Eurocontrol Technics Ord EUCTF

RE:RE:Atlantic Council – Video Presentation

[PoorOpinion]

eh! you little tease. Plz another tip on the deadline change plz

kidl2 wrote: Fascinating how we can read or listen to the same thing and yet choose to only pay attention to certain parts / interpret them completely differently and thus end up with different conclusions.
 
Judging by the comments, (some?) people only heard “Huge global problem requiring more study leading to a global approach / resolution” while I heard “A global approach / resolution can only be derived from a number of small(ish) country, regional or oil industry projects”.
 
As far as the often talked about but (to most) largely illusive EC tender goes ... Comments during the panel are so far the closest we have come to a confirmation that SICPA/GFI is participating in this tender. Given the timing of the GFI purchase and the subsequent 3 months extension of the EC tender submissions, it was all but confirmed a year ago that SICPA is a participant. BTW, information / timing details about this tender, while not widely publicized, are available. Disclosing more than that on a forum like this wouldn’t be fair to those who have invested considerable time digging up documents / drilling down through the nothing short of amazing layers of EC bureaucracy but I will say this: A previously thought of hammered in stone Jan 01/17 deadline was moved but not by much. The EC has also openly acknowledged that the currently used dye based marker (BASF) has outlived its usefulness as it’s too easily manipulated. It’s also clear by now that the decision whether or not to replace this dye based marker with new (molecular) technology will in the end be a political and not a commercial one despite the known and staggering tax revenue losses within the EU.
 
One could now enter into a largely philosophical argument whether or not there is any (enough) willingness within the EU to tackle such a mammoth project while trying to sort out the Brexit issue which no doubt will alter the EU’s (tax, duty etc) revenue model. Logic would dictate that the creation of a new border would come with added emphasis on controlling the cross border flow of goods such as oil / gasoline / diesel but then again, how often does logic come into play in politics?
 
Lastly, I think it’s important to acknowledge that the outcome of this EC tender is by no means the deciding factor in the success or failure of the SICPA deal while obtaining the afore mentioned and so far elusive country / regional deals is. It’s imo worth noting that we seem to be in some sort of contract award lull. I say “we” because according to my (limited)  information, our main competitor, Authentix, hasn’t scored either in the last year or so. Not only has Authentix not scored but there is actually some evidence that their long standing relationship with German based SGS might not be as solid as it used to be. Indications for this can be found in SGS’s 1^st half 2016 financial reports. Aside from that, we also know (from media /  public documents) that a few countries are in the final selection process for new fuel marking contracts.
 
A short message for those who are contemplating asking me or others to produce evidence / supporting documentation:
Start using your brain and your keyboard. That’s how we found it and that’s how you will have to find it.
A tip: Google search alone will not get you there.