At the end of March, the Presidency presented a new draft compromise (see EUROPE 13867/2).
While progress has been made, according to the Cypriot Minister, on the definition and application of the legislative act on space services and space-based data, as well as on links with third countries and international organisations, and although the governance structures have been simplified, “important issues, notably the scope (of the text) and how dual-use activities should be treated”, remain.
As regards national security, which falls within the competence of the Member States, a balance will have to be found and, regarding governance, the Regulation must not create an additional layer duplicating national procedures that work well and adding extra costs, the Cypriot Minister added.
As in the previous debate, Germany was sceptical about the legislation. “The legislation remains unsatisfactory; Germany’s concerns and the positions of different Member States are not being sufficiently taken into account”, regretted Germany’s Deputy Permanent Representative, Helen Winter. She recalled that her country continued to want a technologically open, risk-based position, in order to avoid any undue burden on industry.
Similarly, the French Minister, Philippe Baptiste, highlighted respect for the prerogatives of the EU27 regarding national security and the safety of property and persons, “particularly with regard to launches, in view of the issues of international liability”. He announced that he would soon publish an opinion on the key points of the text.
Polish State Secretary Michał Baranowski argued that the legislative act should guarantee effective European governance and effective safeguards for Member States.
According to the Danish Minister, Christina Egelund, the technical requirements in the legislative act should be “effective, based on established standards, and place the emphasis on safety in the space domain and debris mitigation”. She explained that the legislation should apply these requirements very broadly to both private and public activities, with an exemption for the defence sector. The Minister called for governance “that is lighter and more flexible”.
According to the Italian ambassador, Marco Canaparo, supervision, surveillance, security, and the defence of essential interests must be preserved. He added that the equivalence regime with third countries had to be clear and practical, because “this is not about penalising anyone”.
Like the German and Polish representatives, he recalled the need for the Space Act to be compatible with international standards.
For the Commission, Andrius Kubilius stressed the need for a minimum level of harmonisation of governance structures, recalling that, for the market to function, rules were needed to establish trust between national authorities so that there could be mutual recognition of technical assessments. He also recalled that dual-use satellites create the same risk potential as civil or commercial satellites in terms of debris, collisions, or vulnerability as other satellites. Thus, according to the Commissioner for Space, the technical obligations must be identical in order to ensure legal certainty and avoid circumvention of the rules.
Mr Kubilius said he hoped for an agreement under the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, in the second half of 2026.
Economic security. The Ministers also discussed, in camera, the role of space for European economic security (see EUROPE 13867/2). “Space technologies and services are essential in key sectors: transport, communications, climate, water management, and defence depend on them”, Nicodemos Damianou recalled. According to him, the Ministers agreed that a more proactive approach to economic security was needed, “one that anticipates risks rather than reacting to them, whilst strengthening resilience and safeguarding independence and innovation”. He argued for a balanced approach allowing cooperation with international partners while protecting Europe’s strategic interests and space capabilities.
EUSPA. The Cyprus Presidency also returned to the Commission’s April proposal for a regulation on the European Union Agency for the Space Programme. “The Presidency launched the technical review immediately after the Commission tabled the proposal in April”, the Minister explained, adding that the article-by-article examination of the proposal—which identified the key points and highlighted those requiring further work—had recently been completed. “These include in particular the scope and implications of broadening the Agency’s mandate, updates relating to the role of the governor, and the need to preserve the autonomy and independence of the Security Accreditation Board, which remains a major concern for many Member States”, he detailed. It will be for the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU to draw up the first compromise text.
Space Summit. The French Minister announced that an international Summit on space will be held on 9 and 10 September in Paris. “The ambition is to foster strong cooperation between partners sharing a common vision of an innovative, technological, safe, sustainable, and accessible space sector”, Philippe Baptiste explained. He specified that the Summit was “intended to position Europe as a world-class space power - it will be an opportunity for the European Union and its Member States to send, I hope, a strong message of unity and shared vision”. Preparatory work for the Summit is being organised around four pillars: - science and exploration; - regulation of space activities; - sectoral competitiveness; - security and defence.
Antenna. On the same day, the European Commission announced that the EU had taken possession of a ground antenna “essential” to the operation of the European satellite navigation system, Galileo, which had been owned by the European Space Agency (ESA). The RED-1 telemetry, tracking and control antenna is part of the infrastructure that monitors and communicates with Galileo satellites in orbit. This antenna is located at the Redu space centre in Belgium. This transfer was formalised by two agreements: one between the EU and ESA, concerning the transfer of ownership, and the other involving Belgium, in order to guarantee that the antenna remains on its current site. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Ana Pisonero Hernandes and Solenn Paulic)