Galileo's fate to be clarified soon
Loyola de Palacio, European Commissioner for Energy and Transport has indicated that a decision on the future of the GALILEO project could be made very soon. Speaking after the Transport Council meeting on 21 December, Ms de Palacio, vice-president of the European Commission revealed that an intensive debate on GALILEO, a European satellite navigation project for civil uses, had taken place. 'The question has been to determine whether the way forward from the definition phase should be decided immediately or in a few weeks,' said Ms de Palacio. She added that she would like the decision to be postponed until April, at which time a 'clear decision, which sends a positive signal to industry on the future of the programme' can be made. Galileo will provide a tool to develop new services such as positioning in transport, telemedicine, tagging of prisoners or application of fertiliser in farming.