Emmanuel Macron denied that an embattled joint combat aircraft programme with Germany was dead, telling reporters that Paris and Berlin were still working on it—and other defence projects.
The multi-billion-euro project has faltered as disagreements persist between the firms involved: France’s Dassault Aviation and Airbus—which represents Germany and Spain.
Speaking ahead of a European Union summit in Cyprus, Macron said that after morning talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the pair had instructed their respective defence ministries to carry on work on a range of issues, including the combat aircraft.
We had a good discussion this morning with the Chancellor and we have instructed our defence ministries to work on a number of areas, covering various topics—not just the combat aircraft.
We are continuing to move forward. Europe has never needed unity, greater independence and greater sovereignty more than it does now.
Mediators tasked with salvaging the struggling Future Combat Air System (FCAS) initiative requested 10more days to deliver their conclusions, the French government said this week—after reports suggested the effort was fruitless.
A German government spokeswoman confirmed Macron and Merz discussed FCAS on the morning of April 24th and instructed their defence ministers to continue work “on various aspects of cooperation and to agree on the next steps.”
“This work will be completed in the coming weeks,” she added.
