Blair set to back £2bn Galileo project

Tony Blair is due to give his blessing to the Galileo project - a £2bn satellite navigation system - later this week at a EU heads of government meeting.

Galileo will be made up of 21 satellites, and promises to revolutionise the future of location-based information systems for mobile phones, logistics firms, traffic management bodies and the military.

The project has stalled over money wrangles in the past. If industry and politicians fail to reach an agreement, Western Europeans will be forced to continue using the American GPS system, which is funded and managed by the US Department of Defense.

Now, however, moves are being made by Brussels to reassure European governments that the costs of the project can been kept under control.

The European leaders meet in Barcelona on Friday.