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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 28 April 2021 (HL15095), 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 whether they have any plans 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 which would have equated to €30-€35 million per year. 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. The negotiations on EGNOS concluded in December 2020 and there are no plans to reopen the discussions on this matter.