Europe’s Regulatory Ambition
There is an old maxim often repeated in Brussels corridors: “The US innovates, China replicates, and Europe regulates.” For critics of the European project, it is meant to capture an uncomfortable truth about Europe’s position in the global technological race. While this may reflect reality at times, it should not be seen as a weakness. Regulation, when done well, can provide stability, predictability, and trust; qualities that are essential for investment and long-term growth in the space sector, as well as for ensuring fairness and accountability in the space sector.
It is with this aspiration in mind that the European Commission published its proposal for a Regulation on a European Space Act at the end of June. What first and foremost matters for the European space industry is that this regulation does not act as a brake, but as a catalyst. In this regard, much remains to ensure it delivers on its ambitions.
Opportunities and Obstacles Ahead
The EU Space Act marks an important step towards European leadership, strengthening safety, security, and sustainability of space operations through measures such as debris tracking, risk management, and explicit cybersecurity rules. This answers a long-lasting call for a European approach to Space Traffic Management, and could be seen as a driver for innovation and new markets, particularly in areas like In-Space Operations and Services (ISOS) or Space Situational Awareness (SSA).
But yet, as no text is flawless, refinements are needed if its full potential is to be realised — especially as concerns grow across Europe about an entry into force and implementation schedule that may be too slow, financial and procedural costs that may be too high, administrative burdens that may be too heavy, governance that may be too complicated, derogations and equivalence decisions that may risk granting undue advantages to non-EU operators and undermining the EU preference principle, and a proliferation of exemptions and regulatory easements that may weaken the very coherence the Act is meant to provide.
Labels, Incentives, and Global Influence
The ball is now in the co-legislators’ court to address these challenges. The European Parliament, setting itself in motion around Rapporteur E. Donnazzan, aims to shape its position by mid 2026 — an ambitious timeline in itself.
But if “Europe regulates”, this is only part of the picture; it could usefully be complemented by non-binding measures to make the EU’s approach to space safety, security, and sustainability fully effective.
The EU Space Act gives Europe the opportunity to “innovate” not just in technology, but in the rules of the game
As discussed by Eurospace during a Workshop on STM organised by the European Commission mid-September, voluntary, non-binding measures can be very useful tools to complement regulation, provided they are designed in a way that is practical, attractive, and beneficial for those who implement them. Proposed as part of the EU Space Act Regulation, the establishment of an EU Space Label can promote best practices, reward responsible actors, and strengthen Europe’s reputation. For the label to be meaningful, applicable, and motivating for industry, incentives are key. European institutional actors could therefore very much reward labelled operators and infrastructures with bonus points in tenders, and use the label in economic diplomacy to actively promote European companies abroad.
The EU Space Act gives Europe the opportunity to “innovate” not just in technology, but in the rules of the game — rules that, as space is global, the EU will actively promote in its relationships with other space powers, with the ambition of seeing them “replicated” worldwide.
Since 2018, Charles Galland has served as Policy Manager at Eurospace, representing the European space industry at the heart of EU and ESA decision-making. He specialises in shaping space policy and fostering dialogue between institutions and industry.