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Eurogoogle
The EU is considering whether or not to assist a €2 billion Franco-German scheme to build a European search engine capable of rivalling Google.
Named Quaero, the search engine is conceived as a media version of the EU's Airbus venture, which was developed from nowhere under similar circumstances and has beaten America's Boeing for orders in the past three years. The success of Europe's GSM system is held up as another example of world beating European technology.
If European governments and the EU must support any industry, it ought to be high-tech. EURSOC supported Tony Blair's doomed vision to divert cash from the 40€ billion Common Agricultural Policy into new industry. However, forgive us if we are not dancing in the street at news of Quaero: Last year also saw the EU throw its weight behind a plan, strongly supported by Iran and China, to wrest control of Internet protocols from a US company and place it in the hands of a UN-backed body.
This does not suggest the EU puts the consumer - or freedom - first when it comes to internet technology.
More details on the project here and here.
