"Important Step To Guarantee Future Of The Group"
A restructuring program of EADS'
Airbus unit, Power 8, must not be called into question, a German
government spokesman said after a German magazine reported France
wanted to alter the plan, reported Reuters.
A restructuring program of EADS' Airbus unit, Power 8, must not
be called into question, a German government spokesman said after a
German magazine reported France wanted to alter the plan, reported
Reuters.
The government expects that the company will fully implement the
program," government spokesman Thomas Steg said Friday.
Focus magazine reported a new dispute between France and Germany
was developing as the French government believed the restructuring
measures, which include 10,000 job cuts, went in Germany's
favor.
As part of the restructuring, EADS also intends to sell three
European production facilities -- Nordenham in Germany, Filton in
the UK and Meaulte in France -- and transfer ownership of the
plants at Saint-Nazaire in France, and Varel and Laupheim in
Germany, reported Thomson Financial.
According to Steg, the government believes the distribution of
the Power8 measures between the different sites is "well
balanced."
The restructuring plan, which includes 100,000 job cuts in
Germany, France, the UK, and Spain by 2010 to reduce costs by $6.6
billion, is "an important step to guarantee the future" of the
group, he said.
This includes 4,300 jobs in France and 3,700 in Germany; the
job-cutting plans have led to tension between the two countries,
reports the Bahrain Gulf.
New French President Nicolas Sarkozy surprised German officials
by mentioning EADS, a sensitive bilateral issue, when he visited
Berlin the day he was inaugurated.
EADS maintains a delicate balance between the two countries in
its management and shareholder structure.
EADS is currently owned by a number of French and German private
and public investors: Lagardere holds 15 percent and is reducing
its stake to 7.5 percent, the French government has 15 percent,
DaimlerChrysler owns 15 percent and a further 7.5 percent is owned
by a consortium of German investors, including various German
states.
Steg said Chancellor Angela Merkel would hold talks on EADS with
Sarkozy when they meet in Toulouse, France, in July as part of a
regular Franco-German summit.
Sarkozy has made resolving Franco-German woes at EADS a top
priority and said that the problems besetting the parent company
and Airbus "are not a problem of governance, but a problem of
shareholders," as ANN reported this month.
He has agreed to hold a working group with the main shareholders
in July to address the issue.
"Our position is unchanged," Steg added. "We think the
restructuring is an important step to secure the future of Airbus.
It is regionally balanced and from Germany's perspective balanced
from a technological point of view."
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