The European Commission has launched a study to determine whether the participation of European satellite telecommunications organisation Eutelsat in the Indo-British OneWeb telecommunications constellation project creates a conflict of interest in the context of participation in the European Secure Connectivity constellation project currently under study, Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton announced on Monday 24 May.
At a press briefing during the launch of the new European Union Agency for the Space Programme (see EUROPE 12726/10), when asked by EUROPE about the consequences of Eutelsat’s announcement at the end of April on its financial participation in the Indo-British constellation project, the Commissioner gave a clear answer. “We have taken good note of their decision to participate in a project that is in direct competition with the European initiative we are working on”, he commented, adding how essential the European project was for Europe’s strategic autonomy (see EUROPE 12634/9).
He continued, “With regard to Eutelsat’s participation in the forthcoming study of the European Connectivity project, we have initiated, at my request, a review to see if there is a conflict of interest. The study is ongoing”.
On 27 April, Eutelsat announced that it had reached an agreement with OneWeb to take an equity stake of approximately 24% by investing $550 million in the project. Subject to the necessary regulatory approvals, Eutelsat would become one of the company’s largest shareholders alongside the UK government and India’s Bharti Global. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)