The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the financing Galileo, saying all
money must come from the European Union (EU) budget for the construction of the
system. The parliament asked the European Commission, the executive body of the EU,
to present a revised proposal for legislation on the financing of the Galileo program.
The parliament says it will oppose any solution which would combine EU funding
with additional inter-governmental funding. The parliament expressed concern at the
possibility that the additional financing necessary to fill the gap following the failure
of the public-private partnership could be agreed on an inter-governmental basis.
The parliament also believed that if the public sector assumes the complete
financing of the project, this factor should be taken into account in a future
revised concession contract, especially as regards the reimbursement
mechanism for public financial contributions and the prices of services.
Transport ministers from all 27 member states of the EU agreed earlier this
month to build Galileo by public funding. But they failed to agree on where
the funds should come from. The European Commission had to recommend
entire public funding for the construction phase of Galileo in May as infighting
in the eight-company consortium, which was picked to both build and manage
Galileo, has put the completion date in doubt. http://english.people.com.cn |
