Regulation (EU) 2023/588 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2023 establishing the Union Secure Connectivity Programme for the period 2023-2027

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 189(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (1),

Whereas:

(1) The conclusions of the European Council of 19-20 December 2013 welcomed the preparations for the next generation of governmental satellite communications through close cooperation between the Member States, the Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA). Governmental satellite communications have also been identified as one of the elements of the Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy of June 2016. Governmental satellite communications are to contribute to the EU response to Hybrid Threats and provide support to the EU Maritime Security Strategy and to the EU Arctic policy.

(2) The conclusions of the European Council of 21-22 March 2019 stressed that the Union needs to go further in developing a competitive, secure, inclusive and ethical digital economy with world-class connectivity.

(3) The Communication of the Commission of 22 February 2021, entitled ‘Action Plan on synergies between civil, defence and space industries’, states that it aims to ‘enable access to high-speed connectivity for everyone in Europe, and provide a resilient connectivity system allowing Europe to remain connected whatever happens’.

(4) ‘A Strategic Compass for Security and Defence’ adopted by the Council on 21 March 2022 recognises that the space infrastructure of the Union and of its Member States contributes to our resilience and offers key services that substitute or complement ground infrastructures for telecommunications. It therefore calls for the Union to work on the proposal for a Union space-based global secure communication system.

(5) One of the components of the Union Space Programme established by Regulation (EU) 2021/696 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) is GOVSATCOM, which aims to ensure the long-term availability of reliable, secure, scalable and cost-effective satellite communications services for GOVSATCOM users. Regulation (EU) 2021/696 envisages that in a first phase of the GOVSATCOM component, until approximately 2025, existing capacity would be pooled and shared through the GOVSATCOM Hub. In that context, the Commission is to procure GOVSATCOM capacities from Member States with national systems and space capacities and from commercial satellite communication or service providers, taking into account the essential security interests of the Union. In that first phase, GOVSATCOM services are to be introduced on the basis of a step-by-step approach, in light of the scaling up of the GOVSATCOM Hub infrastructure capabilities. That approach is also based on the premise that if in the course of the first phase a detailed analysis of future supply and demand reveals that it was insufficient to cover the evolving demand, it will be necessary to move to a second phase and develop additional bespoke space infrastructure or capacities through cooperation with the private sector, for example with Union satellite operators.

(6) On 22 March 2017, the Council’s Political and Security Committee endorsed the High Level Civil Military User Needs for Governmental Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM), which were prepared by the European External Action Service (EEAS) and with which the military user’s requirements identified by the European Defence Agency in its Common Staff Target adopted in 2013 and the civilian user needs collected by the Commission have been merged. Subsequent analyses by the Commission showed that the Union’s current satellite communication offer, on the basis of capacities from Member States with national systems as well as the private sector, cannot meet certain new needs of the governmental demand which are moving towards higher security solutions, low latency and global coverage. Those needs should be monitored and reassessed regularly.

(7) Recent technical progress has allowed non-geostationary-orbit (NGSO) communications constellations to emerge and gradually offer high-speed and low latency connectivity services. There is therefore a window of opportunity for addressing the evolving needs of government-authorised users by developing and deploying additional infrastructure as filings for the frequencies with the International Telecommunication Union which are necessary to provide the required services are currently available within the Union. If not used, those filings for the frequencies will become obsolete and be attributed to other players. As frequencies and orbital slots are an increasingly scarce resource, the Commission, through an open and transparent process with the Member States, should seize this opportunity to conclude with the Member States providing the filings for the frequencies dedicated licensing agreements for the provision of governmental services based on the governmental infrastructure. The private sector is responsible for obtaining the rights on filings for the frequencies required for the provision of commercial services.

(8) There is growing demand by the Union’s governmental actors for secure and reliable spaced-based satellite communication services, particularly because they are the most viable option in the absence of ground-based communication systems or where they are disrupted or unreliable. Affordable and cost-effective access to satellite communication is also indispensable in areas where there is no terrestrial infrastructure, including over oceans, in airspace, in remote areas and where terrestrial infrastructure faces serious outage or cannot be trusted in crisis situations. Satellite communication can increase the overall resilience of communication networks, for example offering an alternative in the case of physical attacks or cyberattacks on local terrestrial infrastructure, accidents or natural or man-made disasters.

(9) The Union should ensure the provision of resilient, global, secure, protected, uninterrupted, guaranteed and flexible satellite communication solutions for evolving governmental needs and requirements, built on a Union technological and industrial base, in order to increase the resilience of Member States’ and Union institutions’ operations.

(10) Therefore, it is important to establish a new programme, namely the Union Secure Connectivity Programme (the ‘Programme’), to provide for a Union satellite-based, multi-orbital communication infrastructure for governmental use, while integrating and complementing existing and future national and European capacities in the framework of the GOVSATCOM component, and developing further and gradually integrating the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) initiative into the secure connectivity system.

(11) The Programme should meet the new governmental needs for higher security solutions, low latency and global coverage. It should ensure the provision and long-term availability of worldwide uninterrupted access to secure, autonomous, reliable and cost-effective satellite governmental communication services, supporting the resilience and protection of critical infrastructure, situational awareness, external actions, crisis management, as well as applications that are critical for the Union’s and Member States’ economy, security and defence, through a dedicated governmental infrastructure which integrates and complements the capacities of GOVSATCOM. Moreover, the Programme should prioritise the delivery of governmental services and allow for the provision of commercial services by the European private sector, taking into account a market survey including consultation of government-authorised users, through a commercial infrastructure.

(12) Decision (EU) 2022/2481 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) sets a series of objectives and targets to promote the development of resilient, secure, performant and sustainable digital infrastructures in the Union, including a digital target for the Commission and Member States to achieve gigabit connectivity for all by 2030. The Programme should enable connectivity across the Union and around the globe, for citizens and business, including, but not limited to, providing access to affordable high-speed broadband that can help remove communication dead zones and increase cohesion across the Union, including its outermost regions, rural, peripheral, remote and isolated areas and islands. The satellite services cannot currently replace the performance of ground-based networks but can bridge the digital divide and even contribute, where applicable, to the general objectives of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4).

(13) The Programme should therefore consist of the definition, design, development, validation and related deployment activities for the construction of the initial space and ground infrastructure, required for the provision of first governmental services. The Programme should then entail gradual deployment activities aimed at completing both the space and ground infrastructure required for the provision of advanced governmental services, which are currently not available and are beyond the state-of-the-art of existing European satellite communication services. Moreover, the Programme should promote the development of user terminals able to exploit the advanced communication services. The exploitation activities should begin as soon as possible with the provision of the first governmental services aimed by 2024, so that the needs of government-authorised users are met as soon as possible. The Programme should then entail activities aiming to complete both the space and ground infrastructure required for a full operational capability by 2027. The provision of governmental services, the operation, maintenance and continuous improvement of the space and ground infrastructure, once deployed, as well as the development of the future generations of the governmental services, should be part of the exploitation activities.

(14) In June 2019, Member States signed the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) Declaration (the ‘Declaration’), agreeing to work together, with the Commission and with the support of ESA, towards the development of a quantum communication infrastructure covering the whole Union. In accordance with the Declaration, EuroQCI aims to deploy a certified secure end-to-end quantum communication infrastructure, enabling information and data to be transmitted and stored and to be capable of linking critical public communication assets throughout the Union. The Programme will contribute to meeting the objectives of the Declaration by developing a EuroQCI space and ground infrastructure integrated into the governmental infrastructure of the Programme, as well as by developing and deploying the EuroQCI terrestrial infrastructure, which will be owned by the Member States. The EuroQCI space, ground and terrestrial infrastructure should be developed within the Programme in two main phases, a preliminary validation phase, which may involve the development and validation of several different technologies and communication protocols, and a full-deployment phase including appropriate solutions for inter-satellite connectivity and data relay between satellites, the ground and the terrestrial infrastructure.

(15) One of the main functions of the EuroQCI will be to allow for quantum distribution of cryptographic keys (QKD). To date, QKD technology and products are not sufficiently mature to be used for the protection of EU classified information (EUCI). The main issues concerning QKD security, such as standardisation of QKD protocols, side channel analysis and evaluation methodology, still need to be solved. The Programme should therefore support the EuroQCI and allow for the inclusion of approved cryptographic products in the infrastructure when available.

(16) In order to protect EUCI in a satisfactory secured manner, primary solutions to counter threats posed by quantum computing should be the combination of conventional solutions, post-quantum cryptography and possibly QKD in hybrid approaches. The Programme should therefore use such approaches, for the purpose of ensuring both state-of the-art cryptography and key distribution.

(17) In order to expand Union satellite communication capacities, the Programme infrastructure should be based upon, integrate and complement the infrastructure developed for the purposes of the of the GOVSATCOM component. In particular, the Programme’s ground infrastructure should be based upon the GOVSATCOM Hubs, as progressively scaled up on the basis of user needs through other ground segment assets, including those of the Member States willing to contribute additionally, on the basis of operational and security requirements.

(18) The Programme should improve secure connectivity over geographical areas of strategic interest, such as Africa and the Arctic as well as the Baltic, the Black Sea, Mediterranean regions and the Atlantic. The services provided under the Programme should also contribute to geopolitical resilience by offering additional connectivity in line with policy targets in those regions and with the Joint Communication of the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security policy of 1 December 2021 entitled ‘The Global Gateway’.

(19) Without prejudice to the communication services, the satellites built for the purposes of the Programme could be equipped with subsystems, including payloads, that can allow the increase of the capacity and services of the components of the Union Space Programme, enabling thereby the development of additional non-communication services to be decided by the Programme committee meeting in the relevant configuration, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/696, and implemented under the conditions set out in this Regulation. If the benefit to the components of the Union Space Programme is duly established, taking into account user needs and budgetary constraints, those subsystems could be developed to offer alternative positioning, navigation and timing services complementing Galileo, to ensure the broadcast of European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) messages with a lower latency, to provide space-based sensors for space surveillance and to support the enhancement of current Copernicus capabilities, in particular for emergency and civil security services. Moreover, those subsystems could provide non-communication services to Member States, under the condition that this does not impact the security and budget of the Programme.

(20) Considering the importance for the Programme of its ground governmental infrastructure and the impact thereof on its security, the location of such infrastructure should be determined by the Commission, in line with the general security requirements and following an open and transparent process, with a view to ensuring a balanced distribution among Member States. The deployment of the ground governmental infrastructure of the Programme, which also integrates the infrastructure developed under the GOVSATCOM component, could involve the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (the ‘Agency’) or, where appropriate and within its field of competence, ESA.

(21) It is vital for the security of the Union and its Member States and for ensuring the security and integrity of the governmental services, that the space assets of the Programme are launched from the Union’s territory. In exceptional, duly substantiated circumstances, it should be possible for such launches to take place from the territory of a third country. In addition to heavy and medium launchers, small launchers and microlaunchers could provide additional flexibility to allow for a rapid deployment of the space assets.

(22) It is important that the Union owns all tangible and intangible assets related to governmental infrastructure developed under the Programme, except the EuroQCI terrestrial infrastructure, while ensuring the compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including Article 17 thereof. Despite the ownership by the Union of those assets, it should be possible for the Union, in accordance with this Regulation and, where it is deemed appropriate on a case-by-case assessment, to make those assets available to third parties or to dispose of them.

(23) Union-wide initiatives, such as the secure connectivity initiative, are shaped by the broad participation of innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups and large enterprises from the upstream and downstream space sector throughout the Union. In recent years, some space actors have challenged the space sector, in particular start-ups and SMEs which developed innovative, market-driven space technologies and applications, sometimes with different business models. In order to ensure the competitiveness of the Union space ecosystem, the Programme should maximise the use of innovative and disruptive technologies, as well as novel business models developed by the European space ecosystem, including New Space, in particular by SMEs, mid-cap companies and start-ups that develop market-driven novel space technologies and applications, while covering the whole space value chain encompassing the upstream and downstream segments.

(24) It is essential to encourage private sector investment through appropriate procurement and aggregation of service contracts, thus reducing uncertainty and providing long-term visibility and predictability of public sector services needs. To ensure the competitiveness of the European space industry in the future, the Programme should also contribute to the development of advanced skills in space-related fields and support education and training activities, as well as promoting equal opportunities, gender equality and women’s empowerment, in order to realise the full potential of Union citizens in that area.

(25) In line with the objectives set out in the Commission Communication of 11 December 2019 entitled ‘The European Green Deal’, the Programme should minimise, to the extent possible, its environmental impact. While the space assets do not themselves emit greenhouse gases while in use, their manufacturing and associated ground facilities do have an environmental impact. Measures should be adopted to mitigate that impact. To that end, the procurement referred to under the Programme should include principles and measures on sustainability, such as provisions to minimise and offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the development, production and deployment of the infrastructure, and measures to prevent light pollution, such as the impact on ground-based astronomical observations.