No A400M unit at Melsbroek
(BRUSSELS2) Melsbroek military airport (near Brussels) will not accommodate a multinational unit of Airbus A400M transport aircraft. This project of Belgian Defense Minister Pieter de Crem is dead and buried. He came up against the principle of reality. France and Germany do not agree to relocate two or three planes each to the Belgian capital's military airport alongside 7 Belgian planes and the Luxembourg plane. " I have taken note of the decision of my French and German colleagues not to pursue this project noted the minister before the House of Representatives, as reported by the Belga agency.
Europe: a long-term issue
« However, it is not for lack of having insisted to the two ministers on the exemplary nature of this project of European collaboration in the field of defence” explains the Minister. "I did not fail to recall the other initiatives underway at the European Air Transport Command (EATC) in Eindhoven with the aim of optimizing synergy, standardization and interoperability between the user countries of the A400M ". Arguments that have convinced neither Paris nor Berlin who do not want to pay more. For the Belgian Defense Minister, “ This question proves that European defense integration remains a long-term affair which requires perseverance ».
Continuation of work
However, the minister considers that this French and German decision will have "no operational influence" or on the infrastructure works necessary to accommodate the Belgian and Luxembourg military Airbuses. Invoice: 125 million euros charged to the Defense budget.
Read also: A unit of A400M at Melsbroek
