Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 provides that the commercial service offered by the system established under the Galileo programme must allow for the development of applications for professional or commercial use by means of improved performance and data with greater added value than those obtained through the open service.

The commercial service is one of the essential elements of the system established under the Galileo programme insofar as, on the one hand, the other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) do not include such a service and, on the other hand, it should generate income in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013. Access to this service should be subject to a fee. The pricing policy of the commercial service is not covered by this decision and should be defined at a later date.

The commercial service should be supplied in accordance with contracts, to be concluded with one or more service providers.

The technical and operational specifications of the commercial service should be established now, since once the specifications have been adopted, it will take several years for the service to become operational. The development of specifications has been the subject of a number of studies, experiments and consultations with stakeholders in recent years. It is also the result of a compromise between, on the one hand, the need to provide real value added for the benefit of users and the wish to minimise the modifications to be made to the system, as modifications involve risks, and respect the time schedule specified in Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 on the other hand.

Consequently, in order to allow for the development of applications for professional or commercial purposes, it is essential, and technically feasible, for the commercial service to make two major improvements to the open service, namely greater precision in terms of geolocation and reinforced authentication capacity. Furthermore, in order to better meet the various needs of the different communities of users of the commercial service, it is vital for these two improvements to be offered to them independently of each other.

High precision in terms of geolocation should extend the scope of the applications of satellite navigation technology. It is therefore important to enhance the quality of the data provided by the system under the Galileo programme so that the positioning error is reduced to less than a decimetre, in nominal conditions of use. It should be noted that the signals issued by other global navigation satellite systems, such as the global positioning system (GPS) of the United States, could also contribute to meeting this objective.

The authentication capacity should increase the degree of safety and prevent risks of falsification and fraud in particular. Additional features must therefore be incorporated into satellite signals in order to assure users that the information which they receive does come from the system under the Galileo programme and not from an unrecognised source. For instance, the authentication capacity of the commercial service would on the one hand integrate the capacity to authenticate data linked to geolocation, which will be contained in the signals of the open service, offered free of charge, and would on the other hand, with a view to improved protection, also comprise unique identification of the signals thanks to the reading of encrypted codes also contained in the signals, access to which would be subject to a fee.

Before embarking on the operational development of the commercial service, an exhaustive risk analysis should be carried out. This analysis should take place before the ‘GNSS Service Centre Delta Critical Design Review’, scheduled for 1 June 2017, is given the green light.

The commercial service should provide value added compared to the open service, in order to allow for the development of applications for commercial or professional purposes, and should thus be accessible to as many users as possible and include commercial encryption. With this in mind, use of EU classified information (EUCI) by the Commercial Service Provider or the end user is not planned for either the open service or the commercial service. However, if such use were required, it should be decided upon in accordance with the security rules set out in Article 17(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013, on the basis in particular of a security risk analysis, taking full account of the opinions of the experts of the Member States. This decision should also take into account a cost-benefit analysis.

The specifications subject to this decision are in line with the radionavigation rules set at international level, and in particular with the standards set by the International Telecommunications Union and the provisions of the agreement concluded on 26 June 2004 between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and the United States on the other, on the promotion, provision and use of GALILEO and GPS satellite-based navigation systems and related applications.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in line with the opinion of the committee established pursuant to Article 36(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013,