EU transport ministers make no decision on seat of Galileo system

The EU transport ministers, who were to negotiate on the seat of the Galileo European satellite navigation system on Tuesday, have not made a decision. Before the talks, Czech Ambassador to Brussels Jan Kohout said the Czech Republic was prepared to block them if the new member states were not considered as host countries. It appears that the old member states have a secret agreement to seat Galileo in one of their countries, Mr Kohout said.

The Galileo system is a joint initiative of the European Commission and European Space Agency and would rival the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). Prague is among the states that have made a bid to host Galileo, which is to be launched in 2008.