Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

UK to Demand EU Repayment in Brexit Satellite Row

posted by janrinok on Friday May 25 2018, @09:19PM   Printer-friendly
from the one-step-forward,-two-steps-back dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Britain ramped up a Brexit space row with the EU on Thursday, saying it will demand repayment if it is excluded from the Galileo satellite navigation project. Newspaper reports suggested London could seek £1 billion ($1.34 billion, 1.14 billion euros) in compensation for its investment in the programme.

Brussels has said it will deny London access to Galileo's encrypted signals after Brexit, citing legal issues about sharing sensitive security information with a non-member state.

A report issued by Britain's Department for Exiting the European Union said it had "strong objections" to being frozen out of the 10-billion-euro programme and called for an "urgent resolution to the exclusion". "Should the UK's future access be restricted, the UK's past contribution to the financing of space assets should be discussed," the report said. The British report suggested it may have to reopen negotiations on the £39 billion (40-45 billion euros) Brexit "divorce bill" that was agreed in December to make up for its exclusion. It said the deal agreed then had provided for Britain's continued involvement in the Galileo programme, which has important uses in both the civilian and military fields.

[...] Britain played a major role in developing Galileo, an alternative to the US's GPS, which is expected to be fully operational in 2026. It demands continued British access to the secure signal and a right to compete for contracts. Britain is looking into developing its own, separate system if the EU maintains its position, and has also raised the question of Galileo's use of Britain's overseas territories as monitoring bases.

[...] The Times newspaper reported Thursday that the decision to block Britain was being led by a "German-backed clique" in the European Commission, and that it had caused a rift with French officials, who were reportedly unhappy with the plan. Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the Baltic states have also objected to denying Britain access, said the report.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
UK to Demand EU Repayment in Brexit Satellite Row | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 54 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday May 26 2018, @11:37AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday May 26 2018, @11:37AM (#684469) Journal

    The Brexiteers claim the EU is bullying the UK by excludng the UK from the core Galileo functons only available to EU members.

    Is that what is going on? Looks to me like the Brexiteers are claiming something different [ft.com]:

    Please use the sharing tools found via the email icon at the top of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. [ft.com] https://www.ft.com/content/ff5bbc0c-3120-11e8-b5bf-23cb17fd1498 [ft.com] When competitors smell weakness, they go on the attack. Brexit has Europe’s space industry scenting an opportunity to lock UK companies out of the EU’s €10bn Galileo satellite navigation project, according to senior British executives.

    The environment is “hyena-like. People are picking at the UK workshare”, Richard Peckham, outgoing chairman of UKspace, the industry trade body, told a House of Lords sub-committee hearing this month. “It is like a feeding frenzy.”

    News on Monday that Brussels will no longer include the UK in post-Brexit plans for Galileo’s highly encrypted public regulated service, and that British companies were being excluded from lucrative tenders on future projects as a result, had government and industry crying foul.

    That would be along the lines of my first post on this.