"Europe is already a great space power", says Thierry Breton

Making the EU's economy stronger and more competitive are key responsibilities for Thierry Breton, the European Commission's chief for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. Within that context, Euronews' Gregoire Lory spoke to the commissioner about the importance of Europe's space and digital sectors.

"In terms of the market, technological development and defence, what does the space sector mean for Europe?"

"I would like to remind you that Europe is already a great space power. We have some of the best players in the world, both in the field of launchers and satellites, as well as many start-ups. But it’s also a sector that’s increasingly contested. It is a strategic sector. It needs to be protected and defended for Europeans. We have seen this recently with what happened during a satellite launch which left debris everywhere. This could have endangered our own satellite network, our sovereign network, particularly those that are so important to our daily lives - Galileo, Copernicus.

"For our viewers, Galileo is really what enables us to have satellite positioning. It’s a little known fact, but we have the most powerful network in the world. The word GPS is frequently used, but that’s thanks to Galileo it controls all our satellite positioning systems in Europe, but beyond that, it’s also the most accurate in the world. We will continue to keep this lead. It’s vitally important for self-driving vehicles; it’s very important for all activity, including the use of smartphones and everyday life today.

"Copernicus enables us to see everything that’s happening from space. With images of course, but soon there will be many other things: radar, detection of CO2 emissions. In short, there are many, many things