UK urges EU to delay £2bn satellite navigation project
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Your support makes all the difference.Britain will today press for a delay in the launch of a £1.8bn project to develop a global satellite navigation system funded jointly by the European Union and private industry.
Britain will today press for a delay in the launch of a £1.8bn project to develop a global satellite navigation system funded jointly by the European Union and private industry.
Lord MacDonald of Tradeston, Minister for Transport, is expected to tell a council meeting of EU transport ministers in Luxembourg that there are still too many uncertainties over the funding and management of the Galileo project to risk giving it the go-ahead.
The EU hopes to give the green light to Galileo at the end of December, enabling Europe to have a satellite navigation system in place from 2005 to rival the US-controlled GPS system. But Britain wants a delay of at least six months in order to establish the degree of private sector financial commitment.
More than 100 potential uses for Galileo have been identified ranging from military applications and air transport navigation to train control systems, fleet management and the tracking of stolen vehicles or those transporting dangerous materials.
Supporters of Galileo claim that the project could create up to 146,000 jobs across Europe and generate exports worth up to 20 billion euros a year (£12bn) by 2010, of which Britain could account for between 10 and 30 per cent.
The EU and the European Space Agency have earmarked a contribution of 1.5bn euros towards the 3bn euros cost of developing and deploying Galileo. In addition there will be running costs of around 250m euros a year. However, there are doubts about the willingness of the private sector to provide the rest.
The existing GPS system is 100 per cent funded by the US government and is free to commercial users. However, Galileo will have to charge in order to recoup investment in the system. One option is to charge a levy on every piece of equipment containing a receiver. Other options are shadow tolls, paid by governments to reflect social and economic benefits of the system, or special access payments from critical users such as air traffic control.
The EU has provided 100m euros in development funding, the bulk of which has gone to Galileo Industries, a four-nation partnership in which Britain has a 25 per cent stake. The UK partner is BAe Systems. The other nations involved are France, Germany and Italy.
Dr Michael Healey, development director at Galileo Industries, said that private industry would be prepared to demonstrate its commitment by contributing around £10m towards a £20m fund to continue development work on the project.
The chief executives of Galileo Industries and Siderius, another industrial grouping formed by Thomson CSF of France and Telespazio of Italy, are due to meet the EC Transport Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, in ten days time to report on progress. Whitehall sources insisted that the UK was not deliberately seeking to delay Galileo. But one source said: "Unless we get the results of all the studies into the cost benefits, funding and management of the project it is difficult to see how we will be in a position to make a decision in December."
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