EU taxpayers face €3bn bill for Galileo satellites

EUROPE’S taxpayers may have to fund the €3 billion Galileo satellite system after companies involved in a public-private partnership failed to agree this week.

The system, designed as an alternative to the US Department of Defence-controlled GPS (Global Positioning System), was to have been two-thirds funded by eight companies from Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

A spokesperson for EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said he would present a list of alternatives to the commission next Wednesday for getting the project on track. The consortium of companies had been given until yesterday to set up a joint company to run the project, but they failed to meet the deadline.

German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, representing the EU member states, said there was little hope that the consortium would end their infighting.

“Galileo is in a profound and serious crisis. We need to find an alternative solution,” he added.

He believed the current problems would delay the project by a year to 2012 but Mr Barrot’s spokesperson Michele Cercone said they believed they could still meet the start date of the end of 2010-2011.

Up to €1.4bn has been spent on the system and the total cost is expected to be around €3.5bn. It will have 30 satellites, but just one has been launched so far.

A strong campaign to discredit Galileo has also hindered its smooth development, but the EU says it is adamant that Europe needs its own system that will be more advanced and better than the US GPS. Currently the GPS system can be shut down for defence or other reasons by the US and they can also choose what areas of the world it operates in.