27 countries, 27 different answers
Only France operates a permanent, publicly accountable UAP office (GEIPAN, within the space agency CNES). A handful of states have declassified historical military files, and several parliaments have seen questions or statements in recent years. For most member states there is no public policy at all: reports, where they exist, are handled by volunteer organisations. An empty cell means no verified public information – not that nothing exists behind closed doors.
2023-11-09 · European Commission · answer E-9-2023-002375 (9 Nov 2023) ↗
The matrix: all 27 EU member states
Five comparable criteria per country. Values reflect verified public sources only; where no reliable public information exists, the cell is marked as not verified.
| Official reporting body | Military / defence handling | Public archive or database | Recent political statement | Civil / volunteer collection | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Not verified | Partial | Not verified | Partial | Not verified |
| Belgium | Not verified | Not verified | Partial | Not verified | Yes |
| Bulgaria | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Croatia | Not verified | Partial | Not verified | Partial | Not verified |
| Cyprus | Not verified | Partial | Not verified | Partial | Not verified |
| Czechia | No | Partial | No | Yes | Not verified |
| Denmark | Not verified | Partial | Yes | Not verified | Yes |
| Estonia | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Finland | Not verified | Not verified | Partial | Not verified | Yes |
| France | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Germany | No | Partial | No | Yes | Yes |
| Greece | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Hungary | Not verified | Partial | Not verified | Partial | Not verified |
| Ireland | Not verified | Not verified | Partial | Partial | Not verified |
| Italy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Yes |
| Latvia | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Lithuania | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Luxembourg | No | Not verified | Not verified | Yes | Not verified |
| Malta | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Netherlands | Not verified | Not verified | Partial | Not verified | Yes |
| Poland | Not verified | Yes | Not verified | Yes | Not verified |
| Portugal | Not verified | Not verified | Partial | Not verified | Yes |
| Romania | No | Partial | Not verified | Partial | Not verified |
| Slovakia | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Slovenia | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Partial | Not verified |
| Spain | Not verified | Partial | Yes | Not verified | Not verified |
| Sweden | Not verified | Partial | Partial | Not verified | Yes |
How to read the matrix
Yes = a verified public mandate, structure or release. Partial = limited, historical or indirect handling (for example a one-off declassification or routine air-surveillance responsibility). No = the state has publicly stated it has no dedicated arrangement. Not verified = no reliable public source found; this is an absence of evidence, not evidence of absence.
- Yes
- Partial
- No
- Not verified
What stands out
France: the EU's only standing office
GEIPAN, part of CNES, has collected, investigated and published UAP reports since 1977. Its case files and A–D classification system are public, making France the only member state with a permanent, transparent structure.
Germany: a parliamentary answer, no change
In October 2026 the federal government answered a Bundestag question (Drucksache 21/8662): no dedicated UAP responsibilities, reporting channels or databases exist, and Berlin sees no need to update its routines despite developments in the United States.
Spain and Portugal: military archives opened
Spain's air force declassified its UFO files in the 1990s, now accessible through the defence ministry's virtual library. Portugal's air force has released historical documentation to its archives. Neither country runs a standing reporting office today.
The rest: civil society fills the gap
In Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and elsewhere, volunteer organisations screen and archive reports. In many member states – particularly in Central and Eastern Europe – no verified public structure or statement could be found at all.
Sources
Sources checked 25 October 2026
- Austria
- Bundesheer / Austro Control air-surveillance exchange; commander interview Feb 2023 after balloon incidents.futurezone · interview with Air Forces commander (Feb 2023) ↗
- Belgium
- Belgisch UFO-meldpunt (civilian, 2007): public annual reports, 161 observations in 2024.Belgisch UFO-meldpunt · organisation ↗
- Croatia
- Government statement 11 Mar 2022 on the Zagreb unmanned-aircraft crash: conventional incident handling.Croatian government · Zagreb drone statement (Mar 2022) ↗
- Cyprus
- Government spokesman Mar 2026: suspicious-air-object incident investigated and closed; ordinary security response.
- Czechia
- MoD FOI answer MO 86405/2021 (25 Mar 2021): statutory airspace protection only; no UFO occurrence register.Ministerstvo obrany ČR · FOI answer MO 86405/2021 ↗
- Denmark
- Air Force UFO archive published 2009 (329 pages, 1978–2002); SUFOI civilian association since 1957.Forsvaret · Flyvevåbnets UFO-arkiv (published 2009) ↗SUFOI · about (Denmark) ↗
- Finland
- FUFORA / Suomen Ufotutkijat ry: civilian searchable case database; no government database verified.FUFORA · case database (Finland) ↗
- France
- GEIPAN (CNES) since 1977; Air & Space Force and gendarmerie are partners; public case database with A–D classification.CNES · GEIPAN mission and partners ↗GEIPAN · public case database ↗
- Germany
- BMVg answer, Drucksache 21/8662 (16 Oct 2026): no separate UAP reporting channels, structures or databases; no change planned.Deutscher Bundestag · Drucksache 21/8662 (16 Oct 2026) ↗
- Hungary
- Ministry response Jun 2023: Air Operations Command and Control Centre identifies flights and phenomena; no extraterrestrial indication found.Origo · ministry response on UFO files (Jun 2023) ↗
- Ireland
- FOI records (Jul 2023): a 2021 public enquiry passed between departments; responsibility unclear.Irish Times · FOI records on UFO correspondence (Jul 2023) ↗
- Italy
- Air Force designated 1978 to collect and verify reports; intake via Carabinieri; public sighting summaries by year (2019–2026).Aeronautica Militare · UFO/OVNI reporting ↗
- Luxembourg
- Ministers Bausch and Fayot (Sep 2021, parliamentary question): UAP observation is not a Luxembourg Space Agency task.Paperjam · parliamentary question coverage (Sep 2021) ↗
- Netherlands
- UFO Meldpunt Nederland (civilian, 2005): public database and annual statistics; no government mandate verified.UFO Meldpunt Nederland · about ↗
- Poland
- Defence answer to interpellation 5052 (7 Oct 2024): radar signals of 26 Aug 2024 analysed; protocol NATO CONFIDENTIAL.Sejm · answer to interpellation 5052 (7 Oct 2024) ↗
- Portugal
- Air Force Historical Archive exists; a UFO declassification is not verified. CIFA AERO24UAP: civilian aerodrome outreach 2024–25.Arquivo Histórico da Força Aérea (Portugal) ↗CIFA · AERO24UAP civilian initiative (Portugal) ↗
- Romania
- Defence Ministry spokeswoman (May 2008, historical): no specially resourced UFO research department.Ziare.com · Defence Ministry spokeswoman (May 2008) ↗
- Slovenia
- Officials (May 2008, historical): police check reports for possible offences; Foreign Ministry held no UFO information.24ur · officials on UFO reports (May 2008) ↗
- Spain
- Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa, Expedientes OVNI: 80 files, ~1,900 pages, 1962–1995; declassification review began 1991.Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa · Expedientes OVNI ↗
- Sweden
- AFU research archive holds copies of ~3,000 defence reports (FOI / Military Archives digitisation); UFO-Sverige collects reports.AFU · Archives for the Unexplained (Sweden) ↗
Method and limits
- The matrix covers the 27 EU member states only. The United Kingdom, Norway and other European countries are outside its scope.
- A criterion is marked Yes or Partial only when a dated, verifiable public source exists. Everything else is marked Not verified.
- Military handling refers to a known defence-ministry role in receiving or assessing reports – not to routine air policing, which every state performs.
- The matrix is a snapshot. Parliamentary questions, declassifications and new mandates can change a country's row at any time.
Explore further
FAQ
Does the EU have a common UAP policy?
No. There is no EU-level agency, regulation or reporting framework for UAP. The European Parliament hosted a public UAP session in March 2024, but no institutional follow-up has been adopted. Policy remains entirely national.
Which EU country has the most developed UAP policy?
France. GEIPAN, within the space agency CNES, is the EU's only permanent public office that receives, investigates and publishes UAP reports, with an open archive dating back to 1977.
Why are so many countries marked Not verified?
Because no reliable public source confirms any official arrangement. Most member states have never published a UAP policy, and absence of evidence is marked honestly rather than filled in with assumptions.