Brussels, 16/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - In the best case scenario, the European Commission will launch its first call for offers on applications of the Galileo satellite radio navigations system in July. Before that, however, some matters have to be resolved beginning with the publication of the regulation on the pursuit of the implementation of the European satellite radio navigation (GNSS) programmes EGNOS and Galileo. This regulation will officially set up: - the Galileo committee (which will assist the Commission in putting the programme in place); - the Galileo Inter-institutional Panel (GIP) agreed on by the European Parliament and the Council in April (see EUROPE 9635): - the multi-annual contract determining the share of responsibilities between the European Commission, which is responsible for the programme, and the European Space Agency (ESA), the main contractor. This shows that, despite reaching political agreement, Galileo is far from being put into orbit.
The publication of the regulation in the Official Journal of the EU, expected for the start of July, will de facto unblock the EGNOS and Galileo set-up procedure. After publication and a number of other technical adjustments (such as setting up the GIP, approval of the Galileo rules of procedure by the Parliament, the choice of assurer by the programme's supervisory authority, etc.), the Commission will be in a position to conclude the multi-annual contract with the ESA. This signing, planned for July, will, in principle, be followed immediately by the launch of the call for tenders. The action plan for Galileo applications could be presented at the end of the year.
At this point, it is expected that the efforts of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU will be concentrated on finalising the EGNOS system, which, as a precursor of Galileo, will be used to test the whole system and check application. EGNOS could be fully operational (i.e. emitting reliable signals) before 1 April 2009, following finalisation of the certification process for its operator (ESSP SAS). This certification process will, firstly, refer to the operator's responsibilities for “safety-of-life” applications in civil aviation. The certification process will be approved in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and the European Single Sky regulation. It is expected the process will be completed by March 2009.
Addressing the Parliament at the public hearing organised by Jan Hudacky (EPP-ED, Slovakia) on Thursday 12 June, Raymond Rosso, who is responsible for the inter-ministerial coordination of the Galileo programme in France, said he hoped that an operating company EGNOS (ESSP SAS) would be set up in July 2008. As soon as that is done, the European Commission and ESSP will be able to sign agreements on the groups in charge of putting the infrastructure in place and the contract between the EU and ESSP on the why the system will operate and be maintained. This last contract could be signed before the end of the year.
On behalf of the French Presidency of the EU, Rosso said that Paris would keep a close eye on the creation of a liability framework for the services of EGNOS applicable to other sectors than civil aviation. “France has raised the issue of the liability (of the system) on several occasions, but, for the moment, has not received a reply,” Rosso said. Among the French Presidency's other objectives set out by Rosso were the “immediate” signing of an agreement between Switzerland and Norway, allowing these two countries which “are ESA members, which have taken part in the IOV stage (in orbit validation of the system) and which are directly involved”, to take part in the phase when Galileo is put into application (FOC phase). He also said that France would work on harmonising intellectual property rights between the ESA and the EU which, in this area, “don't have the same rules”. In response to questions, Rosso noted that during the validation and development phase of Galileo, ESA was the main contractor for the system and that property rights “were a matter for ESA rules”. For the new phase, however, that was a need to move to EU rules, he said. What separates the two institutions is the funding principle. The ESA applies the principle of fair return (which ensures a fair return on monies invested), the EU prefers investment liberalisation, which is not necessarily to the taste of the states which have long been involved in the GNSS. (A.By/ttnasl.rt)