Brussels, 19/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - On the fringes of an information day on the European satellite global tracking system, GALILEO, on Tuesday, Commissioner Loyola de Palacio warned that if the first concrete results cannot be submitted to the radio communications conference this summer, frequencies might be lost. The radio frequencies for GALILEO in the future are vital since they are the system's competitive advantage, explains a European expert. Which is why the Commissioner said one cannot wait and the Commission would begin without the ESA, hoping it would follow as soon as possible. She was addressing captains of industry at the information day (see Europe of 14 March, p.10). The two institutions are partners in GALILEO, each providing EUR 550 million in funding, ESA (the European Space Agency) dealing with the technical details. The Commission said that if the deadlock at the ESA were not rapidly overcome, it could compromise the scheduled year (2008) for GALILEO being up and running. She said Europe cannot afford to abandon a programme like GALILEO, criticising Member States (Italy and Germany not mentioning them by name) whose disagreements were holding up the release of the EUR 550 million funding from the ESA.
The Commission said that negotiations were at a very advanced stage with the United States on the interoperability of the US's GPS system with GALILEO and the two sides might sign an agreement very soon.