DOI: 10.46340/eppd.2024.11.5.1
Yuliia Utko-Maslyanyk, PhD in Law
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine
PhD in Law; Antonina Zubareva, PhD in Law
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine
Vitalii Gutnyk, D.Sc. in Law
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine; Vilnius University, Lithuania
Ivan Bratsuk, PhD in Law
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine
Viktoriya Kuzma, PhD in Law
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine
How to cite: Utko-Maslyanyk, Y., Zubareva, A., Gutnyk, V., Bratsuk, I., & Kuzma, V. (2024). Legal Framework of the European Space Policy. Evropský politický a právní diskurz, 11, 5, 5-14. https://doi.org/10.46340/eppd.2024.11.5.1
Abstract
The authors analyze the peculiarities of the legal framework’s formation of the European space policy in the primary and secondary law of the EU. It is established that since the signing of the Treaties of Rome and up to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, none of the founding treaties granted the EU powers in the space sector. The authors identify the main space innovations introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, namely, that a clear legal basis for EU decision-making in this field is provided at the level of primary law. The authors establish that the founding treaties, while referring European space policy to the joint competence of the EU, contain reservations in this area of activity, which is reflected in Articles 4 and 189 of the TFEU. Thus, the EU’s exercise of joint competence should be subject to certain reservations, which are, firstly, that the EU should take measures in the space sector in such a way that the exercise of such competence does not prevent Member States from exercising their own competence; secondly, that the EU should take limited measures to harmonize national space legislation of Member States. The authors analyze the legal framework for cooperation between the EU and the European Space Agency in the implementation of the European space policy. The authors establish that the peculiarity of the legal mechanism for the implementation of the European space policy is a combination of the international legal level of its legal regulation, which is represented by the founding treaties of the EU and ESA and it is developed based on their interaction, namely, the Framework Agreement on Cooperation between them of 2004 and decisions of the joint specialized bodies of the EU and ESA (Space Council, Joint Secretariat, High Level Space Policy Group), with elements of the supranational level of legal regulation represented by the system of EU institutions and its legal acts. The analysis of EU secondary legislation in the field of European space policy made it clear that the legal regulation of European space policy is carried out by both recommendatory and mandatory EU acts, mainly in the form of regulations. In most cases, the regulations adopted by the EU institutions relate to the implementation of specific European space programs. These programs serve as the main legal form for the implementation of European space policy. As for directives, they are used to a limited extent, since their functional purpose is to harmonize the legislative and regulatory provisions of the Member States, which is not provided for in the space sector.
Keywords: international law, European Union law, space policy, space law, international treaty, human rights.
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