Structures for the management of European satellite radio-navigation programmes (Extract from press release on the Transport Council of 12 October)

Brussels, 12 Oct 2006

The Council reached a general approach on a proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1321/2004 on the establishment of structures for the management of European satellite radio navigation programmes, pending the adoption by the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee of their respective opinions.

The proposal is aimed at enabling the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (Supervisory Authority) to complete the development phase of the Galileo programme after the winding up of the Galileo Joint Undertaking.

The Supervisory Authority was set up by Council Regulation (EC) No 1321/2004 , and its task is to ensure the management of public interests relating to the European satellite radionavigation programmes Egnos 1 and Galileo, and to act as regulatory authority in this connection during the deployment and operational phases of the Galileo programme.

The Supervisory Authority is, in particular, the licensing authority vis à vis the private concession holder for the system, with which it will conclude the concession contract. The two systems, Egnos and Galileo, will be owned by the Supervisory Authority and their ownership will remain entirely public: only the management of the deployment and operation phases will be awarded to the concession holder, for a period of about twenty years. In addition, the Supervisory Authority will be the owner of all the tangible and intangible assets which are transferred to it from the Galileo Joint Undertaking on completion of the development phase and which may be created or developed by the concession holder during the deployment and operation phases.

1 The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is Europe's first venture into satellite navigation. It is a joint project of the European Space Agency, the European Commission and Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. It is Europe's contribution to the first stage of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and is a precursor to Galileo.

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