Brussels, 29/11/2007 (Agence Europe): - Meeting in Council, the transport ministers of the EU were very close to agreement on the satellite radio navigation programme, Galileo, on Thursday 29 November. In order to allow certain member states (in particular the Germany, Italy and Spain) to resolve the details of the agreement and reach a balance between the future economic consequences and willingness to preserve what has been set in place already, particularly in the agreement between the industries in 2005 (distribution of ground control centres, construction of satellites, etc), the adoption of the conclusions was postponed on Thursday afternoon. At the time of going to press, these conclusions had still not been adopted.
The draft conclusions entitled “Launch of global European satellite navigation system” provide a definitive answer to questions on the ownership of the programme, its management and market share. The setting in place of the programme (in other words, the acquisition of the remaining 26 satellites, the creation of the ground control centre, purchase of launchers, etc) will be carried out on the basis of tendering procedures to be launched in six different areas. The governance of the system will also be revamped, in order to plug the legal gap which was created when, in May 2007, the idea that the programme could be managed in the framework of the public-private partnership collapsed (see EUROPE 9424). Galileo will be managed by the European Commission, whilst the conclusion of contracts will come under the competency of the European Space Agency (ESA). The commercialisation of the programme will revert to the supervisory authority (GSA). The European Commission is also to modify the regulation on the continuation and implementation of the EGNOS and Galileo programmes.
Governance. The ministers opted in favour of a single structure for the management of the programme, which will henceforth be public. The European Commission, as the manager of the European GNSS programmes, will take full responsibility for the management of the programme, delegating the conclusion of contracts to the European Space Agency (ESA). The agency will also become the main buyer for Galileo. The role of the supervisory authority (GSA), which was initially supposed to assume joint responsibility with the private consortium for the management of the programme, will instead provide the Commission with assistance in the implementation of programmes. In particular, it will be responsible for technical certification, safety accreditation, market preparations and commercialisation of the system. The Member States, which are to be “fully involved” in the management of the programme (particularly regarding the working programme, the setting in place of the programme and funding) will be represented within a European GNSS Programme Committee, which will be established by the new regulation. This Committee will assist the Commission in the application of the regulation, which will help to speed up the decision-making process and guarantee its uniformity.
The awarding of contracts is to be carried out under the rules of transparency and free competition (the operational phase will now be open to SMEs also). These calls for tender will be presented in six fields, in line with the Commission's proposal, which divided the system into six principal sections: satellite (26 in total), launchers, operations, ground relays, ground control centres, overall management. These sections will also have non-cumulation systems and sub-contracting rules: groups or entities taking part in the call for tenders can compete as a principal contractor for a maximum of two sections; at least 40% of the activity must be made available to companies without links to the main contractors. In order to ensure the greatest possible participation of European industry, the ministers have not ruled out the use of the principle of “double source”, which will allow two calls for tender to be launched in parallel for the same work in the same section, particularly for satellites. Amongst other things, this procedure would please the United Kingdom, which is in favour of a “maximum level of competition” in the satellite acquisition process, according to a diplomat) and Germany, which would like its industry to be guaranteed access to the satellite section. The agreement is also likely to please Spain, which several sources have indicated may be anxious to keep the ground control centre, which was guaranteed to Spain by the signature of an agreement between the industrial players of the consortium in 2005. The report received the support of France and the new Member States, which, due to the fact that the system is open to competition, may hope to see their companies taking part in what is now a Community-level project. (A.By.)