Airbus A400M: the final touch to a… final agreement? (shift)

(BRUXELLES2 / In Palma de Mallorca, updated at 19 p.m.) Agreement, or no agreement, on the A400M? The game of poker continues between the partner States of the future European military transport aircraft and the industrialist EADS.

Spanish enthusiasm

Carme Chacon, the Spanish Minister of Defense who chairs the informal meeting of EU Defense Ministers, announced this at the start of the meeting during a mini press briefing. " We have an agreement in principle between partner countries and EADS. (...) The technical details will be settled tomorrow.” during an early morning meeting. Actually agree, it seems that it is more vague. In any case, it is very difficult to have a precise idea of ​​the agreement. Especially since some delegations do not seem to share the Spanish minister's enthusiasm.

Berlin remains intransigent

I was able, with some German colleagues, to talk to the Parliamentary State Secretary German at Defense, Christian Schmidt, in the corridors of the Council. And theBerlin's position seems clear... and unchanged: 2 billion euros in new money and 1,5 billion in repayable advances pledged on exports (NB: not to mention the abandonment of late payment penalties). Not a penny more. In other words, it is up to EADS to make an extra effort. « Pacta healthy servanda he explains. Of the 5,5 billion missing from the program, EADS would have offered 800 million euros. It therefore remains to find 900 million euros.

The terms of the discussion

As one military expert on the case put it, " We are at 3,5 billion. And you have to go to 4,4 billion. We're not very far ". In fact, what the Ministers seem to be waiting for is first of all a clear response from EADS to their proposal. On the possibility of making a small additional effort – the share of repayable advances being, possibly to increase to 2 billion euros, an increase supported by 2 States (France & Spain) – this seems difficult as it stands. According to another familiar with the matter, we have not yet settled everything (between partner States): “ For the 2 billion euros, we have a distribution in proportion to the number of orders or else by means of a reduction in orders. But for the 1,5 billion in repayable advances, nothing is fixed ". Will the night bring advice. And will she be the last spent at the bedside of the A400M, the spirits were rather pessimistic, Wednesday evening, after a more optimistic start to the day.