Brussels, 07/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - As it has been impossible to find a consensus on setting in place the private consortium tasked with the development and co-funding of the construction of Galileo (the European satellite navigation system), and with the ultimatum laid down by the Commission and the presidency to the industry set to expire on 10 May, the German presidency and the Commission are planning to increase the share of public funding in the construction phase of the system, by reducing the share of the private sector in the funding of the operational phase, the German federal minister for transport, Wolfgang Tiefensee, announced at a press conference in Brussels on Monday. The alternative funding scheme and the sharing of the risks between the private companies and the public sector will be presented by the Commission at the Transport Council to take place from 6-8 June 2007.
In line with the mandate granted by the Council on 23 March (see EUROPE 9392), the Commission was tasked with looking into the possible scenarios in case of an absence of agreement within the consortium made up by the eight companies (Thales, Finmeccanica, EADS, Alcatel-Lucent, Immarsat, Hispasat, Aena and Teleop) before 10 May. Speaking on behalf of the presidency, Mr Tiefensee announced that, jointly with the Commission, “we are putting together” a plan “within the framework of the public-private partnership”, but “in which the public participation will be concentrated on the construction phase”, whilst “the participation of the private sector will be focused on the operational phase”. Under the current scenario, a third of the funding of the second phase was to have been provided by the Commission, and the remaining two thirds by the private consortium, which also obtained the operating contract for a period of 20 years, starting from 2010, for this European equivalent of the GPS. Mr Tiefensee declined to take position on the figures, explaining “that the presidency of the Council and the Commission have still to find economically advantageous solutions”, whilst “reducing the burden on the taxpayer”. The Commission is planning on reallocating the contract to member states and covering the whole of the budget needed for implementing the system (€3.4bn). A new call for tenders will be launched to candidate companies once the 30 system satellites are put into orbit. Supervision of the project will be overseen by the European Space Agency. Asked by journalists about the possible dissolution of the current consortium, the minister explained that the EU cannot allow any further delays and pointed out that the main aim was to “end negotiations before the end of 2007”. (aby)