Galileo project is ready for deployment, says Commission
The Commission has adopted a communication concluding that the European satellite navigation project, Galileo, is ready to be moved to the deployment and operational phases. With certain key conditions having been met during the development phase of the project, the Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Galileo, Loyola de Palacio, said: 'There are no more obstacles to launching the subsequent phases of the programme.' These conditions included establishing the necessary structure for the management of the system, which was achieved with the adoption of two Council decisions in July. The pressing issue of Galileo's interoperability with the US GPS system was also resolved after months of negotiations with the signing of a bilateral agreement. The final precondition for moving the project towards deployment was ensuring that sufficient private sector finance is in place to fund the subsequent stages. The Commission concludes that the Galileo Joint Undertaking has successfully completed the process for selecting a concession holder, with two bids currently being considered, and a contract is expected to be signed with one of them during the course of 2005. '[These] bids indicate the willingness of numerous investors, in particular financial institutions, to assume financial responsibility for the construction and operation of the system,' the Commission concludes. On the basis of the Commission's recommendation, the Council will attempt to reach a political agreement on moving the project forward by the end of 2004. The Commission calls on ministers to confirm the transition to the deployment and operational phases, and secure the commitment of public authorities to help fund them.