The Legal Constraints and Integration Potential of the European Union in the Area of Space Security

Abstract

This paper examines the legal constraints and integration potential of the European Union (EU) in the area of space security. From analytical point of view it focuses on the normative content and systemic implications of Article 189 TFEU, Article 4(2) TEU, Article 42 TEU, and Article 346 TFEU, interpreted in conjunction with selected instruments of secondary law and the Union’s strategic policy documents. Specific attention is devoted to the tension between the increasingly salient security and defense dimension of European space policy and the enduring limits of the Union’s competences in matters of national security and defense. The paper contends that, although the EU’s integrative potential in this field is considerable, it is realized primarily through indirect mechanisms, most notably the internal market, regulatory standard-setting, common funding frameworks, the strengthening of critical infrastructure resilience, and the development of shared capabilities, rather than through the full supranationalization of defense powers.