SIDE-EVENT IN THE MARGINS OF THE UNGA FIRST COMMITTEE

22 October 2024

CR.8, UNHQ, New York

This side-event is organised FRS, as implementing Agency of the EU project in support of the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC) in the margins of the UNGA First Committee. The EU project is implemented according to the EU Council Decision Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/2370.

The Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC) is known for inviting states to display transparency in ballistic missile programmes and launches in order to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation. However, because of the technological proximity between ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles, it also requires states to be transparent about launchers and launches.

This side event will explore the role played by the Code in the space domain and how it contributes to confidence in launching activities. It will also evoke the evolution seen in space and assess to what extent other initiatives could play a stabilizing role in space activities.

AGENDA

13:15 – Introduction 

  • Marjolijn VAN DEELEN, Special Envoy for Space, European External Action Service (EEAS), European Union (remotely)
  • Alex WETZIG, Permament Representative of Chile to the United Nations in Vienna, Chile (Chair of the HCoC 2024-2025)
 
 

13:30 – Main session 

MODERATOR: Dr Xavier PASCO, Secretary General, Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) 

PANELLISTS:  

  • Dr Peter MARTINEZ, Executive Director, Secure World Foundation (SWF)
  • Dr Raji Pillai RAJAGOPALAN, Resident Senior Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
  • Ms Almudena AZCÁRATE ORTEGA, Space Security Researcher, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
All publications

The HCoC: current challenges and future possibilities

The Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC), currently the only game in town on its topic, marked its 10th anniversary in 2012. It has generated membership comfortably into three figures, and its supporters have tried valiantly to help it make progress. However, even its most enthusiastic admirers would concede that has not fulfilled the hopes and expectations of its founders when they gathered for the opening ceremony in November 2002.

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All publications

Opening HCoC to cruise missiles: A proposal to overcome political hurdles

The issue of extending the scope of the Hague Code of Conduct to cruise missiles is regularly raised in academic and political discussions about the Code. Some non-subscribing States justify their refusal to join the instrument because of this exclusion, perceived as a major flaw. Indeed, cruise missiles have characteristics that can make them very effective in carrying weapons of mass destruction. It is therefore clearly of interest to consider extending the HCoC scope to these weapons.

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Issue Briefs

The HCoC and New Technologies

In the field of arms control and non-proliferation, ‘emerging technologies’ are commonly perceived as creating potential threats that may make it even more difficult to prevent arms racing and regulate global competition. Given the dual-nature of the Hague Code of Conduct, space developments must also be considered to assess the adaptability of the regime to new technologies.

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