THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR)

– welcomes the European Space Package and acknowledges that this first EU legislative act on space comes at a moment of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, which also marks an opportunity to deepen integration and to anchor the Union’s sovereignty in its territories. By empowering local and regional authorities, the EU equips itself with the territorial intelligence, democratic legitimacy and innovation capacity needed to defend its values and shape a secure, sustainable and globally competitive European space policy;

– warns that the European Space Package will fall short unless LRAs are structurally involved, as they operate at the heart of place-based innovation ecosystems where academic excellence, applied research and industrial capacities meet. Excluding them weakens Europe’s innovation potential and risks widening territorial disparities;

– emphasises that EU space policy must retain a strong civil mission. LRAs rely daily on satellite data to anticipate extreme events, protect communities, manage land, modernise public infrastructures and support resilient local economies. Ensuring continuous, secure and high-quality access to space services is essential for territorial resilience;

– calls on the Commission to protect EU-generated space data from free commercial exploitation by private actors in third countries. Stresses the need to value and monetise high-quality EU data appropriately, ensuring that European taxpayers and operators benefit from the datasets produced through EU investments in constellations.