Regulation (EU) 2023/588 establishing the Union Secure Connectivity Programme for the period 2023-2027

What it is

to establish the Union Secure Connectivity Programme for the period 2023-2027 ensuring the provision of secure, flexible and resilient global satellite communications services to the Union and Member States' government entities. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: there is a growing demand by the Union governmental actors for secure and reliable satellite communication services, particularly because they are the only viable option in situations where ground-based communication systems are non-existent, disrupted or unreliable. Affordable and cost-effective access to satellite-based communication is also indispensable in remote regions and in the high seas and airspace. The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the report by Christophe GRUDLER (Renew Europe, FR) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Union Secure Connectivity Programme for the period 2023-2027. The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: Members proposed to clarify the general objective of the Programme. It aims to establish a secure, autonomous and multi-services space-based system under civil control, integrating and complementing the capacities of the GOVSATCOM component of the Union Space Programme. The Programme’s specific objectives have also been expanded. They aim to: - improve the quality, resilience and autonomy of the Union and Member States’ satellite services; - increase the cyber resilience of the Union by developing redundancy, passive and reactive cyber protection and operational cybersecurity; - develop and integrate the space and related ground segment of the EuroQCI to enable secure transmission of cryptographic keys; - enable, where possible, the development of communication and other services, by improving, creating synergies between and expanding capabilities and services of components of the Union Space Programme, as well as services that are not components of the Union Space Programme, by hosting additional satellite subsystems, including payloads; - further develop broadband and seamless connectivity across the Union, thus eliminating communication dead zones while bridging the digital divide and enabling affordable access to the Internet; - to improve the Union's strategical and technological autonomy in terms of space technologies, assets, operations and services. Members proposed that the provision of the governmental services should be based on, integrated into and complemented by the GOVSATCOM component of the Union Space Programme. They should be ensured through the following activities: - by 2024 , the design, development, validation and related deployment activities of the space and ground infrastructure required to provide first governmental services 6 months after the deployment; - development and gradual integration of the…

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