Madam President, Commissioner, we are latecomers; time is running away from us and, above all, from the GALILEO project. The longer the European Union hesitates in getting the European satellite navigation system underway, the more both industry and the people will react to it with apathy. The ultimate danger is that GALILEO will one day be buried. My anxieties increase when I recall some of the statements made to me over the years when I worked on the European satellite navigation project. The position Parliament has taken with regard to the Commission's communication does not, admittedly, possess any legislative character, but points in an important direction. I hope that it will be by a large majority that Parliament will adopt my report tomorrow and thus support the position that Europe urgently needs a satellite navigation system of its own, not least in view of the special situation in which Europe and the rest of the world find themselves since 11 September. The Council also holds this fundamental view, as again confirmed by the final conclusions from Stockholm. How, though, may we clear away the doubts that surface again and again, even in the amendments before us? The fundamental issue is now as it was before: why do we need a European satellite navigation system of our own, when the Americans have already supplied a working model in the form of GPS? Let me quote some of the main arguments. The first is that the American system is conceived on military lines, with resultant disadvantages as regards continuity of availability, precision, and also legal certainty. What concerns us here is reliability, which must be guaranteed even in a crisis. It must be clear to all of us that Europe's sovereignty and security would be gravely imperilled if the navigation systems were to be taken out of European control. We quite evidently need our own civilian system which, however, must be available to all – and I emphasise all – potential users. I regret therefore that I am unable to support the amendments newly reintroduced by the Group, which demand a purely civilian use. Secondly: we are pressing for free competition not only within the EU, but also worldwide. It can, then, be only a cause for amazement if we readily accept a monopoly from a foreign State and expose our users to the risk of provision being less than optimal. We must commit ourselves to the best interests of our citizens and users. Thirdly: if the European Union were to do without its own system, it would fall back massively in the high technology sector. That can surely not be the intention. On the contrary, we want to see Europe at the top, and for that we need GALILEO. Fourthly: GALILEO creates employment in Europe. The jobs created are for the highly qualified and in a sector with a future, namely high technology. The building-up of the infrastructure and the many potential applications could create up to 100 000 jobs in the next few years and result in high earnings in the market. Why, then, is GALILEO vital for Europe? In my report, I have described at length the advantages and positive aspects for the various fields of application. These advantages become all the more convincing if we succeed in involving other countries in the project. For example, China expressed interest only recently, at the Brussels Summit. Europe is capable of developing its own system. We are not going to keep GALILEO, like a confection, for our own enjoyment, but will offer it to those of our partners who are willing to have it, and we will let those partners share in the great benefits. As we want to offer the best service possible, we set great store on compatibility with other systems from the outset. Industry is showing an interest, as demonstrated by the EUR 200 million pledged to the Commission as a statement of intent, but we must not make excessive demands on Europe's industry. The wheels of industry will not start rolling without a clear and definite political signal, a green light given by us. The preparatory work done by the Commission and the European Space Agency deserves high praise. Now, though, I await expectantly the Commission's financial and administrative framework, as called for in the report. This framework will be a further building block and a weight-bearing pillar for developing our own satellite navigation system. GALILEO is a Community project – incidentally, the first in this field, which makes it a vision for the future! Let us now, then, get to grips with it, instead of putting it off forever and a day, for GALILEO will revolutionise transport and mobility, just as the Internet has done. Success stories – of which we in Europe can already claim a few – require careful thought, courage and decisiveness. Let us make good use of this historic moment when we vote tomorrow!

Political group: PPE-DE