The European Union should consider setting up a European Space Force, EU commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said on Tuesday (22 January).

“Several member states are considering just now ways to strengthen their defence doctrine to [the] space dimension. They are talking about space forces,” said Bienkowska, responsible in the European Commission for internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs. Her portfolio also includes the EU’s space policy.

“What is becoming a reality at the national level, probably should also become a reality at the EU level. We need to discuss, [on the] medium [to] long term, a European Space Force,” she said, as reported by EU Observer.

Bienkowska spoke twice at the 11th Annual Conference on European Space Policy in Brussels. The idea for a European Space Force comes less than a year after US president Donald Trump announced he wanted his country to set up a military branch in space.

It is not clear to which EU countries Bienkowska was referring, when she said several member states were talking about setting up space forces.

Jorge Domecq, chief executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA), told EUobserver on Tuesday that Bienkowska had not discussed the idea of a European space force with him. In fact, he said no member state had called for it.

“The EDA is an intergovernmental agency. I follow the guidance of member states. To my knowledge, no member state has so far put forward that idea and the agency is not working on it,” said Domecq.

“I have of course heard about the concept being used by individuals here and there, but as a formal proposal, to my knowledge, it is not on the table at this point in time,” he added.