ESC calls for safeguards for Galileo
New safeguards for the Galileo project were called for in an Economic and Social Committee (ESC) opinion adopted at the Committee's plenary session at the end of November. The opinion said that as well as the joint undertaking body planned to oversee the development of the Galileo project, there should also be three other bodies: one for the promotion of the project, one institutional steering forum and a new security and privacy body. The opinion suggests that the 'Galileo promotion company' should be a public/private venture. The opinion makes clear that the joint undertaking should 'be funded solely through public funding'. According to Raffaele del Fiore of the ESC, this refers to the administrative committee of the joint undertaking, which will be responsible for areas such as procurement for the Galileo project. The need for this to be publicly funded is to avoid a possible conflict of interest, which could exist if there were private sector involvement. 'What we want is to have the European Commission, the European space agency, the Member States and the private sector involved in Galileo, but we need to ensure that the Community law on public procurement is applied,' said Mr del Fiore. The European Commission has reflected the increased interest in and importance of the European space strategy by creating a new website dedicated to the issue. Featuring news, documentation and an outline of the basis for the European space strategy, the site aims to provide updated information on the development of strategy and implementation of European space policy, research and development. The web address is available below.