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Europe: Military role for Galileo conceded

01 October 2007

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Now that the idea of public-private financing for the European satellite radio navigation programme Galileo has been abandoned in view of lack of interest of the industry, the military goal of the project is more openly emphasized. Jacques Barrot, the vice-president of the European Commission (EC) told the press in early May, "You cannot exclude a [navigation system] user because he is military. It will be civilian-controlled, but there will be military users." And in the European parliament the subcommittee for security and defence policy led by MEP Karl von Wogau demanded a military dimension for Galileo "to become independent from foreign nations".

Galileo has run into trouble due to lack of money. The European Commission now proposes to launch the project with 3.4 billion euro of community funds. In the financial framework for 2007-2013 1 billion euro is already earmarked for this purpose. The Commission now proposes to finance the extra 2.4 billion euro from "unused agriculture funds" and "margins for other policies" within the EU budget. This idea has met resistance from Germany, the UK and the Netherlands. The December European Council will take the final decision.

Euractive, 3.10.07; Europäische Sicherheit 7/2007; World Socialist Website, 7.7.07; Le Monde 6.10.07

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