\'Constructive\' 3-way talks on EADS/BAE

German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Thursday that he had held "constructive" but inconclusive talks with his British and French counterparts on a mooted tie-up of EADS and BAE Systems. But de Maiziere said that "nothing has been decided yet" concerning the three goverments' positions on a deal that would create an aerospace giant to rival the US group Boeing, and added: "I think we need more time." He said: "We had constructive discussions yesterday night." The German minister spoke following the talks in the Cypriot capital, but he also emphasised that "this is a complex situation." On Wednesday, EADS chief executive Tom Enders addressed German lawmakers in Berlin regarding the mooted deal with BAE Systems, but people involved said he had not yet won them over. "The federal government has kept open whether it wants to give its approval here or not," Kerstin Andreae, deputy chairwoman of the Green party's parliamentary group, said. "From what we hear, it's not just a question of 'how' on the merger but also very basically 'whether'," she said after the committee met. The government's aeronautics sector coordinator Peter Hintze said later during the parliamentary question time: "The position of the government on the question of the merger is still completely open." British arms maker BAE Systems and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company revealed earlier this month that they were in talks to form a global aerospace and defence leader that would compete more effectively with Boeing. The two firms have presented the tie-up as a merger. But according to a German economy ministry report, Berlin has reservations over the fact that EADS, the parent company of Airbus, would hold only 60 percent of the new group under the proposed $45-billion (35-billion-euro) deal, and that veto rights of participating countries would be limited. The ministry also said that there had been inadequate guarantees on keeping company plants open, potentially threatening jobs. EADS has operations in France, Germany and Spain.