The Impact of the United Kingdom Withdrawal from the European Union on Space Law and Activities

With the end of the transitional period on 31 December 2020, the new year 2021 saw the United Kingdom rekindle its one-time splendid isolation from continental Europe, a very different perspective to the one it faced on its entry to the European Union (European Economic Community) almost five decades earlier on the 1 January 1973. Despite incessant media coverage and haranguing over the conditions of the final withdrawal arrangement, both parties came to a last hour agreement. The European Union and Member State governments are currently waiting to ratify the formal agreements, and the parties have agreed to apply the provisional arrangements in the interim. The following is a brief summary of the impact of the UK withdrawal on outer space activities and space programmes currently carried out by the EU. A previous article appeared in this Journal in 2016, outlining how Brexit would affect the various sectors involved in space business and operations.1 © 2021 Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands