EU Eyes Signatories On ‘Space Code Of Conduct’

October 6, 2010 at 5:49 am | Posted in Space Law, Space Law Current Events | Leave a comment

by Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz with blog faculty

Source: Defense News

By JULIAN HALE

BRUSSELS – The European Union is preparing to give a technical presentation at the United Nations next week to start the process of persuading other countries to sign up to its ‘Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities’. The move follows the EU’s decision to approve a draft version of the code on Sept. 23.

Speaking under Chatham House rules at a conference in Brussels on Oct. 5, a Belgian source involved in drafting the code said that the EU “might consider refining some provisions in order to get other countries involved.”

Also speaking on the condition of anonymity, another EU source said that the move was in response to a Russian-Chinese proposal in 2008 to have a treaty banning space weapons. However, the source pointed out, a key difficulty with the Russian-Chinese proposal is that there is no agreed definition of space weapons. More….