Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the costs of (1) developing an independent UK GPS system, and (2) continued participation in the EU Galileo project.
Answered by Lord Henley
The initial analysis undertaken in partnership with UK industry concluded that a UK Global Navigation Satellite System could cost between £3-5 billion over a ten-year build phase. In August, my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister tasked the UK Space Agency, with the full support of the Ministry of Defence, to develop options and set aside £92m for the necessary Engineering and Design studies to refine and test these initial estimates.
If the UK wished to participate in the Galileo project from 2020 this would be a matter for future negotiations, as it would be for all programmes. Member States do not contribute to individual EU programmes but to the EU budget as a whole. The UK’s financing share of the EU budget is based on a number of elements, such as the UK rebate and our customs duties transfers to the EU and fluctuates with changes to the levels and types of EU spending. It therefore not possible to estimate future contributions to specific EU Programmes.
Asked by: Lord Bowness (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of leaving the EU on businesses that trade with the EU, and what guidance they have given to affected businesses about how they might communicate that impact.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Her Majesty’s Treasury published a comprehensive analysis of benefits and costs of membership of a reformed EU and the alternatives on 18 April. This included boxes detailing the impact of EU membership on key business sectors such as financial services, aerospace and pharmaceuticals.
According to this analysis, key sectors would be worse off due to reduced access to the Single Market. For example, losing customs-free movement of goods could cause customs delays. In time-sensitive industries, each hour of customs delay can reduce trade by 5%. Treasury analysis also provides a sectoral breakdown of the 3.3 million jobs which are linked to trade with the EU.
The Prime Minister has spoken about the benefits of EU membership at a number of businesses throughout the UK. The transcripts of these are available on the gov.uk website.