France-Germany

Paris and Berlin want a maritime EADS

Published on 1 August 2011 at 14:10

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The project was thought to be a dead letter, but France is to determined to revive it: "Paris courts Berlin for naval dockyard alliance," headlinesFinancial Times Deutschland, which reports that the French and German governments along with the defence giants DCNS (France) and ThyssenKrupp (Germany) are to hold talks on what could become the biggest industrial joint-venture between the two countries since the launch of EADS in 2000. The "maritime EADS," as President Nicolas Sarkozy has dubbed it, will make France responsible for the production of frigates, while Germany will take charge of the construction of submarines.

The proposal has been cautiously welcomed by Berlin, which fears a repeat of the difficulties encountered by Airbus and its manufacturer EADS, which remains subject to the influence of the French state. EADS has been beset by problems arising from the fact that it has "too many production sites, too many arguments over technical issues and slipshod management," remarksFTD, which quotes a German leader who argues that we will have to “face up to the mistakes” that were made at the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.

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