Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial contribution the EU requested for the UK to continue to access to the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service Safety of Life service; how the request compared with the UK’s previous contributions; how they assessed value for money in view of its impact on aviation; and what plans they have to renegotiate access to this service.

The UK sought to negotiate a service access agreement on the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) with the EU. However, the EU required participation in the programme along with the full associated costs of participation, as per previous years, for continued access to the EGNOS Safety of Life service. For all programmes under consideration, the Government was clear it would only participate where the terms were in the UK’s interests, and in this case, it was not considered value for money.

Officials in the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority have been working with the aviation sector on understanding the impact and ensuring any available mitigations are put in place. The UK is also developing a national strategy for resilient position, navigation and timing through a dedicated programme of work which will consider the aviation sectors’ needs and requirements.

The negotiations on EGNOS concluded in December and given the clear position from the EU, there are no plans to reopen discussions on this matter.