BRUSSELS, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Fears that the consortium charged with creating Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system might miss the deadline for getting the project off the ground have prompted the European Union (EU) to consider Plan B.

    "Galileo is in profound crisis," German Transport Minister Tiefensee Wolfgang, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told a press conference in Brussels.

    Wolfgang said the German presidency would propose that the public sector take a bigger role in building the EU-sponsored Galileo, as talks with the consortium of companies intending to work on the project were set to fail.

    The industrial consortium has been given until May 10 to set up a joint legal entity to run the system, which is scheduled to be operational in orbit by 2011.

    "I have very little hope that we will come to an agreement (with the consortium)," he said.

    Wolfgang said he had discussed alternative solutions with EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot last week.

    The minister has proposed that more public funds be spent on the construction phase of the system, while its operation remains in the hands of private companies.

    If the industrial consortium fails to reach an agreement on May 10, the German Presidency and the European Commission will present the proposal to the EU transport ministers' meeting for a final decision.

    The consortium is made up of European aerospace giant EADS, France's Thales and Alcatel-Lucent, Britain's Inmarsat, Italy's Finmeccanica, Spain's AENA and Hispasat, Germany's Deutsche Telekom and others.