Luxembourg, 24/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - The majority of the 11 candidates cities that are seeking to host the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) agency centre withdrew from the race during the informal discussion held by the different EU27 transport departments on Thursday 24 June (EUROPE 23.06). The Czech minister for transport, Gustav Slamecka, informed the press that Germany (Munich), the Netherlands (Noordwijk) and the Czech Republic (Prague), considered as the most serious candidates “have openly expressed their interest”. He also pointed out that the Czech capital had the support of most member states, including that of France (which withdrew its Strasbourg candidacy) and the United Kingdom (which withdrew its Cardiff candidacy). Discussions will probably be continued during the Belgian Presidency of the Council (in the second half of 2010). The Council is also expected to approve the regulation amending the structure or the authority's governance soon (EUROPE 12th of June 2009). During the work group stage, member states managed to reach an agreement on the most contentious question involving the role of the European Commission at the Authority, which is now responsible for security questions on the programme. The Commission will have five votes at the security accreditation system committee, whereas the initial proposal set the number of votes as being equal to the total of member state representative votes. (A.By./transl.fl)