BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on Wednesday to try to resolve differences over the FCAS Franco-German-Spanish fighter jet project by the end of August, a German government spokesperson said.
At a dinner on the outskirts of Berlin, the two leaders discussed the project, worth more than 100 billion euros ($117.73 billion), which has been dogged by delays and infighting over workshare and intellectual property rights.
“The defence ministers were tasked with evaluating a realistic outlook for further cooperation within the FCAS consortium by the end of August and submitting proposals for resolving existing conflicts,” said the German spokesperson.
Dassault Aviation, Airbus, and Indra are involved in the scheme to start replacing French Rafale and German and Spanish Eurofighters with a fifth-generation fighter jet from 2040.
The countries are at odds over the composition of the consortium. France has told Germany it wants a workshare of some 80% in FCAS, a defence industry source told Reuters this month.
Germany expects Dassault to adhere to the existing agreements, the German spokesperson said.
Outgoing CEO of German engine maker MTU Aero Engines Lars Wagner said he was encouraged by the comments.
“I am looking more positively at the subject today,” said Wagner. “We hope that the project will move to the next phase.”
MTU plans to develop the engine for the fighter jet with France’s Safran.
($1 = 0.8494 euros)
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and by Alexander Huebner in MunichWriting by Madeline ChambersEditing by Rod Nickel, William Maclean)
