In view, in particular, of its strategic dimension, regional and global coverage and multiple usage, the European Global Navigation Satellite System (‘GNSS’) constitutes sensitive infrastructure the deployment and usage of which are susceptible to affect the security of the European Union and its Member States.

Where the international situation requires operational action by the Union and where the operation of the GNSS could affect the security of the European Union or its Member States, or in the event of a threat to the operation of the system, the Council should decide on the necessary measures to be taken.

Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the tasks and responsibilities formerly exercised by the Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative should now be exercised by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (‘the HR’).

The progress of the development, the commencement of the deployment and the forthcoming start of the usage of the system established under the Galileo programme require that the procedure as foreseen in Joint Action 2004/552/CFSP be adapted.

The information and the expertise concerning whether an event related to the system constitutes a threat to the Union, to the Member States or to the GNSS as such should be provided to the Council and the HR by the European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency (‘the GSA’), the Member States, and the Commission. In addition, third States may also provide such information.

The respective roles of the Council, the HR, the GSA as operator of the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre (‘GSMC’) and the Member States should be clarified within the chain of operational responsibilities to be set up in order to react to a threat to the Union, to the Member States or to the GNSS.

In this regard, the basic references to threats are contained in the System-Specific Security Requirement Statement which contains the main generic threats to be handled by the GNSS as a whole, and the System Security Plan which includes the security risk register set up in the security accreditation process. These will serve as references to identify the threats specifically to be dealt with by this Decision and to complete the operational procedures for the implementation of this Decision.

Decisions in cases of urgency may have to be taken within very few hours of the arrival of the information concerning the threat.

In the event that the circumstances do not allow for the Council to take a decision to avert a threat or to mitigate serious harm to the essential interests of the Union or of one or more of its Member States, the HR should be empowered to take the necessary provisional measures.