France must take the lead in restoring its strained relations with the USA, warns Jean-Louis Gergorin, EADS executive vice-president for strategic co-ordination.
"Until the climate has improved, it will be very difficult for EADS and Thales to develop stronger ties with the USA," he told a French strategy research institute symposium on the lessons of the Iraqi conflict.
Among industry's concerns, said Gergorin, was that in the eyes of the USA, France was "slipping into a category 3 country" from "category 2", which includes countries such as Japan and Spain. "This is a real problem and although it's not dramatic, it's a great nuisance," he said. "Category 1" would include the Australia, New Zealand and UK.
EADS's German business units would be particularly hard hit by the shift to category 3 "because they have signed close collaboration agreements with the USA", said Gergorin.
Source: Flight International
