And Yet It Moves
‘Eppur si muove’ or so Galileo Galilei is rumoured to have said of the Earth shortly after his recantation at the hands of the Roman Inquisition in 1663 over his blasphemous Copernican claims that the Earth revolved around the Sun.
Much like Galileo, the modern day EU space project which bears his name continues to move steadily towards realisation, with the Commission and their accountants moving heaven and earth to keep their dream aloft.
The Galileo programme formally began as far back as February 1999 when the Commission first presented plans for its initial creation. However, who can say for how long before this point the elites in the backrooms and expensive restaurants throughout Europe had nursed their egotistical desires?
Until recently, Galileo appeared to have somewhat stalled. The Westminster Parliament was making noises suggesting that it might not provide its backing, and general EU funds had seemingly dried up. Yet, having invested so much time and effort wallowing in their own vanity, the EU Commission were unlikely to throw the towel in over the small issue of funding the estimated extra €2.4bn Galileo apparently requires – a cost which without doubt will dramatically rise as times passes.
To negotiate around this minor financial inconvenience, the EU’s accountants have managed to allocate the necessary funds by means of a transfer of surplus from the Common Agricultural Policy, thus staving off calls for the whole project to be scrapped for the time being at least. To the clinking of champagne flutes much self-congratulation and backslapping probably ensued.
