EU Space Law Still in Limbo, but Experts Expect It to Focus on Safety and Sustainability

MILAN – It’s not yet clear what form the European Union’s “Space Law” will take.

The widely anticipated proposal could include regulations or directives, or it could be “just a set of policy principles that would apply to space activities in the EU internal market,” Maria Elena De Maestri, University of Genova international law professor, said Oct. 18 at the International Astronautical Congress here.

Another question is timing. The EU Space Law, previously expected in early 2024, is not likely to be published until at least 2025, according to legal experts at IAC.

“If you are an EU lawyer, you often have to show an extraordinary amount of patience,” said Frans Von der Dunk, University of Nebraska space law professor and a member of the International Law Association’s Committee on Space Law representing the Netherlands. “I’m afraid this EU Space Law is also going to be a long and winding road.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in 2023 that an EU Space Law, focused on safety, resilience and sustainability, would be a priority for 2024. The goal was to reduce market barriers caused by differing national laws and to increase the competitiveness of the European space sector.

The EU Space Law is expected to introduce common standards and harmonize licensing requirements, said Claudiu Mihai Taiatu, International Space University Space Studies Program academic coordinator.

While many have lauded those goals, the EU Space Law faces hurdles.

Ten of the European Union’s 27 member states “have a full-fledged national space law addressing private-sector operation,” Von der Dunk said. The national laws cover authorization and supervision of commercial activities under Article VI of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

The EU’s authority to promote scientific progress and the industrial competitiveness of member states comes from the 2007 Lisbon Treaty. That authority is limited, though.

“The commission has to make an argument why [space law] should be treated at the EU level, as opposed to the national level,” Von der Dunk said.

One possible approach is an emphasis on safety and sustainability.

“If countries accept that it is in their common interest to have a new, broad, harmonized approach to addressing sustainability for the greater common good of Europe, then probably they will be able to step over their own national pride and accept” a unified approach, Von der Dunk said.

One possible area of focus for EU Space Law is human spaceflight.

None of the national laws “specifically addresses human spaceflight,” Von der Dunk said. “Would there be an opening for the Commission to then establish a new space law?”

Space situational awareness data sharing and cybersecurity are other important topics that could be addressed by EU Space Law, Taiatu said.