EU Searches for Galileo Funding Source

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The European Union will decide this week where the €2.4bn shortfall in funding for the Galileo GPS satellite system will come from. A meeting on September 19th is expected to suggest that the cost is met from the existing EU budget or by individual member states which want to take a larger stake in the project. Galileo started in 2005 with the launch of the Giove-A experimental satellite developed by Galileo Industries and built in Guildford by Surrey Satellite Technology. The system of 30 satellites was designed to be a rival to the US global positioning system as there were concerns over the US GPS system being controlled by the US army.

However, the completion date has slipped from 2008 to 2011 and the project has already cost EU member states €388m more than originally predicted. British MPs have now raised concerns over the future of the system. The Commons European Scrutiny Committee has called for a full parliamentary debate before further progress is authorised at the Council of Transport Ministers.

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(1 reply) #1 solardog on 17 Sep 2007 - 22:43

Quote -

The system of 30 satellites was designed to be a rival to the US global positioning system as there were concerns over the US GPS system being controlled by the US army.

Muwahahahah!!! Too Late!!!

Seriously tho, you dudes need to go private.

#1.1 SimpleRules on 19 Sep 2007 - 03:20

Like the US one, which the government funded?

(1 reply) #2 Esvandiary on 18 Sep 2007 - 00:16

Hmm, let's see... I predict another wave of antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft, leading to fines totalling approximately €2.4bn

#2.1 Soham on 18 Sep 2007 - 03:19

exactly, I was thinking abt it. They could ask India or China for funding lol

(2 replies) #3 jwjw1 on 18 Sep 2007 - 13:42

EU can't fund nothing on their own...so I predict they will go after Intel or AMD for 'handouts'....27 countries of the EU can barely keep above the USA (GDP)...break them down to individual countries..and they look like 3rd world (GDP)....LOL

Rank Country GDP (millions of USD)-2006
— Gross world product 48,144,466

— European Union 14,527,140
1 United States 13,244,550
2 Japan 4,367,459
3 Germany 2,897,032
4 People's Republic of China 2,630,113 2
5 United Kingdom 2,373,685
6 France 2,231,631
7 Italy 1,852,585
8 Canada 1,269,096
9 Spain 1,225,750
10 Brazil 1,067,706

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count...y_GDP_(nominal)

#3.1 mitt on 18 Sep 2007 - 21:31

Yes, you are right.. 27 countries of the EU can barely keep above the 50 states, 1 federal district, and 14 territories of the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA

#3.2 SimpleRules on 19 Sep 2007 - 03:19

On their own, its a collection of the 27 nations, they are the EU.

What looks 3rd world? Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain ... 5 of the top economies are in the EU, if you take the top 30 economies of the world, a high majority are European.

There are around 490 million EU citizens compared to 300 million Americans - the EU as a whole is less wealthy per person, but that might be because we've welcomed a few Eastern European countries into the EU ... when they mature to European levels, we will really be up there - of course, we might have been invaded by then.

#4 boho on 18 Sep 2007 - 15:53

I hope the EU save our money, and use it for winning huge antitrust cases against
big companies abusing their position in the market place. If the US switch it off
or encrypt the GPS system, I can choose to pay to use it, or go back to using the
trusty road map!

Better still it may delay the time we all have "black box" spies in our cars!

(1 reply) #5 C_Guy on 18 Sep 2007 - 16:10

Well let's see... the EU just stole a pile of cash from a certain software company so that's a good start.

#5.1 SimpleRules on 19 Sep 2007 - 03:21

Stole?

That company operates in Europe, the EU and its member states are sovereign ... we can take money from US companies here, rule Europa

(1 reply) #6 black_death on 18 Sep 2007 - 20:47

All the EU does is sue Microsfot and restrict products europenas want anyways from being sold to them and now theyre asking for money from member nations? A bunch of countrys being forced into joining a union of countries to be controlled by an undemocratic government, kind of rings a bell doesnt it?

#6.1 SimpleRules on 19 Sep 2007 - 03:20

Who is forcing anybody? What products do you want?

Money from member nations? The member nations are the EU!

#7 SymbiX on 18 Sep 2007 - 22:14

Some people just can’t read, as the article says : "A meeting on September 19th is expected to suggest that the cost is met from the existing EU budget or by individual member states which want to take a larger stake in the project.", the union doesn’t need microsoft to pay for it, they can already afford so on their own, those of you who think that the union is poor should really go back to school.
Fyi, the countries were not forced to join the union, they voted for it and unlike the states, the union is a confederational system and not a federational one, meaning that its doesn’t operate as one country, it operates as many countries together.
Undemocratic? You people have listened to the russian propaganda for too long, we have a european parliament that decides for everything, those who participate are elected by every country to represent it in a different election procedure carried out especially for the european parliament in all member countries, is there anything undemocratic about it ? How about the fact that the people vote for every major change the union wants to do (take the european constitution for example) ?
As for the comparison of economies, well, it wasn’t the european banks that had the mortgage problems for instance, europe did nothing to help, oh wait, europe injected a lot of money, hell, more than the us did : http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...story?track=rss thats how undemocratic it is huh ?

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