Brussels, 15/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Rules on the public regulated service (PRS) of Galileo, the European satellite navigation system, were approved on Tuesday 13 September by the Parliament (556 votes to 71 and 30 abstentions). The vote in favour opens the road for the service to be launched as of 2014, if the Council follows the Parliament's position.
The navigation service, which uses highly robust encrypted signals, allows the most accurate positioning possible and hence a lower risk of error in guidance. The advantages of PRS are all the more valuable in times of crisis, as explained by Commissioner Antonio Tajani, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship: “We need to ensure that key services, such as rescue and emergency services, continue to function in moments of crisis, terrorist threat or natural disaster.”
The service will therefore not be intended for the public at large but for authorised users such as the police or military, and in highly specific cases where precision and reliability are needed: critical infrastructure, traffic, defence, security and emergency services. The rules adopted provide for a series of conditions for the use of PRS so that only the governments of member states can nominate users that meet these requirements (companies, authorities and persons authorised by the participants to manufacture, own or use a PRS receiver). Each member state must use its discretion when deciding the potential uses of the service, and must appoint a competent PRS authority to manage and supervise all authorised users. The Commission believes the PRS will be to the profit of industry, thanks to the production of receivers, and that it will also provide significant advantages to citizens who will have better emergency services. (MD/transl.jl)