ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of the trans-European network (TEN) priority projects from 1990 and the case for investing in common infrastructures as a tool for growth. It posits that the emergence of EU space policy programmes such as Galileo must be understood in the context of developments in large European infrastructure projects in the field of transport, energy and telecoms, first proposed in 1990 and agreed in 1994. The first revision of the trans-European transport network priority projects (TEN-Ts) in 2004 led to the expansion from 14 to 30 priority projects. By incorporating Galileo within TENs, satellite navigation became an integral part of EU transport policy. Arguably, without advances first made in policy-making for terrestrial infrastructures, there would not have been the political climate or consensus to invest in common space infrastructures. It is important therefore to analyse the context of TENs and how they were framed to fully understand the development of Galileo over time. As for the emergence of TENs, the chapter looks at how TENs were framed by an entrepreneurial Commission as being a policy solution that would contribute to the physical completion of the Single Market and to complement the removal of non-fiscal and technical barriers elsewhere.
