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Continuation of the GALILEO project: the Commission underlines the need for rapid decisions
Reference:  IP/00/1336    Date:  22/11/2000
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IP/00/1336

Brussels, 22 November 2000

Continuation of the GALILEO project: the Commission underlines the need for rapid decisions

The Commission today adopted a Communication to mark the end of the definition phase of GALILEO, the European satellite navigation project for civil uses. "Galileo will provide Europe with a safe and powerful tool for developing new services: positioning in transport, telemedicine, tagging of prisoners in law enforcement, or application of fertiliser in farming. The policy decisions to be taken by the Transport Council on 20 December next are vital if these prospects are to become reality." Mrs Loyola de Palacio, Vice-President of the Commission responsible for energy and transport, said.

GALILEO is Europe's satellite navigation programme. Radionavigation by satellite allows anyone with a receiver to determine their position very accurately at any time by picking up signals emitted by several satellites.

This technology, with its infinite number of applications, exists in the United States in the form of the GPS system and in Russia in the form of the GLONASS system. It is still financed and monitored by the military authorities in both countries. The extension to and quality of civil use depend, therefore, on these military authorities who, for example, can stop or degrade the signal at any time.

At present anyone can obtain a GPS receiver, at a very modest price, that will show them their position on the road, at sea or in the mountains, but with no guarantee of accuracy or continuity of service.

The GALILEO programme, as presented by the Commission and supported by the European Council, the Council and the European Parliament, will be operated and controlled by civilians. Development is proposed in four phases: definition in 2000, development and validation by 2005, deployment by 2007 and operation and use thereafter.

The Communication the Commission adopted today presents the results of the definition phase of GALILEO that it has undertaken together with the European Space Agency. It confirms the strategic and economic interest of the programme and proposes to the Transport Council on 20 December next that it be continued in 2001, although accompanied by a number of conditions that are indispensable to the success of GALILEO:

  • Deployment of the European Union's own satellite constellation. This is a prerequisite for the EU's independence in the field of satellite navigation. It would be made up of 30 satellites in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of some 23 000 kilometres.

  • Guarantee of sufficient financing by 2007. Cost-benefit studies show GALILEO to be profitable and sufficiently attractive for public financing in the form of subsidies not to be needed after 2007.

    • However, financing based on public subsidies (€1.1 billion) will be indispensable for the development and validation phase (2001-2005). This has already been scheduled, with 50% each from the budgets of the Community and the European Space Agency. There will be no need to seek additional public funding.

    • Investment from the private sector to the tune of €1.5 billion will be needed for the deployment phase (20062007) (€2.1 billion), which will consist of constructing and launching the satellites as well as establishing the terrestrial infrastructure network. A public-private partnership will have to be set up for this purpose on completion of the development and validation phase.

  • Provision of an adequate legal and financial framework. This has to be established as soon as possible in order to attract the private financing needed to operate GALILEO:

    • Creation as from 2001 of a provisional, coordinated management structure for the GALILEO project involving the Commission and the European Space Agency.

    • Creation at the earliest of a single, definitive management structure with an investment budget combining all the funds earmarked for the project.

    • Provision of this structure with supervision over EGNOS,(1) the precursor of GALILEO.

      (1)Egnos is a satellite radio navigation system that relies on the American GPS and the Russian Glonass and monitors their integrity, i.e. it warns the user in a very short space of time of any malfunction that could affect the quality of the signal relayed by geostationary satellites.