![\"France,](\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/macron_AP-320x200.jpg?v=1777021283\")
NICOSIA \u2013 French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday tasked their defense ministries with continuing to work on the contentious Franco-German FCAS fighter jet project, officials said.<\/p>\n
Plans to develop a futuristic air combat system together with Spain have been hanging by a thread amid a public dispute over control between France\u2019s Dassault Aviation and Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain in the 100 billion euro ($116.85 billion) project.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, \u2060not at all,\u201d Macron said when \u2060asked by a reporter if the FCAS project was dead. The French president said he had just discussed the issue with Merz on the margins \u200bof a summit of EU leaders in \u2060Cyprus. \u201cWe had a good discussion this morning with the chancellor, and we gave a mandate to our defense ministries to \u2060work precisely on several areas, on \u200ca range \u2060of different issues,\u201d he said. \u201cNot just the future combat aircraft, but various levers of cooperation between our two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
A German government spokeswoman confirmed the discussion between the \u200btwo leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Chancellor and the President instructed their defense ministers to continue \u200cworking on various areas of cooperation and to agree on the next steps. This work will be completed in the coming weeks,\u201d the spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Germany and France\u2019s defense ministers \u200bhad offered differing timelines for a decision on the fighter jet project, with one saying the two countries\u2019 leaders would decide soon and the other saying mediators had sought more time \u200cto discuss the \u200bmatter.<\/p>\n
The dispute centers on leadership of the core fighter element of plans to build an interconnected fleet of crewed planes and armed \u2060drones under a common digital umbrella. Insiders \u200chave been expecting Germany and France to abandon development of the joint fighter jet \u200bbut continue cooperation on drones and the so-called combat cloud, or digital backbone, which would enable \u200cdata \u2060exchange \u2060between jets, drones and other sensors such as ground \u200bradar. But rowing back the plan would be politically awkward for Macron. [Reuters]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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