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On 9 September 2025 in Strasbourg, Commissioner Andrius Kubilius addressed the European Parliament on the growing risks of interference with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), warning of the urgent need to strengthen resilience against spoofing and jamming.

In his statement, entitled “Serious threats to aviation and maritime transport from Global Navigation Satellite System interference: urgent need to build resilience against spoofing and jamming”, he recalled a recent incident in which satellite navigation on board an aircraft carrying President von der Leyen was jammed, underlining how the threat is no longer theoretical but an everyday reality for aviation and maritime transport.

Satellite-based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services such as Galileo, EGNOS and GPS are essential for aviation, maritime and road transport, as well as for farming and critical infrastructure. Yet deliberate interference has increased in both scale and sophistication since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with 40% of European air traffic now operating in regions seriously affected. In the Baltic alone, authorities recorded a fivefold increase in disrupted flights in the past year, with thousands of incidents reported in Lithuania and other frontline Member States. Kubilius highlighted that both jamming, which blocks signals, and spoofing, which deceives receivers with counterfeit signals, pose serious safety risks, particularly for aircraft navigation and maritime operations.

The Commissioner outlined the European Commission’s response, built around three lines of action. Politically, the EU is raising the issue in international fora such as ICAO, IMO and ITU, while pushing for a coordinated European plan to confront the threat. At the technical level, resilience measures are being introduced into the Galileo system, including a new authentication service to detect spoofing, the deployment of encrypted signals for governmental users, and the preparation of a monitoring service capable of detecting and localising interference from 2026 onwards. Looking further ahead, the Commission is planning a multi-orbit GNSS constellation combining Galileo satellites with a future low-earth orbit system to provide redundancy and fallback capabilities.

Operationally, the Commission is working with EASA, EUROCONTROL and EMSA to ensure aviation and maritime safety through contingency planning, crisis exercises and improved incident reporting. Kubilius stressed that protecting transport and critical infrastructure requires not only technical improvements but also stronger cooperation between EU institutions, Member States and international partners. He concluded by calling for support from the Parliament to secure the necessary funding under the European Competitiveness Fund and the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

The full text of Commissioner Kubilius’ statement is available here.