Parliament to vote on European satellite navigation system
On 19 September the European Parliament plenary in Brussels will vote on a draft communication on the Galileo satellite navigation project, a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Belgian presidency strongly supports the Galileo project, but other Member States have expressed reservations about the high costs involved. Following the parliamentary debate in September, it is expected that the Galileo project will become effective in December 2001. In April this year, EU transport ministers agreed to make 100 million euro available for the start of the programme. The ministers will decide on the release of a further 450 million euro at their meeting in December, when they will also approve the setting up of a management body for the programme. They have agreed to take a formal decision on the deployment of the full Galileo constellation by the end of 2003. The European Commission presented a draft proposal for a council regulation of the Galileo joint undertaking in June 2001. The Commission is responsible for the political dimension of the Galileo project and for overseeing the current definition phase, while ESA is defining the Galileo space and ground segments under a programme called GalileoSat.