güneş ünüvar 🛸

The EU Space Act: Internal Harmonisation and External Influence On 25 June 2025, the European Commission unveiled its long-anticipated proposal for an EU Space Act. This draft Regulation arrives after years of preparatory work, discussions, and multiple delays. It...

The EU Space Act: Internal Harmonisation and External Influence | by Güneş Ünüvar

Güneş Ünüvar, Review of Charalampos Giannakopoulos. Manifestations of Coherence and Investor-State Arbitration Legal systems are built upon abstract concepts that are notoriously difficult to generally define. It is unsurprising that some of the most cutting-edge is

My review of Charalampos Giannakopoulos' fantastic book, "Manifestations of Coherence and Investor-State Arbitration" (CUP 2022), has just been published in the European Journal of International Law @ejiltalk.bsky.social

It is available here: academic.oup.com/ejil/advance...

I had always been under the impression that the Methanex tribunal went out of its way to adopt a police powers doctrine, or at least accepted the US argument, which gradually expanded from a narrow reading to a broader one (see initial and amended SoD). The reality is apparently much more nuanced...

Amended Statement of Claim pg. 67 (12 February 2001)

It says that "While international law does give some deference to a State’s ability to carry out its regulatory powers, discriminatory regulation can constitute an illegal expropriation". It does so unprompted. US of course doubles down on an expanded police powers doct in its amended defence

Revising the manuscript of my new book so I have been looking at some earlier ISDS cases. Did you know that in Methanex v. US, Methanex essentially acknowledged the police powers doctrine? The application of the police powers was basically uncontentious. Epiphany...

In today's edition of "How to Misspell Güneş's name"

I sat down to talk to the Academy of International Affairs NRW in Bonn to discuss space law, space debris, the Moon Village Association, and my research on designating outer space as 'environment'. See more here (as well as the video):

www.aia-nrw.org/en/exploring...

If you are going to explore outer space, why not do it in style? #prada #axiomspace #artemis
(From the Moon Village Association Global Workshop and Symposium in Luxembourg)

*cries in Turkish passport*

Why not some Albus content?

HOŞGELDİN REYİZ

Üsküdar kadar nüfusu olan ülke nasıl uzayın hakimi oldu? 'Türkiye seçimini yapıp Lüksemburg'u örnek almalı' Gazete Oksijen

Interviewed by @gazeteoksijen.bsky.social on the Luxembourgish space sector, how #Luxembourg emerged as a leader in space, and how it can serve as a source of inspirating for #Türkiye as an emerging space nation.

The interview (in Turkish) is available here: gazeteoksijen.com/bilim-ve-tek...

To be fair, philosophy in modern day Athens isn't really a thing (with the possible exception of existentialism)...

I guess in the coming days and weeks we will get to see how far the US willing to go to dismantle and undermine the international legal order for the sake of Israel, and the answer frankly scares the hell out of me.

This character is one of the riders in the pod race in Phantom Menace and he’s called Elan Mak. That’s all. I don’t have a point. Just, you know…

This is such a legitimate thing to bring up. Why would anyone jump on you for this? Let's carve that virtual pub space ourselves, and if anyone has a problem, they can just go back to the conference coffee break

My impression is the opposite, everyone seems very upbeat and relieved to leave X 😁

Rereading it, I think I wasn't very clear what i was talking about! So I apologise 😁

As for the creation of a governing regime in Europe, there certainly is some impetus - just not clear who gets to do what exactly!

Yes, hence the parenthesis next to it :)

11. Apologies for the typos! **FIN**

10. It is crucial to listen to technical experts. One of my personal highlights was the discussion on technical challenges related to Lunar orbital activities, Lunar orbit traffic management, and how these operations can assist surface operations on the Moon.

9. An blend of proactive and reactive law and policy-making is of utmost importance when it comes to the Moon. We cannot aspire to set foot on the Moon with no rules whatsoever (which is not the case anyway), but we also cannot realistically have rules and policies for everything before we go back.

8. What is the role of the European Union going forward? Is it, or should it be, that of a 'convener', where Member States can engage in constructive dialogue - or a 'rule setter', where rules are dictated top-down?

7. Lunar policy is more complex than an Artemis Accords versus ILRS dichotomy. Characterization of this dichotomy as a 'race' or a competition dilutes the importance of cooperation and coordination between these prominent blocs. Europe can play a role in readjusting this discourse.

6. It is important that different processes remain in sync: this is different from a complete overlap, as certain divergences in national space policy-making seem highly likely. The importance of this alignment is exacerbated as the EU intensifies its policy/law-making activities in this domain.

5. 'Europe' has different political, strategic, and legal definitions in the context of outer space. Its political fragmentation is evident with parallel institutional frameworks, such as the EU and the ESA. An emphasis on national space policy-making adds to this complexity.

4. A few personal takeaways (though the discussion went much deeper than what is captured below):

3. Across three panels, we engaged in self-reflective and solution-oriented discussions about Europe and its future in outer space, in a global political landscape which is increasingly defined by the 'race' between major spacefaring nations and emergent political blocs.