Well I dont think its unreasonable that the C-17 line would not have been sitting half as idle if the Grizzly hadnt been in anyone's pipeline projection. I imagine plenty European nations must have looked at C-17 whilst still on the drawing board and thought it would be nice to have, but sadly too expensive.
Too expensive? Depends on how you look at it. Is buying 50 to 75 C-17s across Europe cheaper or more expensive than developing and building 75 to 100 A400s across Europe? India, Australia, Canada and a consortium of small European nations were able to afford C-17s. And they didn't have to just look at a "paper" airplane "still on the drawing board" as was suggested. Many C-17s were already built and serving before the A400 program was even launched. Of course all this ignores the political implications of the A400 program and the jobs it would (theoretically) create. Further, at this time the point is moot. The C-17 production line no longer exists and the ONLY alternative for an outsize transport is A400. If Europe needs an outsize military air transport, A400 MUST be made to work, no matter the cost to accomplish that.