![]() ![]() 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), employs a dedicated FOIA officer and has an easy-to-use online form on its website through which any member of the public can file a FOIA request. The American space agency, bound by the U.S. Put another way, if NASA was trying to pull this garbage with the Space Launch System or other major project in the United States, the U.S. "The European Space Agency's lack of transparency with regard to the Ariane 6 rocket's development and testing is completely unacceptable," Berger said in the post. In early August, Ars Technica's Senior Space Editor Eric Berger sparked a discussion on X, formerly known as Twitter, commenting on ESA's reluctance to share timely information about the testing of Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket, a project known to be years behind schedule and heavily over budget. The EU president now stands accused in front of a Belgian court of having acted without member states' knowledge in the Pfizer vaccine matter.Ĭompare that with the tools that journalists have to request information about the deals made by ESA, an organization with an annual budget of over 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion US at current exchange rates), which in recent years has been lobbying for ever higher financial contributions from its member states as it intends to portray itself as a major global space player, on par (sort of) with the American space agency, NASA. That led the journalists involved to complain to the European ombudsman, who reprimanded von der Leyen. The text messages were never disclosed, as, according to EU officials, they no longer existed. But it creates a weird setup in which the taxpayers who fund the activities of these organizations have no legally enforceable insight into how their money is being spent.įor example, in 2021, European journalists requested access to text messages exchanged between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of pharma giant Pfizer, in which the two negotiated a deal to purchase 900 million COVID-19 vaccines. That, according to legal experts that talked to, is common for intergovernmental organizations. According to the Convention's annex, all ESA staff members not only have "immunity from jurisdiction in respect of acts, including words written and spoken, done by them in the exercise of their functions" but also "enjoy inviolability for all their official papers and documents." ![]() Above all, the document puts ESA above any jurisdiction - that is, it is not subject to the legal framework of any country that may have a stake in ESA and in which ESA facilities may reside. The organization, founded in 1975, is governed by its Convention, a 130-page document that outlines not only the space agency's governing structure but also the many immunities and privileges its staff members and representatives enjoy. The legal world of the European Space Agency (ESA) is a strange one. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |