Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1882 of 10 July 2024 amending Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/224 setting out the technical and operational specifications allowing the commercial service offered by the system established under the Galileo programme to fulfil the function referred to in Article 2(4)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards the free provision of a signal authentication service
Date: 2024-07-10
Institutions: Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space, European Commission
Subjects: European GNSS Agency, International Telecommunication Union, confidentiality, satellite communications, satellite navigation, service, technical specification








L_202401882EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2024/1882


11.7.2024







            COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION (EU) 2024/1882
of 10 July 2024
         
amending Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/224 setting out the technical and operational specifications allowing the commercial service offered by the system established under the Galileo programme to fulfil the function referred to in Article 2(4)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards the free provision of a signal authentication service


THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,


Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/696 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing the Union Space Programme and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme and repealing Regulations (EU) No 912/2010, (EU) No 1285/2013 and (EU) No 377/2014 and Decision No 541/2014/EU (1), and in particular Article 47, point (d) thereof,

Whereas:







(1)


The technical and operational specifications set out in the Annex to Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/224 (2) provide that the general specifications of the commercial service (‘CS’) envisage a CS high accuracy service and a reinforced authentication capacity (‘CS authentication’) accessible subject to a fee ‘depending on the pricing policy in force’.












(2)


Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/224 was amended by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/321 (3) to offer the CS high accuracy service for free and maximise the public benefits of Galileo.












(3)


No ‘pricing policy’ has been defined or enforced, given that a fee-paying access to CS authentication is expected to slow down the development of the applications required to use that service and hinder the growth of economic activities based on satellite navigation systems, particularly within the Union. It could also hinder penetration of global markets given that other navigation systems have shared plans for developing free signal authentication services.












(4)


At the time being, the core infrastructure required for providing a free authentication service is already in place. However, this is not the case for a fee-based authentication service, which would require an additional infrastructure to be deployed to charge and control the access of the users to the authentication service.












(5)


The fee-based authentication service, as originally conceived, required a ‘Commercial Service Provider’ in charge of managing the authentication service user base, and in addition to the ‘system operating manager’. This ‘Commercial Service Provider’ is not anymore required with the proposed Amendment.












(6)


The fee-based authentication service, as originally conceived, required the use of private cryptographic keys in the end user receiver, while the proposed free authentication service relies only on public cryptographic keys, making its use simpler for the users. This simplification is reflected in the modified technical and operational specifications.












(7)


Article 45(1), point (c) of Regulation (EU) 2021/696 defines a signal authentication service, based on the encrypted codes contained in the signals, intended mainly for satellite navigation applications for professional or commercial use, but does not specify whether or not to apply a fee.












(8)


Lastly, the deployment of the service should be adapted to reflect the system deployment plans, including a signal supply phase from 2024 and a service supply phase from 2026.












(9)


Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/224 should therefore be amended accordingly.












(10)


The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the programme committee,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
The Annex to Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/224 is amended as follows:






(1)


in the row ‘Components of the signals used’, subcolumn ‘Specifications specific to the CS: authentication using encrypted codes’, the text is replaced by the following: ‘E6, E6-C component encrypted (pilot)’;










(2)


in the row ‘Specifications of the user segment’, subcolumn ‘Specifications specific to the CS: authentication using encrypted codes’, the text is replaced by the following: ‘Verification of the authenticity of the signals by decrypting E6 codes re-encrypted with an OS data authentication key’;










(3)


in the row ‘System architecture’, subcolumn ‘Specifications specific to the CS: authentication using encrypted codes’, the text is replaced by the following: ‘Encryption of the E6 signal codes by the Galileo satellites, transmission of the private keys generated by the ground segment to the GNSS Service Centre (GSC), and publication of re-encrypted portions of the E6 signal codes with a future OS data authentication key’;










(4)


in the row ‘Access to the service’, column ‘CS authentication’, the text is replaced by the following: ‘Free access’;










(5)


in the row ‘Deployment of the service’, subcolumn ‘Specifications specific to the CS: authentication using encrypted codes’, the two indents are replaced by the following:






‘—


Initial signals supply phase by 2024,










—


Service supply phase from 2026’;














(6)


in the row ‘Use of EU classified information’, subcolumn ‘Specifications specific to the CS: authentication using encrypted codes’, the text is replaced by the following: ‘No use of EUCI by the end user’.






Article 2
This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.




Done at Brussels, 10 July 2024.


For the Commission


The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN
            





(1)  
            OJ L 170, 12.5.2021, p. 69, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/696/oj.

(2)  Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/224 of 8 February 2017 setting out the technical and operational specifications allowing the commercial service offered by the system established under the Galileo programme to fulfil the function referred to in Article 2(4)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 34, 9.2.2017, p. 36, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2017/224/oj).

(3)  Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/321 of 2 March 2018 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/224 setting out the technical and operational specifications allowing the commercial service offered by the system established under the Galileo programme to fulfil the function referred to in Article 2(4)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 62, 5.3.2018, p. 34, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2018/321/oj).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2024/1882/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)