Germany, France moot ship-building alliance

Germany and France are considering a military ship-building alliance, an "EADS of the Seas", similar to what is already done for military aircraft, the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper said Monday.
The European defence group EADS, owner of plane maker Airbus, manufactures military helicopters and the A400 military transport plane.
Berlin and Paris are considering opening talks later this year on a similar alliance in the field of naval construction which would involve the German ThyssenKrupp group and the French DCNS military dockyards, the business newspaper said, citing sources close to the negotiations.
However in a statement, ThyssenKrupp said it was not currently involved in talks with DCNS on a possible alliance and that no such talks were planned for the future.
Germany had long rejected such a deal, fearing disputes with France over political control of the group and over which dockyards would remain open.
But a recent failure by ThyssenKrupp to sell its Blohm and Voss dockyards to Abu Dhabi MAR has given new impetus to the project which is backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the paper said.
A joint venture might see France take charge of the construction of frigates, while Germany would be responsible for submarines, the paper suggested.