WHY WAS IT NECESSARY TO APPOINT A DECENTRALIZED AGENCY FOR COHERENT AND SAFE MANAGEMENT OF THE EU SPACE PROGRAMME? COMMENTS ON THE EUSPA’S MANDATE AGAINST OTHER EU AGENCIES

Abstract

The aim of this article is to answer the question of why it was necessary to appoint a specialised decentralised agency for coherent and safe management of the EU Space Programme. This article also analyses the Union’s competences in the area of space policies and investigates the EUSPA’s place in the EU administration system. Finally, the article investigates and presents selected competences of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) for strengthening EU’s security. This study employs the method of interpretation of the law in force, while EU regulations are subject to a teleological interpretation. The conducted analysis shows that the correctness of the choice of a decentralized agency as an entity responsible for implementing the EU space programme was determined by agencies’ shared features – the fact that they are permanent organs, with legal personality and thus independent as they function outside the Commission’s Directorates. Moreover, agencies affiliate apolitical experts and implement the priority of new public management based on the commercial companies managing model. Thus, the way they operate is more effective and predictable.