HWD
We must both be reading stuff on the internet
I read that Galileo was finally agreed to be compatible with Navstar, to enable use of the same chipsets, etc.
Skydriller
I wasn't being ironic, for a change. I don't really think that Europe (which, when you look at a globe, is a really really tiny part of the earth, despite owning most of the earth 400 years ago) would be able to force all the world's airlines to equip their airliners with "Galileo approved" GPS receivers, containing pre-paid decryption devices (like Sky TV - how else can anybody charge for GPS reception?), change their operating procedures, force crew retraining, etc. just so they can fly to that tiny place called European "Union". It would be a complete joke.
Perhaps somebody here has got their head into the Galileo proposals on how to get money out of it, and is able to comment. I can't see it.
There are lots of very good technical reasons for GPS approaches over ILS etc, e.g. 2D- and 3D-curved approaches become possible, but it can all be done with Navstar, for free.