Brussels, 23/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - At the request of the Czech Republic, EU transport ministers will, over lunch on Thursday 24 June, discuss where the headquarters of the Galileo Supervisory Authority (GSA) is to be located (see EUROPE 10165). The Czech Republic, given its long space tradition, has for many years sought to house the GSA headquarters, putting Prague forward as a potential host city. A building has already been earmarked and the city of Prague will lease it for €1 per month over the first five years. Prague has pointed out that, by virtue of two European Council decisions (in December 2003 and in 2008), priority should be given to the new member states when deciding on the headquarters of Community agencies, yet of the candidates declared in 2006 (see below), the Czech Republic is the only one which currently does not have an agency. In December 2006, 11 cities declared themselves candidates for housing the GSA - Athens, Barcelona, Brussels, Cardiff, Ljubljana, Munich, Noordwijk, Prague, Rome, Strasbourg and Valetta. Since no agreement could be reached among ministers, the Commission kept all candidacies. There are two possibilities for determining where headquarters of agencies are located: either by inter-governmental decision by member states (outside the EU context) or by a Transport Council decision, taken on the basis of a Commission proposal seeking to amend the basic regulation (Regulation 683/2008 for the GSA). (A.By./transl.rt)