Council resolution of 5 April 2001 on Galileo
Date: 2001-04-05
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, European Space Agency, co-financing, satellite, satellite communications

30.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 157/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 5 April 2001

on Galileo

(2001/C 157/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(cid:151) emphasises that the project must be developed on the basis

of a thorough analysis of costs and benefits,

Having regard to the Commission communication of 22
November 2000 and the results published to date of
the
definition phase initiated by the Council resolution of 19 July
1999 (1),

(cid:151) agrees in principle on aiming for a fully operating system

at the latest in 2008.

Considering that one of the strategic advantages of Galileo is
its contribution to the development of greater European
cohesion,

The Council agrees on the following arrangements that contain
launching the development
for
the necessary components
phase of the Galileo project as the next step:

(cid:151) refers to the conclusions by the European Council

in

Cologne, Feira, Nice and Stockholm,

(cid:151) draws attention to its resolution of 16 November 2000 on
a European space strategy, and to the European Space
Agency (ESA) resolution adopted on 20 December 2000
on the ESA’s contribution to Galileo,

(cid:151) points out that Galileo is a civil programme under civil

control,

(cid:151) considers it important for Europe to be independent in this

field, in view of:

(cid:151) the considerable prospects offered by the use of

navigation satellite technology,

(cid:151) the risks involved in the dependence of numerous
public and private activities on systems over which
Europe can have no control,

(cid:151) the advantages that this system will have to offer as
interoperability, complementarity

regards redundancy,
and guaranteed service,

1.
The Council agrees, under the conditions outlined in and
on the basis of the Commission communication of November
2000, that financing will be provided approximately equally by
Community appropriations and by the ESA. Financing up to
EUR 100 million for the year 2001 will be immediately
released
resolution in compliance with the
mechanisms of the Financial Regulation concerning the TEN.
A decision on the release of
the remaining (i.e. EUR 450
million) TEN’s budget appropriations will be taken by the
Council in December 2001 together with a decision to set up
an entity in charge of the management of the project.

after

this

Effective political control of Galileo and EGNOS (2) by
2.
the Community and the Member States must be guaranteed on
appropriate legal bases. The Commission, in close cooperation
with the ESA, must guarantee the unicity of the administration
and the financial control of the project. The involvement of
users fora, non-member countries and private partners must be
taken into account in its design. Practical arrangements should
guarantee balanced participation by all Member States in all
phases of the programme, so that it will have a truly European
dimension.

The establishment of the abovementioned entity in charge of
the project
the management,
administration and the financial control of the project. The

eventually needed for

is

(1) OJ C 221, 3.8.1999, p. 1.

(2) EGNOS: European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

30.5.2001

advantages and disadvantages of
the following options will
have to be analysed by the Council, be it a joint undertaking
following Article 171 of the Treaty establishing the European
Community, an agency or any other suitable formula, in the
light of the proposal the Commission is intending to present.
The Commission in close cooperation with the ESA will
submit proposals
its
organisation, its administration, its staff and its financing, to
the Council at the earliest opportunity, and the Council will
have to take a decision in December 2001.

in particular,

statutes and,

for

its

As soon as possible a temporary management structure will be
put into place by the Commission, in close cooperation with
the ESA, which will function until the establishment of the
entity in charge of the project. This temporary structure will
be made up of representatives of the Commission who will
guarantee the general coordination of the programme and the
ESA which will guarantee the technical set-up. It will work in
close cooperation with Member States through the ESA’s
Navigation Programme Board and the Commission’s Galileo
Steering Committee.

and

sound

All phases of the programme development will be based
3.
on transparent
financial management. The
European Council, at successive meetings, confirmed the aim
lastly in its
of securing finance largely from private sources,
conclusions of Stockholm, stating that the private sector is
required to take up the challenge with regard to participation
in and financing of the project through a binding commitment
for the deployment phase. Since private participation through
a public-private partnership is a fundamental element for the
success of the Galileo programme, the private sector must also
be involved in the execution and operation of the project in
order
efficiency and business
opportunities and to incorporate private funds through fair
risk sharing.

to maximise management

To that end, the Council invites the Commission:

a

global

statement

(cid:151) to draw up, in close cooperation with the ESA, a detailed
of missions
clear
definition initiative,
requirements, such as performances at least equivalent to
existing
(GNSS),
optimised interoperability and redundancy with other
integrity at all
systems, no common failure modes,
latitudes, compatibility with existing navigation systems, a
continuity of service in crisis situations, compatibility with
intellectual property rights mechanism by June 2001,

navigation

systems

satellite

(cid:151) to draw up a clear statement of project objectives in close
together with the ongoing
the cost benefit analysis,

cooperation with the ESA,
independent consolidation of
resulting in a report to the Council by June 2001,

and

that

they

flows

could

generate

enable the longer term development of the private sector
involvement in the project to identify the commercial and
public services to be provided by Galileo, to specify the
revenue
the
accompanying measures required to bring this about. This
will also help to clarify the conditions for the longer term
commitment by the private sector. The result of the tender
evaluation shall be available early in November 2001 to
serve as a basis for a decision by the Council before the
end of 2001. This decision shall also define the maximum
and
available Community funds
operational phases (1). Subject to that decision, the entity
in charge of the management of the Galileo project shall
non-discriminatory measures
take
necessary for
into a firm
the private sector
to enter
to participate in the
financial commitment allowing it
deployment phase before the end of 2003. The decision by
the Council to launch the deployment phase will, as agreed
by successive European Councils, require funding largely
by the private sector; in this context, the Council notes the
Commission’s opinion that during the operational phase
no contributions from Community funds will be required.

the deployment

transparent

and

for

The preliminary definition of

the services has to be
4.
endorsed by the Council
in June 2001 as an important
element of the initial tendering process. This definition should
also enable the development of the public-private partnership.
the services, after
The consolidation and final selection of
having consulted the relevant users fora, will be carried out to
define
the
characteristics, the cost and the conditions of financing. The
Council will take a decision not later than the end of 2003 on
service options in conjunction with a decision to enter the
deployment phase, taking into account the outcome of the
World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC).

the perimeter,

requirements

to be met,

the

The security of Galileo is an important element of the
5.
programme.
It must guarantee not only the continuity of
service required in certain application fields, such as those
affecting the safety of human life, but also those linked to
access restrictions or even access denials decided by civil
authorities in crisis situations. The related questions of legal
responsibility must be
specified. A preliminary
clearly
definition of the system’s required level of security and the
related cost will have to be submitted to the Council
for
examination and decided no later than the end of 2001
following the advice of the Galileo Steering Committee and the
Galileo System Security Board.

6.
Arrangements for the protection of personal privacy and
liberties against misuse linked with the use of localisation data
produced by the system must be defined and integrated into
the detailed definition of the project.

The Galileo system will be designed so that it provides
7.
homogeneous services over the entire territory of the Member

(cid:151) to launch, as soon as possible, a tendering process giving a
perspective of all the phases of the project in order to

(1) No Member State shall be obliged to contribute through additional

national funds.

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intensified with a view to reaching a satisfactory agreement as
soon as possible.

The Council encourages

9.
its
political control, of the contacts with non-member States that
are interested in contributing to the development of Galileo.

the continuation, under

Active preparations must be made for WRC 2003 in
10.
order
to consolidate the achievements of WRC 2000 by
establishing the appropriate common approach for the Galileo
spectrum.

11.
The progress of the programme will be the subject of
annual reports by the Commission to the Council. The first
such report will be submitted to the Council
in December
2001.

States of the Union, including the northern latitudes, by means
of satellites in medium earth orbit. The optimal integration of
EGNOS into the Galileo programme must be effected in close
collaboration with the EOIG (1) in accordance with a transition
programme that will be completed around 2015. To that end
a detailed proposal concerning the technical, operational,
financial and institutional aspects of that integration will have
to be submitted by the interested parties as soon as possible.
As long as necessary, separate financial arrangements for
Galileo and EGNOS have to be implemented.

8.
The compatibility and interoperability of Galileo and the
other satellite radio navigation systems (GPS and Glonass) must
be insured at user level in order to offer a better and more
robust service at world level by means of redundancy. The
discussions begun with the United States and Russia should be

(1) EOIG: EGNOS operators and infrastructure group.