The United States and the European Union are formally to sign a co-operation agreement over their respective satellite navigation systems this week. “For the first time we have agreed an arrangement for the sharing of national security classified information with the European Commission,” a State Department official said.
The European “Galileo” system will co-exist alongside the US “Global Positioning System” and is expected to require €2bn ($2.4bn, £1.3bn) from the private sector to finance the project, designed for a wide range of civilian, intelligence and military uses.
The EU already has satellite co-operation agreements with China and Israel and is now in negotiations with India and Russia.
