Commission to reconsider Galileo satellite-navigation project 

In a letter to the German Presidency, Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot expresses serious concerns regarding the success of Galileo, the biggest-ever EU project: "I consider that the delay so far accumulated and the absence of any sign of progress on the negotiation of the concession contract must now be considered as risk for the delivery of the project in the timeline that we envisaged. Moreover, we have to fear significant cost increases which could go well beyond the foreseen budget." 

The 20-year funding contract between the eight companies of the current Galileo Eurely/iNavSat consortia (AENA, Alcatel, EADS, Finmeccanica, Hispasat, TeleOp and Thales) was originally set for signature in 2005, but is currently envisaged only at the end of 2008. 

In his letter, Barrot gives the consortia until 10 May 2007 to get a single Galileo operating company structure in place and its chief executive appointed - official signature of the terms of the contract should take place by 15 September 2007. If the private sector is not able to reach these deadlines, the Commission expects "the Council to provide the Commission with a clear political mandate to review the situation". 

"I do not exclude that we may have to revisit some fundamental aspects of our earlier assumptions and approach.. A number of options are available for such alternatives and I would not want to exclude any of them at this stage. My objective is to ensure excellence, value for money, affordability and avoid further delays as much as possible," Barrot added.

He is set to present an assessment to the June 2007 Transport Council as to whether the current negotiations can reasonably be completed and under what conditions, as well as an assessment of reasonable alternatives for delivering the project "based on a detailed technical, financial, program management review".