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LUXEMBOURG (AP) - European Union governments on Friday threw a lifeline to the problem-plagued Galileo satellite navigation system, deciding to fund it themselves and abandoning earlier plans for most of the costs of the multi-billion project to be carried by major European businesses.
The project was envisaged as a rival for the U.S.-run GPS system and touted as a key high-technology venture for the EU. But it stalled after the group of eight companies from France, Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy that were charged with developing the system disagreed on how to share out work and failed to make headway.
"Ministers decided to abandon the public-private partnership and start again from scratch," said European Commission transport spokesman Michele Cercone.
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