(million EUR)
Financial programming | 1 217.9 |
NextGenerationEU |
|
Decommitments made available again (*) | N/A |
Contributions from other countries and entities | 0.0 |
Total budget 2021-2027 | 1 217.9 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
Rationale and design of the programme
The Union secure connectivity programme will provide enhanced satellite communication capacities to governmental users, businesses and citizens. It aims to deploy an EU satellite constellation – IRIS² (infrastructure for resilience, interconnectivity and security by satellite) – to support a wide variety of governmental applications, mainly in the domains of situational awareness (e.g. border surveillance), crisis management (e.g. humanitarian aid) and the connection and protection of key infrastructures (e.g. secure communications for EU embassies).
On the commercial side, it will enable mass-market applications, including mobile and fixed broadband satellite access, satellite access for transportation, reinforced networks by satellite, and satellite broadband and cloud-based services.
The functioning of our economy and our security are increasingly dependent on secure and resilient connectivity. Digital hyperconnectivity and technological transformation are prompting an unprecedented increase in the demand for services that depend on edge technologies. At the same time, there is a growing demand by EU 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, on the high seas and in airspace.
The EU’s sovereignty and security must be safeguarded by providing resilient, global, guaranteed and flexible satellite communication solutions built on an EU technological and industrial base. To that end, on 15 March 2023, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation (EU) 2023/588 establishing the Union secure connectivity programme.
The Union secure connectivity programme aims to provide for an EU satellite-based, multi-orbital communication infrastructure for governmental use, while integrating and complementing existing and future national and European capacities within the framework of the European Union governmental satellite communications component of the Union space programme. The programme will also further develop and gradually integrate the European quantum communication infrastructure initiative to allow for the quantum distribution of cryptographic keys.
The general objectives of the Union secure connectivity programme are as follows.
- To ensure the provision and long-term availability, within the EU’s territory and worldwide, of uninterrupted access to secure, autonomous, high-quality, reliable and-cost effective satellite governmental communication services to government-authorised users. This will be done by establishing a multi-orbital, secure connectivity system under civil control.
- To enable the provision of commercial services, or services offered to government-authorised users based on commercial infrastructure at market conditions, which is entirely financed by the private sector in accordance with the EU’s applicable competition law. The aims are to facilitate, where and as necessary, the further development through private investment of worldwide high-speed broadband and seamless connectivity; to remove communication dead zones; and to increase cohesion across the territories of the Member States.
The specific objectives of the Union secure connectivity programme are to:
- complement and integrate the existing and future capacities of the governmental satellite communications component into the secure connectivity system;
- improve the resilience, security and autonomy of the EU’s and Member States’ communication services;
- further develop and gradually integrate the European quantum communication infrastructure into the secure connectivity system;
- ensure the right of use of orbital slots and relevant frequencies;
- increase the robustness of the EU’s and Member States’ communication services and the cyber resilience of the EU by developing redundancy, developing passive, proactive and reactive cyber protection and operational cybersecurity, and implementing protective measures against cyber threats and other measures against electromagnetic threats;
- enable, where possible, the development of communication and additional non-communication services, in particular by improving the components of the Union space programme to create synergies between them and expand their capabilities and services, and to enable the development of non-communication services to be provided to Member States by hosting additional satellite subsystems, including payloads;
- encourage innovation, efficiency and the development and use of disruptive technologies and innovative business models throughout the European space ecosystem, including new space actors, new entrants, start-ups and small- and medium-sized enterprises, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the EU space sector;
- improve secure connectivity over geographical areas of strategic interest, such as Africa, the Arctic, the Baltic, the Black Sea, Mediterranean regions and the Atlantic;
- enhance the safety and sustainability of outer-space activities by implementing appropriate measures to ensure and to promote responsible behaviour in space when implementing the programme, including by seeking to prevent the proliferation of space debris.
The main activities of the Union secure connectivity programme include actions on the definition, design, development and validation of the programme. These actions will be implemented in direct management by the Commission. The Commission intends to procure, award and sign contracts for deploying and operating the space and ground infrastructure to provide secure governmental services.
The Commission, working closely with the Member States, other EU institutions, the European Union Agency for the Space Programme and the European Space Agency, will gradually roll out exploitation activities to ensure the operation, maintenance, continuous improvement and protection of space and ground infrastructure, including replenishment and obsolescence management and the future evolution of governmental services.
In line with Article 22 of the regulation establishing the Union secure connectivity programme, eligibility and participation conditions will apply to the award procedures where necessary and appropriate in order to preserve the security, integrity and resilience of the operational EU systems.
Provided that the interests of the EU are protected, the Commission will entrust the European Space Agency with tasks relating to the supervision of the development, the validation and the related deployment activities for the construction of the space and ground infrastructure required to provide governmental services. Furthermore, provided that the interests of the EU are protected, the Commission will pursue the development and deployment of the European quantum communication infrastructure for gradual integration into the secure connectivity system, and will entrust to the European Space Agency tasks relating to the space and related ground segment of the European quantum communication infrastructure.
The activities of the Commission financed under the Union secure connectivity programme will be complemented by additional financing from Horizon Europe for development and validation activities and from the European Space Agency programme relating to secure connectivity.
The Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space is the lead DG for the programme. The programme is implemented mainly through direct management by the Commission and will be complemented, provided that the interests of the EU are protected, by actions implemented under indirect management by the European Space Agency mainly relating to supervision of development and validation and to the European quantum communication infrastructure. In the future, subject to the operational readiness of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme, some of the activities relating to operational management of the governmental infrastructure of the programme will be entrusted to the European quantum communication infrastructure.
The legal basis of the regulation establishing the programme is Article 189 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Programme website:
Impact assessment:
- the impact assessment of the EU secure connectivity programme was adopted in 2020. For further information please consult: SWD(2022) 30 final (impact assessment).
Budget
Budget programming (million EUR):
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial programming | 0.0 | 0.0 | 136.3 | 213.4 | 307.4 | 270.7 | 240.2 | 1 167.9 |
| NextGenerationEU | ||||||||
| Decommitments made available again (*) | N/A | |||||||
| Contributions from other countries and entities | ||||||||
| Total | 0.0 | 0.0 | 186.3 | 213.4 | 307.4 | 270.7 | 240.2 | 1 217.9 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
The financial envelope for the implementation of the programme until 31 December 2027 is EUR 2.4 billion in current prices. This relates to the implementation of the programme and the associated risks covering the technical, security, programmatic, financial, contractual and governance aspects.
The total budget is composed of the programme budget (EUR 1 387.9 million), and it is complemented by the budgets of other EU programmes (EUR 1 012.1 million), the objectives of which are consistent with and complementary to the objectives of the programme. The following should be noted in particular.
- Horizon Europe, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Decision (EU) 2021/7649, will allocate a dedicated share of the components of its ‘Digital, industry and space’ cluster to research and innovation activities relating to developing and validating the secure connectivity system, including the potential technologies that would be developed under the space ecosystem, including new space.
- The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/947 of the European Parliament and of the Council, will allocate a dedicated share of its Global Europe funds to activities relating to the operation of the secure connectivity system and the worldwide provision of services that will make it possible to offer an array of services to international partners.
- The Union space programme, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/696 of the European Parliament and of the Council, will allocate a dedicated share of its governmental satellite communications component to activities relating to the development of the EU Governmental Satellite Communications Hub, which will form part of the ground infrastructure of the secure connectivity system.
The funding stemming from these programmes will be implemented in accordance with the rules of these programmes.
In addition, in 2021 and 2022, the Commission brought forward the implementation of some of the activities linked to secure connectivity, in particular relating to the European quantum communication infrastructure, which could be sustained under the existing legal acts and which require an intensive development phase, in particular under the Connecting Europe Facility and the digital Europe programme.
Budget performance – implementation
Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):
| Implementation | 2021-2027 Budget | Implementation rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commitments | 0.0 | 1 217.9 | N/A |
| Payments | 0.0 | N/A |
Annual voted budget implementation (million EUR)(1):
| Voted budget implementation | Initial voted budget | |
|---|---|---|
| Commitments | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Payments | 0.0 | 0.0 |
(1) Voted appropriations (C1) only.
The activities were rolled out in March 2023, when the Commission published an invitation to tender to procure a concession contract(1). The public–private partnership between the Commission and the private sector will ensure common investment in the design, development, deployment and operation of governmental and commercial infrastructure and its use.
Governmental services will be provided using a phased approach. Initial services will be provided by 2024, followed by gradual deployment activities to complete the space and ground infrastructure, aiming to meet the needs of governmental users and to achieve full operational capability by 2027.
(1) European Commission, Tenders Electronic Daily – Services – 173193-2023.
Contribution to horizontal priorities
Green budgeting
Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):
| Implementation | Estimates | Total contribution | % of the 2021–2027 budget | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |||
| Climate mainstreaming | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
| Biodiversity mainstreaming | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
| Clean air | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
- The activities were rolled out in March 2023, and in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal the programme should minimise its environmental impact as far as possible. While the space-based assets do not themselves emit greenhouse gases while in use, their manufacturing and associated ground facilities do have an environmental impact.
- To that end, the procurement procedures and contracts should include principles and measures on environmental and space sustainability. These should include provisions to minimise and offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the development, production and deployment of the infrastructure and provisions establishing a scheme to offset the remaining greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offsetting should be preferably done via carbon removal, applying consensus methods on accounting for greenhouse gas removal as soon as they are available (preferably the EU regulatory framework, if available at the start of the activities). The contracts should also include provisions on measures to prevent light pollution, the use of appropriate collision-avoidance technologies for spacecraft and the submission and implementation of a comprehensive debris mitigation plan to ensure the avoidance of debris by the satellites of the constellation.
Gender
Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):
| Gender score | 2021 | 2022 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
(*) Based on the applied gender contribution methodology, the following scores are attributed at the most granular level of intervention possible:
- 2: interventions the principal objective of which is to improve gender equality;
- 1: interventions that have gender equality as an important and deliberate objective but not as the main reason for the intervention;
- 0: non-targeted interventions (interventions that are expected to have no significant bearing on gender equality);
- 0*: score to be assigned to interventions with a likely but not yet clear positive impact on gender equality.
The regulation establishing the Union secure connectivity programme states that the programme should contribute to the development of advanced skills in space-related fields and support education and training activities, along with promoting equal opportunities, gender equality and women’s empowerment, in order to realise the full potential of EU citizens in that area. In this respect, following the roll-out of the activities in March 2023, the Commission will promote and encourage increased participation of women and establish equality and inclusion goals in the tender documentation. The Commission will also support initiatives to raise awareness of gender equality in the area of space. The gender score for 2023 should be 0*.
Digital
Contribution to the digital transition (million EUR):
| 2021 | 2022 | Total | % of the total 2021-2027 implementation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital contribution | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
The services that will be provided under the EU secure connectivity programme are expected to boost the digital transition in Europe and worldwide. The programme was only adopted in 2023, and activities were rolled out in March 2023, therefore no reporting is available for 2022.
Budget performance – outcomes
The programme will be monitored closely on the basis of a set of indicators intended to measure the extent to which the specific objectives of the programme have been achieved and with a view to minimising administrative burdens and costs. To that end, the annex to Regulation (EU) 2023/588 establishes a set of key performance indicators. In addition, the service definition document applicable to the programme will define more detailed key performance indicators with minimum performance levels. The programme has yet to be implemented as it entered into force on 20 March 2023.
Sustainable development goals
Contribution to the sustainable development goals
The Union secure connectivity programme is consistent with the existing EU space policy while also sharing the common goal of sustainable connectivity as the EU connectivity agenda in the European Council conclusions of 12 July 2021 on ‘A globally connected Europe’.
| SDGs the programme contributes to | Example |
|---|---|
| SDG5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls |
The Commission will promote and encourage increased participation of women and establish equality and inclusion goals in the tender documentation. |
| SDG9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation |
The services that will be provided under the EU secure connectivity programme are expected to contribute to several goals of sustainable development by connecting remote areas and areas with limited terrestrial connectivity infrastructure. A major programme objective is to improve secure connectivity over geographical areas of strategic interest of the EU, in particular Africa and the Arctic, and support the sustainable development and social cohesion in these regions. Ensuring environmental and space sustainability is another key programmatic focus where the new European constellation will satisfy space sustainability criteria and be an example of good practices in space traffic management and in space surveillance and tracking promoting responsible behaviour in space. |