FCAS project failure: 'France, Germany characterised by totally different strategic cultures'
France and Germany said on Monday they had agreed to abandon a joint fighter jet programme due to disagreements between the companies involved, in a blow to European efforts to boost defence cooperation.
Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Jeanette Süß, Research Fellow, Study Committee on Franco-German Relations, explains that "France and Germany are characterised by totally different strategic cultures, totally different military cultures and also in their weapons systems".
It would seem that there would need to be some kind of cooperation between all parties on this secondes kind of project because of its overall importance to the whole continent of Europe. So why has this failed to take off?
First of all, it's one of the biggest projects or even the biggest project that was for seen in the European defense area. So everyone looked at France and Germany and in Spain, of course, whether they would make it, but finally the industrial rivalries were just too big. The project has been stalled for for years now. So it didn't really come as a surprise as such. Although there were mediation efforts being made even lately to break a compromise but this didn't go through.
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- However, what we have to keep in mind is that France and Germany are really characterized by totally different strategic cultures, totally different military cultures and also their weapon systems. France hasn't been even in the command structure of NATO until 2009. There is really this discourse of strategic autonomy that has been adopted so now by Germany and other member states over the years. But back in the day, France had this whole history of independence, whereas Germany was always very much embedded in the transatlantic cooperation. Says Jeanette Süß.
>> >> Watch the interview on France 24's YouTube channel.
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Jeanette SÜß
Research Fellow, Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa), Ifri
