Memorandum from the Department for Transport
(GAL 01)
GALILEO
At the meeting on 18 July between Mrs Dunwoody
and Rosie Winterton to discuss the Galileo programme it was agreed
that DfT would provide some further information, including:
— a summary of costs to the public
sector of the Galileo programme;
— details of the points the Government
is making to the Commission and other Member States about the
issues that need to be addressed before a decision can be taken
about the way forward on the Galileo programme;
— a copy of the updated UK Galileo
cost benefit study completed by ESYS consulting for BNSC in 2005;
and
— details of the work being done on
downstream applications for Galileo.
GALILEO PROJECT
COSTS
Details of the costs to date of Galileo programme
and previous estimates for the deployment phase (under the PPP
assumption) are set out in the note at Annex A. Information on
the Commission's estimates of the potential costs of the options
identified for taking forward the project following the failure
of the PPP negotiations are set out in two Commission documents[1]
(which Mrs Dunwoody already has):
— Galileo at a cross-road: the implementation
of the European GNSS programmes—COM (2007)261 final, and
— The Commission Staff Working Document—SEC(2007)624.
The key estimates from these documents are summarised
in the note at Annex A.
CONTACTS WITH
COMMISSION AND
OTHER MEMBER
STATES
Since the June Transport Council, DfT officials
have had a range of meetings with Commission officials responsible
for the Galileo project and with officials from other Member States
to discuss the way forward on the project. I attach at Annex B
a note summarising the key points put to Commission officials
and at Annex C a summary of the points being raised with other
Member States. We expect to have further meetings during August
and September to discuss any emerging proposals from the Commission.
UK GALILEO COST
BENEFIT STUDY
A copy of the updated ESYS 2005 UK Galileo cost
benefit analysis is enclosed. [2]The
study makes a number of references to the benefits of Galileo
for a potential national congestion charging scheme. This does
not represent Government policy as no decisions have been taken
on whether to proceed with the introduction of national road user
charging or on the technology that might be used to support such
a scheme. Nor does HMG support the mandatory use of Galileo services
for any downstream applications as we do not accept that decisions
on policy and service provision should be technology driven.
DOWNSTREAM APPLICATIONS
FOR GALILEO
A wide range of work has been funded under FP6
on potential downstream applications for Galileo. A covering paper
together with a list and description of the three calls made under
FPG is at Annex D. [3]The
list of the 2nd and 3rd call for FP6 can also be accessed at http:ec.europa.eu/transport/gsa/rd.html£fp6_3rd.
There are no FP7 projects as yet. The 1st call
should be launched in October 2007 with successful bids/ projects
announced in early 2008. A gap analysis will be undertaken in
the first quarter of 2008 to consider the outcome of FP6 and the
2007 call together with the responses to the Commission Green
Paper on applications, and to make recommendations on indicative
topics for the second call.
For further information on GSA-led Galileo R&D
programmes you should contact:
Mr Pedro Pedreira
Executive Director
European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA)
Rue de la loi 56
Office 8/6
B-1049 Brussels
Belgium
OTHER ISSUES
Mrs Dunwoody also asked. for an early sight
of the Governments views on the Commission's proposals on Galileo
prior to the October Transport Council and for an assessment of
the industrial and other benefits to the UK from proceeding with
the project. My Minister is happy to provide Mrs Dunwoody with
a copy of the updates that the Government expects to make to the
Scrutiny Committees as soon as further information is formally
made available from the Commission. We will also look carefully
at what assessments we might make of potential benefits to the
UK in the light of whatever information the Commission is able
to provide about potential procurement routes and deployment timescales.
August 2007
1 Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy_transport/galileo/whatsnew/index_en.htm Back
2
Not printed Back
3
Not printed Back
| 
