The European Parliament on Space: From Promoting Scientific Research to Supporting the Common Security and Defence Policy

Abstract

The European Parliament has co-legislating authority on the EU’s space policy, and space has an increasingly important security and research dimension. Therefore, it is crucial to know what the EP’s stance is on space. Rather than taking a snapshot, the chapter will look at development of the EP’s positions toward a European space policy. Drawing on EP space resolutions and on personal interviews with MEPs and EP officials, the chapter’s main goals are to show: (1) that the EP is not shy to talk openly about the EU’s space programs being used for security purposes, (2) that the EP started pushing for a European space policy early on (earlier than other EU institutions), and (3) that research has been instrumentalized to build an EU space policy that has a security/military dimension.