SUPRANATIONAL SPACE: WHY THE POWERS OF THE EU ARE NOT QUITE PARALLEL

摘要

As of 1 December 2009, the European Union received new legal powers in space matters by the Lisbon Treaty. For European space lawyers, it is common knowledge that the competence is parallel but uncertainty remains about its precise content. The supranationalism debate of the Union's space competence has been yet avoided because supranationalism in space is a sensitive issue. The paper's line of argument starts with the four basic principles of the space competence: the instrumental function, the parallelism, the exclusion of harmonization and the coordination mandate. The paper argues that the newly introduced Article 189 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union has supranational features, e.g. primacy. Equally important, the intergovernmental coordination mandate shows the dual nature of the space competence. The exclusion of harmonization should not be overemphasized. The Union has de facto harmonization powers because it can regulate its own programmes. Space assets may even introduce a new feature of supranationalism: supranationalism through infrastructure. In the tripartite space administration in Europe shared between the European Union, the European Space Agency and their respective member states, the Union contributes by its supranational powers. Moreover, the Union may eventually take the policy lead.