The Other Triangle in European Space Governance: The European Union, the European Space Agency and the United Nations

Jan Wouters 

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies

Rik Hansen 

KU Leuven - Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies
December 1, 2013

KU Leuven Institute for International Law Working Paper No. 130 
Abstract:      

In European space governance, the term ‘governance triangle’ usually refers to the cohabitation in space matters of the European Union, the European Space Agency and their respective member states. This contribution explores another, less well-known and less clearly structured space governance triangle: that between the EU, ESA and the UN. Its specific focus is on their respective regulatory activities in guaranteeing the sustainability of space activities. Initiatives with this objective have been taken by each of the organisations mentioned. The contribution examines the institutional preconditions for their coherence and complementarity. With the on-going debate surrounding the future institutional arrangements between ESA and the EU and the EU’s emerging actorness in space law matters (cf. the EU-championed International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities), the question arises as to the future institutional constellation between these three players for regulatory activities pertaining to space.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 16

Keywords: European Space Policy, EU Space Policy, European Space Agency, ESA, Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, COPUOS, Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities, Space Governance, Lisbon Treaty, Art. 189 TFEU

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2371313