Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders urged Germany to press ahead with plans to create common European regulations on arms exports, saying the issue posed a litmus test for Berlin's ambitions to foster a European defence policy.
By showing "a kind of moral superelevation" on arms exports, Germany was frustrating Britain, France and Spain, Enders told Reuters, adding that without a common European approach Airbus could consider manufacturing German-free products. German restrictions on arms exports to non-EU or Nato countries have been a thorn in bilateral co-operation for years because of the historical objections of the Social Democrats, junior partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition.
Berlin can stop exports of arms that include parts made in Germany under existing arrangements. "Yes, the French and Germans are apparently talking about it and trying to find a new regulation ... But at the moment there are no results," Enders told Reuters in an interview.
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