The EU Proposes a DMA for Space

Eric Fruits August 22, 2025

Truth on the Market View Original Source

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The European Union has a well-established playbook for regulating industries dominated by U.S. firms:

1. Identify a market where American companies are global leaders;
2. Draft sweeping legislation grounded in vague principles like “fairness” or “sustainability”; and
3. Create a regulatory structure that imposes disproportionate burdens on the largest and most successful (and usually foreign) companies.

The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is an exemplar of this playbook in action. Now, with its proposed EU Space Act (EUSA), the EU is poised to launch this playbook into space.

In recent comments, the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) concludes the EUSA functions as a nontariff barrier designed to protect and promote European firms at the expense of their American competitors. While cloaked in the language of safety and sustainability, the proposal is better understood as an act of strategic industrial policy—a “DMA for Space” that aims to reshape the competitive landscape of the satellite industry.

Read the full piece here.