Mars '96 project
Would you care to offer more details? I recall that the Russians had something Mars-related in '96 but ESA was still in its infancy, at least relatively speaking, was it not? Regardless, since early '96, NASA has sent 7 missions to Mars. To my knowledge, Europe has merely sent the Mars Express. 1:7. I'm not persuaded that that's an economy of scale. But I would really like to hear more about this Mars '96 project, which you're presumably saying was underway in Europe.