Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 912/2010 setting up the European GNSS Agency

Security requirements play an essential role in the design, implementation and operation of the infrastructures emerging from the Galileo and EGNOS programmes, whose use could affect the security of the Union and its Member States. Due to their strategic aspect, satellite navigation systems are sensitive infrastructures that could be susceptible to malicious use. Given the increasing usage of satellite navigation across a great number of fields of activity, an interruption in the supply of services could lead to significant harm to modern society.

Regulation (EC) No 683/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 on the further implementation of the European satellite navigation programmes (EGNOS and Galileo) provides that the Commission should manage all aspects relating to security of the two systems established under the Galileo and EGNOS programmes. However, the security of the systems is itself subject to accreditation which consists of verifying the compliance of the systems with the specified security requirements and ensuring compliance with the relevant security rules applicable to the Council and the Commission. As is the case for all accreditation activities, security accreditation of the two European satellite navigation systems must be carried out independently, particularly with regard to all parties involved in their design, construction and operation.

It is important to resolve the issue of the future of the security accreditation of the European satellite navigation systems during the future financial framework 2014-2020. This means that Regulation (EU) No 912/2010 must be amended.

Amending Regulation (EU) No 912/2010 also presents an opportunity to incorporate changes in the text to bring it into line with the principles contained in the common approach of the European Parliament, Council and Commission on the decentralised agencies, as approved by the Commission on 12 June 2012.

Finally, the proposal on the future GNSS Regulation adopted by the Commission on 30 November 2011, which provides for the possibility of extending the tasks of the European GNSS Agency and assignment of operational tasks, significantly affects its staff requirements and, hence, has consequences for its future budget. It is therefore important to amend the legislative financial statement associated with Regulation (EU) No 912/2010.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)40: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:040:FIN

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