EP May Take over Galileo

That the Galileo program is now receiving so much attention from the EP is perhaps a sign that it is finally about to become real — by spending large additional sums of real money.

The European Parliament (EP) has finally decided to enter the administration arena of Galileo having rounded up a 3.4 billion-euro allocation for Galileo to achieve full operational capability (FOC) by 2013, and it intends to remain on the scene to ensure that that amount of money, and no more, is spent en route.

"The European Parliament and the European Council have made it very clear," the European Commission's (EC's) Director of GNSS Unit Paul Verhoef told the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit plenary session. The EP's Committee on Transport and Tourism recently voted to disband the GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) and install its own watchdog body, the GNSS Oversight Committee. It has also made clear that, while the European Space Agency (ESA) will continue as the procurement agent for the Galileo program, it must adapt its usual practices to EU standards for Galileo purposes, and not continue with its own standard operating procedures.

However, whether or not the GSA will indeed go away remains a subject for discussion between the EP and the EC. The Commission wants it to continue, but even if it does not, "We need the expertise of GSA staff" in whatever guise or form, according to Verhoef.

The European Member of Parliament who is responsible, the "rapporteur," for Galileo, Etelka Barsi-Pataky, told the Summit plenary audience she sees three problem areas in Galileo's ongoing development: financing, governance, and procurement. "These are sensitive questions between the European Parliament and the European Council," she stated, signaling new tension between the elected body of the European Union and the entity it has created to administer and execute its policies. "I think we need better and stronger political control and oversight. The European Parliament is not happy with so many agencies."

When questioned directly whether she personally supported decommissioning the GSA, Barsi-Pataky demurred, having previously said only that the committee's vote was "nearly unanimous."  She did state that, "As rapporteur, my responsibility is to bring the program forward, and if it turns out that it is best for the program to keep the GSA, then I will support keeping it. If we keep the GSA, we have to give it a different task and different responsibilities. The GSA as it is today is not the best solution for Galileo. It has to be modified, or it could be that another body will take its place. The EP committee and the EC are in discussions. In three or four weeks, we will find a real solution that will promote the program." 

Clearly, the Galileo program is about to move decisively forward. Not as clear is whose hands will actually be at the wheel. Barsi-Pataky concluded emphatically, "We need to start the program now, with strong control."