Still no deal on European fighter jets after ministerial talks, sources say

BERLIN/PARIS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Defence ministers from Germany, France and Spain have pushed discussions on a troubled European fighter jets project towards government leaders meeting next week after inconclusive talks in Berlin, people briefed on the matter said. Boris Pistorius of Germany, Catherine Vautrin of France and Spain’s Margarita Robles met in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the fate of the FCAS project whose future hangs in the balance over industrial disputes. France’s Dassault Aviation (AM.PA) and Germany- and Spain-backed Airbus (AIR.PA) are at odds over technology and industrial control - issues that threaten to derail the 100-billion-euro project to renew air power by 2040. Three sources said no decision had been taken at the Berlin ministerial talks, which took place just weeks before a year-end deadline put forward by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for a decision on the next steps. “We are still in confidential talks here,” a spokesperson for the German defence ministry said. A government spokesperson added that the goal is still to have an agreement by the end of the year. France has not publicly put a firm deadline on agreeing the next phase of the project, which involves stepping up spending to build a flying demonstrator. A French government spokesperson said the Berlin gathering was a “working meeting that allowed us to reaffirm our willingness to continue joint work on the SCAF”. The push for progress follows mounting pressure to salvage the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), or SCAF in French, launched more than eight years ago but stalled by industrial rivalries. Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to seek a resolution when they meet next week, alongside a meeting of European Union leaders on December 17-19. A senior German lawmaker on Tuesday suggested that a focus on data network capabilities, known as “Combat Cloud”, and on unmanned systems could salvage the project, with each country focusing on its own core fighter jet under a common umbrella.