ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the way in which the European Commission has framed and reframed the issue of EU engagement in space through policies and programmes. It investigates how the agenda-setter has ‘talked about’ space policy, with a particular focus on Galileo and Copernicus – its two flagship programmes. It examines how the Commission’s own institutional discourse has evolved over time through the use of frame sets. In so doing, it shows how the EU’s agenda-setting executive has presented the issue as politically and economically desirable across the EU and sought to persuade decision-makers and taxpayers of its cross-policy relevance and potential benefits. The chapter highlights the EU’s relations with other space actors, both institutional and private, thanks to whom the Commission has been able to develop space activities and corresponding frame sets. In light of the analysis of Commission’s changing roles and political discourse, coupled with its financial efforts in research and development and its recently established legal competence, it is logical to assume that new frames will emerge in the ongoing development of European space policy.
