Galileo - provisional deal paves way for new satellite navigation services

The European Parliament and the Council have reached an informal deal on the satellite navigation system Galileo. The new system could lead to a wide range of new services in areas like road safety, online reservations, emergency calls, agriculture planning and environmental protection.

"It is time for the EU to have its own civil navigation system in order to avoid depending on third countries' systems", said Marian-Jean Marinescu MEP who lead the negotiations with the Council.

Seven percent of the EU economy depends on the current satellite navigation technology, in most cases the GPS system managed by the US military.

The Rapporteur underlined that the Parliament's role was crucial in making this navigation system visible in the daily lives of citizens. The Rapporteur insisted on making possible investment in the development of applications and for breaking down the budget allocated to the programme on different project segments, which will be essential for limiting the costs and for better managing the funding.

Both systems allow the creation of an impressive number of new applications of satellite navigation that can increase the safety, efficiency and reliability of activities from the aviation, maritime, road and agriculture sectors and represent a vast potential for industry and new jobs in Europe.

The Galileo system could be used in areas like road safety, fee collection, traffic and parking management, fleet management, emergency calls, goods tracking and tracing, online booking, safety of shipping, digital tachographs, animal transport, agricultural planning and environmental protection to bring growth and make citizens' lives easier.

"The EU needs to spread information about EU satellite navigation and propose a set of incentives for all users in order to use Galileo and Egnos enabled technologies. Four satellites have been launched so far and till the end of 2014, 18 other satellites are scheduled to be launched. In 2014, European citizens will benefit from the first navigation services. The objective of the Galileo programme is to achieve an infrastructure of 30 satellites by 2018", Marian Jean Marinescu said. "I had the opportunity to have a good collaboration with the Commission, the Council and the Rapporteurs of the other political groups of the European Parliament", he added.

"Now that the agreement on the Regulation and Infrastructure of Galileo has been reached, we have to get to work so that the outcome of the negotiations on the 2013-2020 EU budget can allow us to meet the necessary financial commitments. It is an important result for our European industry which is a leader in this sector and that from now on can rely on an appropriate infrastructure", added Amalia Sartori MEP, Chairwoman of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy of the European Parliament.

This agreement is all the more important as it is the first legislative dossier closed under the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) Regulation, paving the way for the other approximately 60 dossiers dealing with the EU policies planned for 2014-2020.The provisional agreement can be finally endorsed by the full Parliament only after an agreement on the budget frame (MFF) has been reached.