BERLIN, Dec 6 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron are planning to discuss the fate of the troubled Franco-German fighter jet project FCAS – or SCAF – in the week of December 15, an industry source told Reuters on Saturday.
The 100-billion-euro ($116-billion) Future Combat Air System (FCAS), floated more than eight years ago, has been mired in disputes between France’s Dassault Aviation and Airbus over workshare and technology rights.
The defence ministers of the participating nations – Germany, France and Spain – are set to meet on December 11 to discuss the project, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters this week.
A German government spokesperson declined to comment on the date, saying only that the chancellor’s appointments would be made public in time. The French government was not immediately available for comment.
EU leaders are scheduled to meet for several summits in Brussels from December 17 to 19.
Merz has said he wants a decision on whether and how to proceed with the project by the end of the year.
German business leaders are intensifying their lobbying efforts in the hope of preventing the project collapsing, the source said.
($1 = 0.8590 euros)
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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