23/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - At a mini hearing held on Monday 22 February by the European Parliament industry, research and energy committee, European space industry representatives said they wanted public funding for the Galileo project (the European satellite navigation programme) to be retained. The debate was held on the presentation of the report by Vladimir Remek (GUE/NGL, Czech Republic) on the mid-term evaluation of the European satellite navigation programmes. “The short- and medium-term future is in the public arena,” said Eurospace Secretary General Jean-Jacques Tortora. Former Hungarian MEP Etelka Barsi Pataky agreed and added that “it is better to go for a public model” because “all technologies take time before they can be rolled out, so it is better for the project to be public and, once things are fine, we can bring in the private sector”. (V.L.B./transl.rt)