THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
A model for the development of future European strategic projects
by Patrick Bellouard, President of EuroDéfense France, Paris
T
he European satellite navigation system Galileo is a symbol for European Union strategic autonomy. It is also a competitiveness tool for Europe now in service. When the European Union Member States (MS) agreed in December 2007 on the strategic importance of such a system for the future of society, they decided to launch the Galileo programme as a civil one. Galileo constitutes the only credible alternative to the monopolistic civil-military US Global Positioning System (GPS). The other two existing satellite radio navigation systems, the Russian GLONASS, operational again since 2014, and the Chinese Beidou, currently in the deployment phase, have been developed, like the GPS initially, for military purposes.
Major stakes for Europe The importance of global positioning systems for society will continue to increase considerably in the future, although the real impact on the functioning of society is not well known. GPS signals (time and position) are more and more used in all sectors – banks, telecommunications, energy, transports, intelligent infrastructures, health, logistics, cartography, agriculture, security, defence, etc. – without forgetting personal mobility of course. Political challenge The first challenge for Europe is political: although interoperable with the GPS, Galileo will provide Europe with autonomy
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and security in this domain. GPS and Galileo interoperability will benefit users, but interoperability does not mean dependence: for the Galileo system, Europe has decided to control all requested technologies, refusing any cooperation (with China in particular) which could have reduced the security of the system. New services Galileo will also have a huge impact on our everyday life: thanks to its precision, time reference, service guarantee and integrity, Galileo will allow the development of a new generation of services, not only in the domain of transports, but also in many others. Economic challenge The economic challenge is also very important. More than 7% of the European economy depends today on these systems: smart phone applications (more than 50 %), transports (40 %), infrastructure works (5%) and agriculture (2 %). It can be noted that the VAT on the sale of receptors in Europe can easily finance the billion Euros which must be invested every year in the replacement of satellites and maintenance of the Galileo system. Technological and industrial development Finally, like Airbus and Ariane, the Galileo project will contribute to technological and industrial development in Europe. The Galileo experience could eventually constitute a model for
photo: ESA/ J. Huart
Galileo – a European achievement
