Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-001134/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Anthony Smith (The Left), Marina Mesure (The Left)
In March 2023, the Council adopted the EU’s Space Secure Connectivity programme for the period 2023-2027, which includes deploying, via the IRIS² programme, a constellation of 300 European satellites necessary for telecommunications to function smoothly.
In December 2024, the European Union’s sovereign telecommunications constellation contract was signed with a European consortium of satellite operators, which should now be placing orders with European manufacturers.
Since then, no contract has been signed, raising concerns about orders being given to non-European companies, such as Starlink, and European companies having to face large-scale job cuts as a consequence. This would mean a loss of skills for the European Union which, in the current climate, would be extremely serious.
At a time when the EU has decided to boost its autonomy in the defence and space sector, does the Commission intend to:
- 1.Establish a mandatory European preference when signing industrial contracts between European industrial consortia, such as Thales and Airbus, and satellite operators?
- 2.Guarantee the exclusion of non-European companies from this programme, especially those from countries that have declared a trade war on the EU?
Submitted: 18.3.2025