Brussels, 17/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Coreper has confirmed funding of €6.3 billion for European satellite radio navigation systems over the 2014-2020 programming period. On Wednesday 17 April, member states' representatives to the EU approved the draft regulation defining funding and governance for Galileo and EGNOS on the basis of the agreement reached between Parliament and the Council.
The €6.3 billion will therefore be entirely funded from the EU budget and should allow conclusions of the Galileo deployment phase - installation of space and terrestrial infrastructure - as well as helping to begin Galileo and EGNOS operations (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service). This envelope may, however, be subject to revision depending on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020.
The draft regulation redefines the radio navigation programmes and services they provide and distributes the different tasks involved in this project between the Commission, the European GNSS agency and the European Space Agency. Rules on public procurement are also set out in order to ensure fair competition and broad participation throughout the EU.
Compromises were reached so that the development of applications on the satellite radio navigation system can receive funding of up to €100 million and that the EGNOS extended to cover other regions in the world.
The European Parliament and Council now have to give their formal approval to this agreement on the draft regulation. (MD/transl.fl)