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2008 discharge: European GNSS Supervisory Authority GSA

2009/2129(DEC)

PURPOSE: to present the final accounts of the European GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Supervisory Authority for the financial year 2008.

CONTENT: this document sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the Authority’s budget for the financial year 2008. It indicates that the Agency’s final budget amounted to EUR 22.7 million (compared to EUR 436.5 million in 2007).

In terms of personnel, the Agency, whose headquarters are in Brussels, official set out 50 posts in its establishment plan. 49 of those posts are currently occupied + 10 other posts (contract agents, seconded national experts and interim staff) amounting to 52 staff assigned to operational, administrative and mixed tasks.

The Authority concentrated on the following activities (between 1.1.2008 to 8.7.2008):

Galileo system

  • management of the Configuration Control Board, control of the coherence of the Mission Requirements Document (MRD) and the System Requirements Document (SRD), coordination with ESA and the European Commission,
  • definition and procurement of tools for modelling and analysis of RNSS signals,
  • analysis of intra and inter-system interference and link budgets,
  • follow-up of the project management by ESA for the IOV,
  • assistance to the Commission in the supervision of the deployment phase and on frequency coordination,
  • system certification - selection, nomination and supervision of the Galileo certification bodies, - designing of the Galileo safety case,
  • preparation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) for Galileo.

EGNOS system

  • Control of the Mission Requirements Document, assessment and approval of new requirements, coordination with ESA and the EGNOS Service Provider,
  • follow-up of the Operational Qualification Review,
  • preparation of the monitoring of the EGNOS system performance,
  • implementation of the extension to the Mediterranean region,
  • supervision of the completion of the EGNOS Design Safety Case and EGNOS Operations Safety Case,
  • supervision of the process for the certification of the service provider,
  • extension of the system certification to other domains of utilisation than the civil aviation.

Programmes

  • support to the European Commission in the implementation of the EGNOS and Galileo programmes,
  • establishment of the EGNOS Service Provision contract and monitoring of its implementation,
  • definition of EGNOS’ performance indicators and of various elements of the EGNOS services,
  • EGNOS third party liability protection of the GSA and Community exposure to liability stemming from the provision of EGNOS signals in space, in line with the European GNSS liability policy.

Security

  • security accreditation of the systems,
  • assisting the Commission in preparing the operation of the GNSS Security Monitoring Centre (GSMC),
  • research and development to ensure compliance of GNSS service with security requirements of safety critical applications,
  • definition of the specifications and instructions for manufacturing PRS receivers and of guidelines for the implementation of PRS management rules in the Member States.

Market development

  • recommendations and actions regarding the development of markets for EGNOS and Galileo,
  • assessment of the environment in which satellite navigation applications can develop, propose strategies and encourage market take up: definition of market development tools.

Research and development

  • Management of projects under the Sixth Framework Programme and Seventh Framework Programme for research,
  • implementation/update of a web-based knowledge management and dissemination tool.

The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.gsa.europa.eu