The European Union should develop a military element to its space activities to counter growing security threats, according to proposals drawn up by France.

Paris, which on Tuesday takes over the EU presidency, says Europe needs to counter threats from conventional military powers such as China and Russia as well as terrorism. To do so it needs to add a “political and security dimension” to European space policy, according to documents sent to EU governments ahead of a meeting later this month in French Guiana, home to the European launch pad.