Participation in the GALILEO project is a chance to develop Ukraine’s aerospace industry

On 7 June 2006, the European Commission adopted a communication on and an updated timetable for implementing the GALILEO civil satellite radionavigation program. To promote the use of satellite navigation and to involve the public in the discussion of this issue, the European Commission plans to publish a Green Paper on applications of the GALILEO program at the end of 2006. Already at this stage, Ukraine should take an active part in the process of building the European satellite network, thinks Project Manager of the International Centre for Policy Studies Oleksandr Liakh.

The European project GALILEO has a large economic potential. According to preliminary estimates, implementation of this project will create 150,000 high-skilled jobs in Europe alone. It is expected that the annual volume of global market of satellite navigation systems will reach EUR 275bn by 2020. The GALILEO system will provide opportunities to support a broad base of services: traffic control, collection of motorway toll fees, rescue systems, etc.

The Ukraine–EU agreement on cooperation in the area of civil satellite navigation systems was signed during the Ukraine–EU Summit on 1 December 2005. This agreement established political and legal framework for potential cooperation that will make it possible for Ukraine:

·         to maintain and develop its hi-tech sectors—space, radio industries and so on—and to create new jobs in these sectors;

·         to attract the EU funds allocated by the 7th Framework Program for research and applied studies;

·         to have an opportunity to directly participate in identifying the GALILEO program development policy and in the GALILEO’s regulatory authority;

·         to full-fledgedly integrate into the European program, which will be another serious step in Ukraine’s integration into the EU.

Although the fact of signing this agreement is regularly mentioned in speeches of Ukrainian officials as a noticeable event in the relations between Ukraine and the EU, so far, no real steps have been taken to “capitalize” these opportunities. Specifically, the draft Concept of the National Space Program for 2007–2011 mentions the GALILEO program only within the “Navigation” project in the context of setting up “ground-based differentiated sub-system for position, time and navigation support.” Other Government program documents also leave Ukraine’s possible participation in this project without any attention.

In the opinion of the ICPS specialist, to use the opportunities that Ukraine gained through the agreement that was signed on 1 December 2005, it makes sense:

·         to include steps related to participation in the GALILEO program into the final version of the National Space Program. Specifically, such steps as the involvement in research financed by the EU’s 7th Framework Program;

·         to resolve the issue of Ukraine’s membership in the GALILEO’s Supervisory Authority. For this purpose, Ukraine must allocate funds in the State Budget to make a contribution to the statutory fund. This EUR 10–40mn should not be viewed as expenditures, but as investment that will return in the form of orders for Ukrainian scientific institutions and entrepreneurs and in the form of contributions into joint ventures;

·         to analyze the needs and to launch activities to harmonize the national legislation with the EU’s legislation on the use of satellite navigation systems;

·         to consider the possibilities of using the GALILEO project in plans for the development of transport infrastructure, monitoring systems and traffic control system for land, air and sea transport in line with transport-related initiatives of the EU (in the context of Ukraine’s integration into Pan-European transport networks and the Single European Sky).