The author analyses the genesis of the concept of space in social sciences, and different approaches to interpretation and definition of this concept in political science. The cognitive possibilities and the results the application of the spatial approach in international relations theory has so far produced are evaluated. The study offers a typology and gives a characteristic of modern political spaces, one of its parameters being a multilevel political identity. The unique phenomenon of the European political space (i.e. the political space formed by the European Union) is taken as an example to illustrate the analytical potential of the spatial approach. The study defines the actors of the European political space, its configuration and the trends of its transformation.