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Germany: European military transport aircraft still in doubt

01 January 2002

The German government still cannot give a legally binding commitment to purchase all of the 73 A400M military transport aircraft Berlin is planning to buy. The indecision leaves in doubt the future of the centrepiece of the European defence project and the backbone of the planned EU rapid reaction force. Germany will be the biggest customer for the eight?nation project. The problem is that the German government had only budgeted funds for about 40 aircraft. To overcome this shortfall the government wants to reach a decision through an emergency procedure; the parliamentary opposition has appealed against this at the constitutional court. To avoid the case going any further the government has now conceded that the commitment is not binding. Earlier defence minister Scharping said that a parliamentary veto on the A400M deal would result in the most serious crisis seen in European security, defence and industry policy for more than 40 years. The stalemate means further postponement for the project. If the Germany decides to buy less aircraft, the individual price of each aircraft will become more expensive. As a reaction to the German troubles the eight participants in the A400M deal agreed to postpone the deadline for the final contract until the end of March, giving Germany some breathing space. Financial Times 30.1.02, 2.2.02; Jane's Defence Weekly 19.12.01.