CHAPTER IGENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1Subject

This Regulation lays down the rules in relation to the implementation and exploitation of the systems under the European satellite navigation programmes, in particular those relating to the governance and the financial contribution of the Union.

Article 2European satellite navigation systems and programmes

1.

The European satellite navigation programmes, Galileo and EGNOS, shall cover all the activities needed to define, develop, validate, construct, operate, renew and improve the European satellite navigation systems, namely the system established under the Galileo programme and the EGNOS system, and to ensure their security and interoperability.

Those programmes shall also aim to maximise the socio-economic benefits of the European satellite navigation systems, in particular by promoting the use of the systems and fostering the development of applications and services based on those systems.

2.

The system established under the Galileo programme shall be a civil system under civil control and an autonomous global navigation satellite system (GNSS) infrastructure consisting of a constellation of satellites and a global network of ground stations.

3.

The EGNOS system shall be a regional satellite navigation system infrastructure monitoring and correcting open signals emitted by existing global satellite navigation systems, as well as the open service signals offered by the system established under the Galileo programme, when they become available. It consists of ground stations and several transponders installed on geostationary satellites.

4.

The specific objectives of the Galileo programme shall be to ensure that the signals emitted by the system established under that programme can be used to fulfil the following functions:

(a)

to offer an open service (OS), which is free of charge to the user and provides positioning and synchronisation information intended mainly for high-volume satellite navigation applications;

(b)

to contribute, by means of Galileo open service signals and/or in cooperation with other satellite navigation systems, to integrity-monitoring services aimed at users of safety-of-life applications in compliance with international standards;

(c)

to offer a commercial service (CS) 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;

(d)

to offer a public regulated service (PRS) restricted to government-authorised users, for sensitive applications which require a high level of service continuity, free of charge for the Member States, the Council, the Commission, EEAS and, where appropriate, duly authorised Union agencies; this service uses strong, encrypted signals. The question of whether to charge the other PRS participants referred to in Article 2 of Decision No 1104/2011/EU shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis and appropriate provisions shall be specified in the agreements concluded pursuant to Article 3(5) of that Decision;

(e)

to contribute to the search and rescue support service (SAR) of the COSPAS-SARSAT system by detecting distress signals transmitted by beacons and relaying messages to them.

5.

The specific objectives of the EGNOS programme shall be to ensure that the signals emitted by the EGNOS system can be used to fulfil the following functions:

(a)

to offer an open service (OS), which is free of charge to the user, and provides positioning and synchronisation information intended mainly for high-volume satellite navigation applications in the area covered by the EGNOS system;

(b)

to offer a service for the dissemination of commercial data, namely the EGNOS Data Access Service (EDAS), to promote the development of applications for professional or commercial use by means of improved performance and data with greater added value than those obtained through its open service;

(c)

to offer a safety-of-life service (SoL) service aimed at users for whom safety is essential; this service, which is provided free of direct user charges, fulfils in particular the requirements of certain sectors for continuity, availability and accuracy and includes an integrity message alerting the user to any failure in, or out-of-tolerance signals from, systems augmented by the EGNOS system over the coverage area.

As a priority, those functions shall be provided within the Member States' territories geographically located in Europe as soon as possible.

The geographical coverage of the EGNOS system may be extended to other regions of the world, in particular to the territories of candidate countries, of third countries associated with the Single European Sky and of countries in the European Neighbourhood Policy, subject to technical feasibility and on the basis of international agreements. The cost of such extension, including the related exploitation costs, shall not be covered by the resources referred to in Article 9. Such extension shall not delay the extension of the geographical coverage of the EGNOS system throughout the Member States' territories geographically located in Europe.

Article 3Galileo programme phasing

The Galileo programme shall consist of the following phases:

  1. (a)

    a definition phase during which the structure of the system was designed and its elements determined, which ended in 2001;

  2. (b)

    a development and validation phase, scheduled to be completed by 31 December 2013, comprising the construction and launch of the first satellites, the establishment of the first ground-based infrastructure and all the work and operations necessary to validate the system in orbit;

  3. (c)

    a deployment phase to be completed by 31 December 2020, comprising:

    1. (i)

      the construction, establishment and protection of all space-based infrastructure, in particular of all the satellites necessary to achieve the specific objectives referred to in Article 2(4) and of the required spare satellites, and the related evolutive maintenance and operations;

    2. (ii)

      the construction, establishment and protection of all ground-based infrastructure, in particular of the infrastructure required to control the satellites and process the satellite radio-navigation data, and of service centres and other ground-based centres, and the related evolutive maintenance and operations;

    3. (iii)

      preparations for the exploitation phase, including preparatory activities relating to the provision of the services referred to in Article 2(4);

  4. (d)

    an exploitation phase comprising:

    1. (i)

      the management, maintenance, continuous improvement, evolution and protection of the space-based infrastructure, including replenishment and obsolescence management;

    2. (ii)

      the management, maintenance, continuous improvement, evolution and protection of the ground-based infrastructure, in particular of service centres and other ground-based centres, networks and sites, including replenishment and obsolescence management;

    3. (iii)

      the development of future generations of the system and the evolution of the services referred to in Article 2(4);

    4. (iv)

      certification and standardisation operations associated with the programme;

    5. (v)

      the provision and marketing of the services referred to in Article 2(4);

    6. (vi)

      cooperation with other GNSS; and

    7. (vii)

      all other activities needed to develop the system and ensure that the programme runs smoothly.

The exploitation phase shall begin progressively between 2014 and 2015 with the provision of the initial services for the open service, search and rescue service and public regulated service. Those initial services shall be gradually improved and the other functions specified in the specific objectives referred to in Article 2(4) shall be gradually implemented with the aim of reaching full operational capability by 31 December 2020.

Article 4The EGNOS exploitation phase

The EGNOS exploitation phase mainly comprises:

  1. (a)

    the management, maintenance, continuous improvement, evolution and protection of the space-based infrastructure, including replenishment and obsolescence management;

  2. (b)

    the management, maintenance, continuous improvement, evolution and protection of the ground-based infrastructure, in particular networks, sites and support facilities, including replenishment and obsolescence management;

  3. (c)

    the development of future generations of the system and the evolution of the services referred to in Article 2(5);

  4. (d)

    certification and standardisation operations associated with the programme;

  5. (e)

    the provision and marketing of the services referred to in Article 2(5);

  6. (f)

    all elements justifying the reliability of the system and its exploitation;

  7. (g)

    coordination activities relating to the completion of the specific objectives pursuant to the second and third subparagraphs of Article 2(5).

Article 5Compatibility and interoperability of the systems

1.

The systems, networks and services resulting from the Galileo and EGNOS programmes shall be compatible and interoperable from a technical point of view.

2.

The systems, networks and services resulting from the Galileo and EGNOS programmes shall be compatible and interoperable with other satellite navigation systems and with conventional means of radio navigation, where such compatibility and interoperability requirements are laid down in an international agreement concluded pursuant to Article 29.

Article 6Ownership

The Union shall be the owner of all tangible and intangible assets created or developed under the Galileo and EGNOS programmes. To that effect, agreements shall be concluded with third parties, wherever appropriate, with regard to existing ownership rights.

The Commission shall ensure, through an appropriate framework, the optimal use of the assets referred to in this Article; in particular, it shall manage the intellectual property rights relating to the Galileo and EGNOS programmes as effectively as possible, taking into account the need to protect and give value to the Union's intellectual property rights, the interests of all stakeholders, and the necessity of harmonious development of the markets and of new technologies. To that end, it shall ensure that the contracts entered into, under the Galileo and EGNOS programmes, include the possibility of transferring or licensing intellectual property rights arising from work performed under those programmes to third parties.