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Brüderle reluctant to buy EADS shares

Germany would prefer a private solution to state intervention if automaker Daimler wants to sell part of its stake in the European aerospace and defence group EADS, Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle said Wednesday.

Published: 23 February 2011 16:14 CET
Brüderle reluctant to buy EADS shares
Photo: DPA

Asked about creating a “golden share” in EADS, giving Berlin a veto over changes to its shareholder structure, Rainer Brüderle said, “it is one option among others but it is no secret that we would prefer a private solution.”

He added however that “we want to maintain the Franco-German balance” within the group, which owns plane maker Airbus.

Daimler is believed to be seeking to sell half of its 15 percent holding in EADS, which could upset a shareholder balance that now exists between France and Germany.

Daimler also controls 22.5 percent of the voting rights in EADS, the parent group of aircraft manufacturer Airbus, which is the same level as that held by the French state and industrial group Lagardere.

Earlier Wednesday, Brüderle met Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minster Wolfgang Schäuble to discuss the situation, but he said “no decision had been taken” on the matter.

Brüderle is a member of the pro-business Free Democratic Party, which opposes any kind of even partial nationalisation as a matter of principle.

AFP/rm

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POLITICS

France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

France has vowed to prevent a trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc from being signed with its current terms, as the country is rocked by farmer protests.

Published: 31 January 2024 15:46 CET
France vows to block EU-South America trade deal in current form

The trade deal, which would include agricultural powers Argentina and Brazil, is among a litany of complaints by farmers in France and elsewhere in Europe who have been blocking roads to demand better conditions for their sector.

They fear it would further depress their produce prices amid increased competition from exporting nations that are not bound by strict and costly EU environmental laws.

READ ALSO Should I cancel my trip to France because of farmers’ protests?

“This Mercosur deal, as it stands, is not good for our farmers. It cannot be signed as is, it won’t be signed as is,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told broadcasters CNews and Europe 1.

The European Commission acknowledged on Tuesday that the conditions to conclude the deal with Mercosur, which also includes Paraguay and Uruguay, “are not quite there yet”.

The talks, however, are continuing, the commission said.

READ ALSO 5 minutes to understand French farmer protests

President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that France opposes the deal because it “doesn’t make Mercosur farmers and companies abide by the same rules as ours”.

The EU and the South American nations have been negotiating since 2000.

The contours of a deal were agreed in 2019, but a final version still needs to be ratified.

The accord aims to cut import tariffs on – mostly European – industrial and pharmaceutical goods, and on agricultural products.

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