Transport Ministers from all member states have agree to spend another €2.4bn (£1.63bn) on the Gallileo project on top of the €1bn (£680m) already committed.

Gallileo is Federal Europe’s rival to the American GPS system which is free to use worldwide.  The Gallileo system will cost money to use and is being built and run by a private consortium whereas the GPS system costs nothing to use and was built and run by the US Military.

The original plan was for the EU to stump up the cash for the first four satellites and the other 22 were to be built by the private consortium running the project.  However, the consortium is concerned that the project might not be the cash cow they were expecting and have missed several deadlines for starting work.

The Guardian reports that ministers have refused to spend any more public money on the project but Chinese news site Xinhua claims that public money will be spent on the project.  The money will, of course, be public money whether it is paid for by an extra lump sum or from existing EU funding because the EU is funded entirely by the six net contributors to the EU budget of which the UK is the second highest coming in slightly behind the Netherlands thanks to the repidly diminishing rebate.

The FT reports that Stephen Ladyman, one of the British Transport Ministers, has said that he doesn’t see the strategic case for Gallileo and if they can’t figure out how they’re going to make any money out of it then the UK will seek cancellation of the project.  The French Transport Minister said that Gallileo is “strategic and indispensible” if the EU is to ever free itself from the yolk of oppression of the American pig dogs (I made that last bit up).  He also said that the “British brake” could be overcome.