Ricerc@Sapienza

The Outer Space Treaty (OST) is the most important instrument of international space law, which sets the essential principles governing the activities of exploration and use of Outer Space. Among those principles, Art. VI of the OST provides for the international responsibility of States for national space activities, whether such activities are carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities. This principle has paved the way for the private sector to conduct space activities, provided that authorization and continuing supervision by the “appropriate State" is ensured.

The aim of the zoom-in introduced by this paper is to discuss possible legal grounds for establishing the responsibility – whether direct, derivative or shared – of EU Member States for the internationally wrongful acts committed following the implementation of cooperative migration management instruments. As a matter of fact, the multiplicity of actors involved raises tricky questions as to the allocation of responsibility.