Council seals Norway's entry into EU secure satellite communications programmes

The Council of the European Union has concluded the agreement granting the Kingdom of Norway participation in the GOVSATCOM component of the Union Space Programme and in the Union Secure Connectivity Programme, together with access to GOVSATCOM services and to the programme’s governmental services. Council Decision (EU) 2026/2322 of 9 October 2026, adopted in Luxembourg and signed by Council President S. Harris, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, number 2026/2322, on 20 October 2026. The full text of the agreement itself appears in the same edition as document 2026/2323.

The decision rests on Article 189 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, read in conjunction with Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a), and follows a proposal from the European Commission and the consent of the European Parliament, given on 26 March 2026. The agreement had been signed on 26 March 2026 under Council Decision (EU) 2026/442 of 17 February 2026, subject to conclusion at a later date. The decision enters into force on the date of its adoption, 9 October 2026.

A new participant in Europe’s governmental satellite networks

Under the agreement, Norway becomes a GOVSATCOM Participant within the meaning of Article 68 of Regulation (EU) 2021/696 and a Union Secure Connectivity Participant within the meaning of Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2023/588, insofar as it authorises users of governmental capacities or provides satellite communication capacities, ground segment sites or part of the ground segment facilities.

The following may be authorised as users of the services:

• a Norwegian public authority, or a body entrusted with the exercise of public authority in Norway;
• a natural or legal person acting on behalf and under the control of such an entity.

Norway must designate a competent secure connectivity authority responsible for compliance with the general security requirements, for managing access rights, for the use of user equipment and for a central point of contact to report security risks, including harmful electromagnetic interference. The agreement expressly confers no decision-making power on Norway over either programme, and the Union remains owner of all tangible and intangible assets of the governmental infrastructure.

Tokens, Arctic coverage and financial contribution

The European Commission defines the total number of tokens to be distributed for upcoming programmatic periods, according to the available budget and the contracts concluded with resource providers. Norway receives a percentage, in tokens, of the Member States’ total share established in Implementing Decisions (EU) 2023/1053 and (EU) 2023/1055.

The governmental infrastructure of the Union Secure Connectivity Programme may include additional elements to enhance low-latency coverage over the Arctic region, a provision of particular weight for a Nordic partner. Any additional financial contribution required for designing, developing, deploying and exploiting those elements must be set by a decision of the joint committee amending the relevant article. Norway may also offer a voluntary additional contribution, provided it creates no financial or technical burden or delay for the programme.

Norway’s baseline financial contribution flows through a separate decision of the EEA Joint Committee amending Protocol 31, on cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms, and Protocol 37 to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

Governance, security and duration

A joint committee of official representatives of both parties oversees the agreement, meets at least twice a year and is the forum for technical assistance requests. Amendments to the Arctic coverage and additional contribution articles enter into force thirty days after their adoption. Norwegian representatives sit as observers, without the right to vote, in the programme committees and working groups, and participate without a vote in the Security Accreditation Board of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme, subject to need-to-know rules.

Security cooperation builds on the 2004 bilateral agreements on classified information, signed on 22 November 2004 and in force since 1 December 2004, with arrangements agreed on 22 October 2004. Norway must grant the authorising officer, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the Court of Auditors the rights and access needed to exercise their competences, including on-the-spot checks. Disputes are to be settled solely by consultation between the parties, never before a national or international tribunal.

The agreement enters into force on the first day of the second month following notification that internal procedures are complete. It runs until 31 December 2027 and is automatically extended for successive ten-year periods unless either party gives three months’ notice; termination also takes effect three months after notification. It is drawn up in 24 languages, Norwegian included, all equally authentic.

The conclusion formalises a Norwegian role in Europe’s governmental satcom architecture at a moment when secure connectivity is treated as a strategic asset. For operators and public users in Norway, it opens a route into EU governmental capacity sharing; for the Union, it extends the footprint of a system designed to reduce dependence on non-European infrastructure, and adds an Arctic dimension that no member state alone could supply.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, No 2026/2322, 20 October 2026 (official reference: CELEX 32026D2322).