EU nations 'close' to political agreement on satnav project

EU nations 'close' to political agreement on satnav project

http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/EU_nations_close_to_political_agreement_on_satnav_project_999.html

by Staff Writers
Brussels (AFP) Nov 29, 2007

Hopes were high Thursday that EU nations could break months of
deadlock over their Galileo satellite navigation project, altough
tricky questions remained over how to carve up the coveted contracts.

Before a meeting of the 27 EU transport ministers began in Brussels,
French junior transport minister Dominique Bussereau declared himself
"pretty optimistic" that the project, seen as a a showcase for
Europe's technical prowess, would receive the political green light.

"Things aren't progressing too badly ... if all goes well we should
be able to reach an agreement quickly," he predicted.

The EU's satellite navigation system, which is supposed to be up and
running by 2013, aims to break Europe's reliance on the US
military-run Global Positioning System (GPS).

Although Galileo has already suffered numerous setbacks, the EU still
has high hopes that it will spur the development of numerous new
technologies that will make the wait worthwhile.

Satellite navigation, which allows users to pinpoint their location
anywhere on Earth, is expected to be at the heart of new technologies
for steering cars or guiding boats as they arrive at ports, or
airplanes as they come into land.

It could also be used in accident assistance, search and rescue
missions, monitoring fishing boats or container ships as well as
mineral prospecting by miners, building pipelines, financial
transactions or various leisure activities.

One of the main areas of suspense was a row between Italy and Spain
on where the system's control stations will be sited.

On Wednesday, the Spanish side threaten to hold up the political
agreement if it is not satisfied.

"It would be very difficult to accept something that doesn't suit
us," a Spanish diplomat said.

Spain wants what Germany and Italy have been promised, a full Galileo
control centre to monitor functioning of the 30 satellites the system
will need.

The Spanish could end up with a test centre, said Bussereau.

German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee said he was sure a
solution would be found Thursday, while warning that the talks could
continue late as "there are a number of divergent positions."

Berlin has fought hard to host a control centre, deeming that a just
reward for its investment in the project.

Competition rules would dictate that contracts be awarded on a
best-offer basis. But the European space industry is concentrated
into a few main groups, including the European EADS subsidiary
Astrium, in which Germany has a major role, and the Franco-Italian
Thales Alenia Space.

Funding for the first four satellites, only one of which has so far
been launched, has already been agreed, leaving 26 others to be
decided.

Budget ministers and EU lawmakers paved the way for agreement on
Galileo's future last week by striking a deal on how to fund it.

They agreed to fill a 2.4-billion-euro (3.5-billion-dollar) hole in
Galileo's financing entirely with money from the EU's 2007 and 2008
budgets.

Of that figure, two-thirds will come from unspent farm aid budgeted
this year and the rest will be drawn from funds earmarked for
research next year.

Work on Galileo stalled earlier this year as cost over-runs piled up,
the private contractors bickered and member states lobbied for their
own industrial interests.

As the original public-private partnership involving a consortium of
eight European companies fell apart, the European Commission
recommended that the project should be relaunched using public money
entirely.

In a sector as specialised and concentrated as the space industry,
the same companies will be in the running for new contracts, although
some smaller newcomers are also likely seek a share of the work.