FRANKFURT, April 18 (Reuters) – Mediators have failed to resolve a dispute between the companies involved in the Franco-German FCAS fighter jet project, though political leaders still have scope to intervene, Handelsblatt reported on Saturday.
Citing people familiar with the talks, the newspaper said the mediators – one from France and one from Germany – would submit separate reports on their efforts.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is to be briefed on the status of the dispute over the weekend and plans to decide by Tuesday on Germany’s position, the paper added.
Merz is set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron at the informal European Union summit in Cyprus on Thursday and Friday next week, it added.
The crisis-hit FCAS fighter jet project has been stalled by a protracted dispute over control between France’s Dassault Aviation and Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain in the 100-billion-euro project.
The head of Dassault Aviation said on April 1 he was giving his company two to three weeks to see whether a deal could be reached on the air combat system.
Late last month, Merz said he was doing everything in his power to salvage the programme and that two mediators had been appointed to overcome differences.
An Airbus Group spokesperson in France declined to comment. The German government, the French presidency and Dassault did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
($1 = 0.8631 euros)
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel in Paris, Joern Poltz in Munich. Writing by Ludwig Burger. Editing by Mark Potter)