Mr. Chair,

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia^*, Montenegro^*, Albania^*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, the potential candidate country Georgia, and the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Monaco align themselves with this statement.

The European Union and its Member States would like to thank the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and the Subcommittee Chairs for their leadership and to recognise the preparatory work carried out by the Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and Director Aarti Holla-Maini. We would like to extend our best wishes to Aarti Holla-Maini for all her future endeavours and want to assure her of our support. Over the past years, COPUOS and its Subcommittees have managed to advance dialogue and cooperation on outer space matters as well as on specific issues on their agenda, among them the implementation of the agreed guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and the legal aspects of space resource activities. It is important to keep the issue of dark and quiet skies on the STSC agenda.

Mr. Chair,

The EU and its Member States strongly support the rules-based international order, with the United Nations at its core, and a multilateral approach to international affairs, including cooperation on outer space issues. Gross violations of the UN Charter undermine the whole UN system and in this context, the EU continues to condemn, in the strongest terms, the Russian Federation’s unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Our opposition remains to granting UN affiliation to a new Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education hosted in Russia.

We reiterate that COPUOS and its Subcommittees remain unique platforms for international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, the main multilateral platforms for the development of international space law, international norms, guidelines and best practices related to the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. The development of such instruments related to the long-term sustainability of outer space activities should be distinct but complementary to the same approach relating to space threats, which are being considered in other fora within the UN system. COPUOS also has a fundamental role to play in enhancing transparency and confidence-building among States.

International law, including the UN Charter, is applicable to outer space. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty and other UN treaties on outer space, as well as the guiding principles developed in the UN framework, constitute the cornerstone of global governance in outer space. The EU and its Member States stress the importance of conducting space activities in accordance therewith. As a responsible space actor, the EU continues to explore concrete ways in which the EU, in compliance with the applicable EU legal framework, could accept the rights and obligations contained in the appropriate UN treaties on outer space.

Outer space is a global commons, free for exploration and use by all States without any discrimination, on the basis of equality and in accordance with international law. We continue to actively promote the preservation of a safe, secure and sustainable space environment and the peaceful use of outer space as well as access to outer space for present and future generations.

The EU and its Member States equally continue to stress the importance of transparency and confidence-building measures and the need to foster responsible behaviours in the peaceful and free exploration and use of outer space. An established transparency and confidence-building measure in this regard is the Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC), where its 144 Subscribing States share information on space launch vehicle programmes among each other. The EU and its Member States encourage all States to subscribe to the HCoC and to fully implement its provisions. The EU has issued a substantial contribution to the UNSG report on the implementation of the TCBM agreed in the report of the 2013 GGE, which was released earlier this year pursuant to resolution 77/250.

Mr. Chair,

The EU and its Member States appreciate the positive discussions within the Working Group on the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities (WG-LTS) at the recent 60^th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee. We consider that the WG-LTS should focus on the implementation of existing LTS guidelines while also addressing capacity building needs and progressively identifying new challenges, which could be translated in new guidelines. Space traffic management (STM) and the mitigation of space debris remain among the key issues as recognised by the Council of the European Union in its 23 May Conclusions on the “Fair and Sustainable Use of Space”. Drawing on reinforced Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) capabilities, our EU approach for operational STM foresees the possibility for cooperation with international partners in view of information sharing and building on regional contributions. Already since 2016, EU SST Support Framework has been providing collision avoidance services, which are now open to non-European users.

The EU and its Member States welcome the engaging discussions within the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities at the recent 62^nd session of the Legal Subcommittee.

Finally, the EU and its Member States. We recognise the need for the international community to come together and discuss ways and means to reinforce space governance, including through COPUOS, in the interest of maintaining a sustainable outer space for the benefit of present and future generations, and welcome that outer space issues relevant to COPUOS work will feature at the UN Summit of the Future in 2024. In this regard, we take note and consider the proposals made by the UNSG in his outer space policy-brief and of the High Level Advisory Board released on 18 April this year.

Before concluding, we wish to note the following with regard to the draft resolution L.5 tabled by Russia entitled “Space Technology for promoting peace”. The EU is actively engaged in promoting the preservation of a safe, secure and sustainable space environment and the peaceful use of outer space on an equitable and mutually acceptable basis for all, for present and future generations. We note that L.5 clearly deals with space security issues. In our view, the UNGA Fourth Committee is not the relevant body to address issues which are discussed in Geneva. It would set a precedent that is detrimental to the consensus-based working culture of the Fourth Committee and to that of COPUOS.

To conclude, we would like to emphasize that all EU initiatives are developed in the spirit of international cooperation for the peaceful uses of outer space. A concrete example is the Copernicus global outreach strategy which aims to promote the take-up of Copernicus data and its services in tackling societal challenges worldwide. The EU and its Member States stand ready to collaborate further with all stakeholders to advance outer space issues relevant for COPUOS.

Thank you for your attention.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.