1.   The aims of this Agreement are to develop satellite navigation and to provide associated services in ASECNA's area of competence for the benefit of civil aviation by enabling it to benefit from European satellite navigation programmes.

This Agreement forms part of the arrangements for promoting services based on European satellite navigation programmes on the African continent.

2.   The form and the conditions of the cooperation between the parties to achieve the aims set out in paragraph 1 are laid down by this Agreement.

1.   The cooperation activities provided for in this Agreement mainly involve those geared to setting up and operating the SBAS-ASECNA system, based on the EGNOS system technology. They also cover the use in Africa of the system produced by the Galileo programme, the radio spectrum, standards, certification and international organisations, safety, research and development, human resources, communication and awareness-raising, exchanges of personnel and promotion on the African continent of satellite navigation services.

The parties have the option of amending this list of activities in accordance with Article 34 of this Agreement.

2.   This Agreement is without prejudice to the Union's institutional independence with regard to regulating European satellite navigation programmes or the structure established by the Union for implementing these programmes. The Agreement is also without prejudice to regulatory measures that implement non-proliferation obligations, control of exports and control of intangible transfers of technology. It is also without prejudice to measures affecting national security.

3.   This Agreement is also without prejudice to ASECNA's institutional independence.

4.   Subject to their respective rules, the parties shall promote as far as possible the cooperation activities conducted under this Agreement.

1.   The Union shall assist ASECNA in setting up and implementing the SBAS-ASECNA system. In addition to the specific provisions in Articles 8 to 16, it undertakes in general to facilitate the setting up and implementation of the SBAS-ASECNA system, particularly by making any relevant information available to ASECNA free of charge, advising ASECNA on managing the programme and on the technical and organisational plans, and contributing to evaluating and monitoring the SBAS-ASECNA programme.

2.   Where interconnections are established between the EGNOS and SBAS-ASECNA systems, each party is responsible for modifying its own system and shall bear the associated investment and implementation costs. Each party shall forward to the other the information required and shall cooperate in modifying the system belonging to the other party. A process of commitment to and monitoring of performance which establishes respective obligations shall be put in place.

1.   The Union shall assist ASECNA in operating the SBAS-ASECNA system.

With regard to the preparations for launching operations, it shall assist ASECNA mainly in:

The Union shall also assist ASECNA in resolving operating problems encountered subsequent to the declaration of services, especially by making available procedures and instruments for analysing performance, support for training, and on-site presence of personnel during an initial period.

The Union shall also provide support to ASECNA for taking developments of the system into service during operation.

2.   The parties shall provide mutual assistance to encourage users to adopt the services provided by the EGNOS and SBAS-ASECNA systems and to promote corresponding development of the markets.

1.   The Union shall assist ASECNA, at its request, in preparing the documents for calls for tender and in analysing bids in the course of awarding contracts for the setting up and operation of the SBAS-ASECNA system.

2.   Without prejudice to Article XXIII of the Agreement on Government Procurement concluded under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (Article III of the revised Agreement), public bodies and enterprises in Member States of the European Union are entitled to participate in tenders on the setting up and operation of the SBAS-ASECNA system, unless a conflict of interest exists.

3.   Acquisitions for the setting up and operation of the EGNOS and SBAS-ASECNA systems may be covered by joint Union and ASECNA public procurement depending on the interests of each of the parties, particularly with regard to ground stations and transponders.

1.   Each party shall make available to the other party free of charge all intellectual property rights on the work or inventions of which it is the owner and which are of use in setting up and operating the EGNOS and SBAS-ASECNA systems. This Agreement is equivalent to a licence to use those rights.

If one of the parties creates or generates new intellectual property rights based on the intellectual property rights made available by the other party, the latter shall become the holder of the new intellectual property rights thus created or generated and shall provide free of charge a licence to use these new rights to the party which created or generated them. However, the party that is the holder of these new rights may not grant a licence to a third party without the explicit agreement of the other party.

The conditions for using the licence in the first and second subparagraphs are laid down in paragraphs 2 and 3.

2.   The licence for use mentioned in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 is personal, non-exclusive and non-transmissible, without prejudice to the provisions of the second subparagraph of the paragraph 1. Depending on the case, it comprises the right to use, have used, modify, reproduce and manufacture, for the sole purpose of setting up and operating the EGNOS and SBAS-ASECNA systems.

One party may not make available to a third party nor market in any manner the intellectual property rights made available to it by the other party in compliance with the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 without the express consent of that other party unless it does so as part of a public procurement procedure or contracts awarded by one or other of the parties for the setting up and operation of the EGNOS system, the system produced by the Galileo programme and the SBAS-ASECNA system.

3.   Each party shall keep up to date a register of intellectual property rights that it makes available to the other party pursuant to the first subparagraph of paragraph 1. It shall provide the other party with a copy. For every intellectual property right made available, the register shall specify:

4.   Each party which grants the other party a licence for use pursuant to the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 may terminate that licence if it finds that the conditions for exercising it provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3 have not been complied with.

5.   The parties shall provide and ensure adequate and effective protection for intellectual property rights in the domains and sectors related to the setting up and operation of the EGNOS and SBAS-ASECNA systems in compliance with the highest ranking international standards laid down by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organisation, also by providing for effective means to ensure that these standards are complied with.

1.   The parties shall cooperate in order to promote and utilise the system produced by the Galileo programme on the African continent, in particular by developing applications and usage of the services based on this system in the fields of timing, navigation, surveillance, and search and rescue, and by highlighting the benefits of the applications and the services based on this system.

2.   ASECNA shall abstain from any action or initiative which is likely to be prejudicial to the Union's interests with regard to intellectual property rights linked with the Galileo programme.

1.   The parties shall cooperate with and assist each other in respect of radio frequency spectrum management by the International Telecommunication Union (hereinafter ‘ITU’), especially for the protection of frequency bands linked to satellite navigation services and aviation communications.

2.   The parties shall exchange information and assist each other with regard to the sharing and allocation of frequencies by the ITU. They shall encourage and protect allocations of frequencies for the EGNOS and SBAS-ASECNA systems, and for the system established under the Galileo programme, in order to assure the accessibility of services offered by these systems in the Union and in Africa.

3.   In order to protect the navigation radio spectrum against disruptions such as jamming, whether intentional or not, and ‘masking’, the parties shall strive to identify sources of disruption and seek mutually acceptable solutions.

4.   Nothing in this Agreement may be interpreted as a derogation from the relevant provisions of the ITU, particularly those governing radio communications.

1.   The parties shall seek to adopt a joint approach to standardisation and to all the issues concerning satellite navigation systems handled by international organisations and associations, especially the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics and the European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE), and associations or groups active in the field of standardisation.

2.   The parties shall jointly support the development of satellite navigation standards in international organisations, especially the ICAO standards and recommended practices (SARPs) and the RTCA and EUROCAE minimum operational performance specifications (MOPS). They shall assist each other in seeking recognition of Galileo, EGNOS and SBAS-ASECNA standards by these international organisations and strive to promote their application throughout the world, emphasising their interoperability with other satellite navigation systems.

1.   ASECNA shall finance the setting up and operation of the SBAS-ASECNA system from its own resources, aid or subsidies, especially those covered by paragraph 3, loans contracted with financial institutions or any other means of financing subject to the provisions of paragraph 2.

2.   Setting up and operation of the SBAS-ASECNA system may not under any circumstances be financed by budgetary contributions earmarked for European satellite navigation and covered by Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013.

3.   For the setting up and operation of the SBAS-ASECNA system, the Union shall facilitate access by ASECNA to EU cooperation and development funds for which ASECNA is eligible, both for current and future programmes. The current programmes are the pan-African programme covered by Article 9 and Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 233/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing a financing instrument for developing cooperation for the period 2014-2020, and those under the EU-Africa Trust Fund for Infrastructure provided for in the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 13 July 2006 — Interconnecting Africa: the EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructure COM(2006) 376 final.

1.   As ASECNA is not the owner of the European satellite navigation systems, it will not incur any liability linked to ownership of the systems.

As the Union is not the owner of the SBAS-ASECNA system, it will not incur any liability linked with ownership of that system.

2.   Neither of the parties may be held liable for damage resulting from the use by the other party of technologies covered by this Agreement, nor do they guarantee the sound functioning thereof.

1.   A joint committee, called the ‘GNSS EU/ASECNA Committee’ shall be set up. It shall be made up of representatives of the parties and is responsible for management and correct implementation of this Agreement. To that end, it shall take decisions in the cases covered by this Agreement, which shall be implemented by the parties in accordance with their own rules. The joint committee's decisions are taken by mutual agreement. The joint committee shall also draft recommendations on issues for which it has no authority to decide.

The joint committee shall define the conditions and arrangements that are not specified in this Agreement.

2.   The joint committee shall establish its rules of procedure, including, amongst other provisions, the arrangements for convening meetings, designating the chairperson, defining the latter's mandate and contacts between the parties.

3.   The joint committee shall meet as required. The Union or ASECNA may request that a meeting be convened. The joint committee shall meet within fifteen days of a request.

4.   The joint committee may decide to form any working group or group of experts which it deems suitable to assist it in accomplishing its tasks.

5.   The joint committee may decide to amend Annex I.

1.   For the purposes of correct performance of this Agreement, the parties shall regularly exchange information and, at the request of either one of them, shall meet in the joint committee.

2.   The parties shall consult each other rapidly, at the request of one of them, on any issue concerning the interpretation or implementation of this Agreement.

3.   The parties shall provide each other regularly with information and shall mutually raise awareness of the management and development of their own satellite navigation programmes. If one party envisages taking a decision which may affect the other party's satellite navigation system(s), the latter shall be consulted first in order for it to draft a non-binding opinion. If the requirements of confidentiality provided for by the rules applicable to the parties do not preclude it, each party shall allow a representative of the other party to participate, as an observer, in its working parties and management bodies and committees.

1.   Either party may, after consultation in the joint committee, take any safeguard measures which are required, including suspension of one or more cooperation activities, if it considers that an equivalent level of control of exports or of safety is no longer ensured between the parties. If any delay runs the risk of compromising the sound functioning of the European satellite navigation systems or the SBAS-ASECNA system, provisional precautionary measures may be decreed without prior consultation, as long as consultations are undertaken immediately after the measures have been adopted.

2.   The scope and duration of the measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be confined to what is necessary to control a situation and ensure that there is a fair balance between the rights and obligations under this Agreement. The other party may request the joint committee to initiate consultations on the proportionality of these measures. If it is impossible to settle this dispute in six months, it may be submitted to a binding arbitration body by one of the parties, in keeping with the procedure provided for in Annex I. No question of interpretation of the provisions of this Agreement which are identical to corresponding provisions of Union law may be settled in this context.

1.   The Union or ASECNA may terminate this Agreement by notifying its decision to the other party. The Agreement shall cease to be applicable six months after receipt of that notification.

2.   Termination of this Agreement is without prejudice to the validity or duration of any substantive provisions agreed in the course of its performance. Nor is it prejudicial to specific rights and obligations established with regard to intellectual property in the Agreement, and a party which has granted the other party a licence for use shall retain, after termination of the Agreement, the right to terminate it if it finds that the conditions for exercising the licence are not complied with.

3.   If this Agreement is terminated, the joint committee shall make a proposal for the parties to settle any question in abeyance which has financial consequences, taking account, where necessary, of the principle of pro rata temporis.

1.   This Agreement is approved by the parties in accordance with their internal procedures. It shall enter into force on the first day of the first month following the date of signature by the party which was the last to complete this formality.

2.   This Agreement, drawn up in duplicate in the French language only, is concluded for an indefinite period.