Reaching for the stars : An analysis of the politicisation of the EU’s space policy in Sweden

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores the extent of politicisation of an EU (European Union) issue in a national parliament with space policy and the Swedish parliament’s Committee on EU Affairs as cases. The EU has recently become more invested in space. The analysis is based on a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of records from consultations in the Committee on EU Affairs during the period 1999-2025. All the national parties are represented in the Committee, and the records therefore provide a good account of the varied political response to the EU’s engagement in space. There is a lack of research on space policy in political science and the research on politicisation and opposition in the Committee on EU Affairs primarily uses quantitative methods. This thesis contributes with a qualitative research approach. The results demonstrate that space policy is subject to a differentiated politicisation: the Galileo project, the militarisation of space and the financing of different space operations have been politicised whereas other issues related to space have not. In general, space policy is experiencing a politicisation of low intensity. The debate in the Committee follows the functional dimension and the Europeanisation dimension. The thesis also discusses the consequences of politicising EU issues in relation to the Union’s democratic legitimacy and European integration.