Galileo SatNav Funding Draws Cold EU Block Shoulders

You may recall reading about the funding troubles plaguing the European Union’s (EU) Galileo satellite in previous issues of SatNews… processes for an implementation to pay for this positioning system space vehicle continue to have trouble. A week after the EU proposed to pay for the satellite using the bloc’s joint budget to come with the needed 2.4 billion euros. From unused farm subsidies, 1.7 billion euros would be dedicated from the 2007 budget and 500 million euros next year. The remainder of the money would be acquired from funds originally earmarked for administering EU institutions that have been unspent.




The reservations from EU countries such as Germany, Spain, France, Britain and the Netherlands revolve around using farm subsidy funds, or juggling the accounts from which the funds would be drawn, or drawing money from the future when the budgets for services are still unknown as to the amount needed to continue programs. The next meeting in Luxembourg by EU transport ministers will give air to their thoughts on the EU plan. However, no decision is expected due to the amount of criticism the project has already received—Brussels, Belgium