Legislative proposal

2026/0084(COD) – Proposal for a regulation on the European Union Space Services Agency and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/696 – COM(2026) 152, 7 April 2026

Issue

The European Union Agency for the Space Programme ('the agency') was founded by Regulation (EU) 2021/696 on the EU space programme for the years 2021 to 2027. The agency was established in 2004. It currently counts 211 staff members and has its seat in Prague (Czechia), with centres in Belgium, Spain, France and the Netherlands.

Since its establishment, the agency has been entrusted with new tasks – both in the proposed EU space act and the proposed European Competitiveness Fund; its existence is not subject to the duration of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF). The proposal therefore aims to provide the agency with a self-standing legal basis (founding act) to ensure the continuity of its contribution to the EU space systems and services.

Main points of the proposal

The proposal provides for a new name for the agency, which would become the European Union Space Services Agency (Article 1). While the seat would stay in Prague, subject to the adoption of Article 58 of the proposed European Competitiveness Fund (components of the EU space systems and space policy), the agency would be authorised to establish local offices (Article 3). The executive director would decide this, with the prior authorisation of the European Commission, the administrative board and the Member States concerned (Article 13(2)).

Three sets of tasks would be laid down (Article 4).

Governance of the agency's administration would be underpinned by three main bodies: the administrative board; the executive director and a deputy executive director; and the security accreditation board (Article 5). The individuals appointed to one of the positions associated with these bodies would have to provide an annual declaration of direct and indirect interests that might be considered prejudicial to their independence (Article 40).

The proposal mandates the agency to submit a report on the application of the regulation every five years. No later than five years following the entry into force of the proposed regulation, the Commission should organise and publish an evaluation of the agency's performance. It should also report the findings to Parliament (Article 41).

The proposed regulation would apply from 1 January 2028 (Article 39).

The legislative financial and digital statement accompanying the proposal estimates the EU contribution to the agency during the 2028-2034 MFF at €0.979 billion (current prices), including €0.535 billion in staff expenditure.

Parliament's prior position

In its 2026 interim report on the proposal for the 2028-2034 MFF, the European Parliament stresses the relevance of ensuring that sufficient financial and staff resources are allocated from the outset and throughout the MFF period, to enable decentralised agencies whose mandate would be extended to ensure high-quality delivery and enforcement.

Prior positions of other EU institutions and bodies

In its 2025 opinion on the proposed EU space law, the European Committee of the Regions considers that – against the backdrop of its proposed role in facilitating the adoption and uptake of EU space labelling schemes – the agency should liaise in particular with the regional and local authorities that have adopted relevant strategies to support their space research and industrial ecosystems.

In its 2025 opinion on the proposed EU space law, the European Economic and Social Committee recommends clarifying the agency's operational role in the proposed Title II on authorisation and registration for space activities.

Preparation of the proposal

The Commission has not conducted a specific stakeholder consultation or impact assessment to prepare this proposal. Nevertheless, it gathered relevant opinions from stakeholders during the preparation of the interim evaluation of the agency's performance in 2024, as well as during the preparation of the European Competitiveness Fund (see, in particular, Annex 2 to the European Competitiveness Fund impact assessment). In addition, it used the conclusions reached in the EU space programme 2021-2027 interim evaluation published in 2024.

Points of view

The EU space actors have primarily discussed the tasks to be entrusted to the EU by the proposed regulation on an EU space act. However, some of their remarks are also relevant to this proposal. For instance, a 2025 position paper by Eurospace on the proposed EU space act stresses the need to provide the agency with financial and human resources proportionate to the tasks assigned, to avoid an overload that could be detrimental to the EU space activities and actors in general. Regarding the EU space sector's downstream segment, the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies' 2024 annual report mentions the ongoing cooperation with the agency as a positive achievement of the association's interplay with the EU institutions.

In April 2026, the European Free Trade Association's Standing Committee of its member states released a comment in which it calls on the EU co-legislators to provide a clear definition of the agency's roles, to avoid any overlaps or conflicts with its existing and future responsibilities.