Parliament
wants the EU to reinforce its space-based defence
capabilities
Against the
backdrop of rising threats to EU space, civilian and
military capabilities, MEPs call on the European
Union to bolster the resilience of European space
infrastructure.
In a report
examining the EU’s recently adopted Space Strategy
for Security and Defence, MEPs note that, in the
past decade, “unfriendly behaviour” and threats to
the EU’s space, civilian and military capabilities
have grown, even as they are difficult to detect and
attribute to a specific source. The strategy
identifies space as a strategic domain and proposes
an ambitious framework to protect the EU’s space
assets, defend its interests, deter hostile
activities in space, and strengthen the European
Union’s strategic autonomy.
In light of
these growing risks, the European Parliament calls
on the EU to bolster the resilience and protection
of European space infrastructure, supply chains, and
services. MEPs welcome the EU’s proposal to draw up
a classified annual space threat analysis document
to make the EU and its member states collectively
aware of the extent of current threats and how they
can be addressed.
“Space plays
an essential role in our societies. From the most
trivial acts of our daily lives to the greatest
global challenges, we are increasingly relying,
sometimes unknowingly, on space-related
infrastructures, technologies and services. Ensuring
the safety of these systems is a major challenge.
Space is a strategic domain and the recognition of
this reality must lead to proactive European
policies. Without autonomous European access to
space, there can be no EU space policy worthy of the
name. Unfortunately, we still suffer from an
unacceptable level of dependence. It is vital that
Europe and the European space industry rises to this
challenge”, said rapporteur Arnaud Danjean (EPP,
France).
Improve autonomous access to space, key investments
needed
Focusing on
five priority areas - protection and resilience of
systems, response to threats, competitiveness and
investment, governance and cooperation – MEPs want
more investment in space surveillance and tracking
detection capacities, meaning the capability of
surveying and tracking space objects. They also want
the EU to be better able to respond to space
threats, including through the sharing of space
domain awareness information, a toolbox for EU joint
responses, and more training.
To address
the EU’s lack of autonomous access to space, which
endangers missions related to security and defence,
Parliament calls on the European Commission to
develop a comprehensive strategy for an EU launch
policy as well as fostering the long-term production
and competitiveness of European launchers.
MEPs also
call on the EU to adopt a genuine industrial policy,
and support investments in key space and cyber
technologies, with the aim of reducing strategic
dependence on third countries. This can be achieved,
they say, through actions such as joint procurement
of critical components and securing critical raw
material supply chains.
Voicing
support for multilateral solutions within the United
Nations framework, Parliament stresses the
importance for the EU ensuring its strategic
autonomy and the automonous ability to address
threats to its space assets. MEPs highlight the need
to substantially increase resources allocated to
space in the EU’s next long-term budget, including
in support of the European Union Agency for the
Space Programme, the European Union Satellite Centre
and other EU agencies.
The report
was approved on Thursday by 500 votes in favour, 43
against with 18 abstentions. It was originally
prepared by MEPs on the European Parliament’s
Subcommittee on Security and Defence.
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