The Taxpayers’ Association of Europe demands a critical examination of Galileo
Loss of billions feared
In view of the possible failure of EU negotiations with the private consortium producing the Galileo satellite navigation system and the threatened delay of the start date be-yond 2011, as well as the intention of funding Galileo completely through public spending, the Taxpayers’ Association of Europe is demanding a critical examination and possible new arrangements. Even a stop must be considered, otherwise Galileo threatens to lose billions for European taxpayers.
The time delay for which they themselves are to blame, the unnecessary disputes over control centres, as well as the internal problems of the private consortium, have been used by Russia, China and India to develop their own satellite navigation sys-tems, which will additionally be offered for free. The USA is also planning to signifi-cantly improve its GPS (Global Positioning System) in the next few years. Thus the success in the market of the Galileo system, which is designed exclusively for civil purposes, seems at particular risk.
From the point of view of the Taxpayers’ Association of Europe, if the concept for pro-ducing Galileo now fails, the opportunity must be used to examine in detail all the benefits and possible uses – civil and military – of Galileo under these changed framework conditions, and to make the results public. Should this inspection lead to the result that Galileo is not technically competitive or economically acceptable, then Galileo must be stopped by the political decision-makers. Under no circumstances should Galileo simply become an EU object of prestige at the cost of the taxpayer, said European President Rolf von Hohenhau.
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Loss of billions feared
In view of the possible failure of EU negotiations with the private consortium producing the Galileo satellite navigation system and the threatened delay of the start date be-yond 2011, as well as the intention of funding Galileo completely through public spending, the Taxpayers’ Association of Europe is demanding a critical examination and possible new arrangements. Even a stop must be considered, otherwise Galileo threatens to lose billions for European taxpayers.
The time delay for which they themselves are to blame, the unnecessary disputes over control centres, as well as the internal problems of the private consortium, have been used by Russia, China and India to develop their own satellite navigation sys-tems, which will additionally be offered for free. The USA is also planning to signifi-cantly improve its GPS (Global Positioning System) in the next few years. Thus the success in the market of the Galileo system, which is designed exclusively for civil purposes, seems at particular risk.
From the point of view of the Taxpayers’ Association of Europe, if the concept for pro-ducing Galileo now fails, the opportunity must be used to examine in detail all the benefits and possible uses – civil and military – of Galileo under these changed framework conditions, and to make the results public. Should this inspection lead to the result that Galileo is not technically competitive or economically acceptable, then Galileo must be stopped by the political decision-makers. Under no circumstances should Galileo simply become an EU object of prestige at the cost of the taxpayer, said European President Rolf von Hohenhau.
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