Chriac unveils tech projects including Euro Search Engin/rival Google

[katty]

cont'd: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1761482,00.html

Chirac unveils his grand plan to restore French pride

· President hopes to secure legacy with rival to Google
· Six major projects to get £1.4bn state funding

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Wednesday April 26, 2006
The Guardian


The French president, Jacques Chirac, yesterday unveiled what he hopes will be his great legacy to France's struggle against the global dominance of the US: a series of technological projects including a European search engine to rival Google.
Mr Chirac, who walked out of an EU summit last month when a fellow Frenchman committed the grave offence of speaking English, styles himself as the defender of France in the globalised world.

After the biggest street protests in decades forced him to stage a U-turn on employment reform last month, Mr Chirac is keener than ever to be remembered for doing something positive for French pride. Yesterday, he announced that he would provide €2bn (£1.4bn) in funding for a series of innovative grands projets, including a Franco-German search engine to compete with Google and Yahoo!.