Julian Moxon/PARIS
On the eve of the official merger of Aerospatiale and Matra Hautes Technologies on 11 June, Aerospatiale president Yves Michot has added his voice to the debate over transforming Airbus Industrie into a single corporate entity (SCE) by continuing to link the transformation to the creation of a wider European aerospace and defence entity.
In an interview with French daily newspaper Le Figaro, Michot insists that "the project known as the SCE was conceived to be integrated into a much larger consolidated European industry".
Industry observers agree that the European Aerospace and Defence Company (EADC) idea is, if not dead, then in abeyance in the wake of myriad restructuring talks which culminated in the British Aerospace merger deal with GEC-Marconi, earlier this year.
It was a deal which caused much bitterness between BAe and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa), following months of negotiations which had left them days away from a merger when the all-British tie-up aborted the talks.
Negotiations over creating an Airbus SCE foundered at the valuation stage last year and have not restarted. Michot admits that the Airbus Groupement d'Interet Economique (GIE) system "is no longer the ideal structure to manage Fr70 billion [$12 billion] of annual Airbus sales" but backs only "continued reflection" on the future status of Airbus.
Today, the legal structure of the Airbus GIE is such that the four partners have equal liability for programme decisions, along with the right to veto decisions, even though the individual stakes are widely spread (CASA has 4.2% and BAe 20%, while Aerospatiale and Dasa each hold 37.9%).
A resumption of the SCE talks in some form will be a major issue at the Paris air show.
Source: Flight International
