Brussels, 28/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) will be extended to include Ukraine, announced the European Commission on Wednesday 27 November. A joint statement was signed by European Commissioner for Industry Antonio Tajani and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, in Brussels the same day. Satellite navigation services are expected to be improved as a result of this, which will also provide a boost to the trade prospects of European and Ukrainian SMEs. Commissioner Tajani, however, stated that these advantages depended on signing the EU-Ukraine Association agreement currently the source of great debate (see EUROPE 10971). He insisted that “it will be necessary to sign this agreement, which includes the setting up of a free-trade zone because it is precisely the issue of industrial cooperation that will be strengthened and the Ukrainian space industry will also be able to have unfettered access to European Union markets”. EGNOS technology corrects satellite data provided by the US GPS system and therefore provides greater accuracy. (MD/transl.fl)