“We are happy to collaborate with French businesses but not with Dassault,” IG Metall’s deputy chief Juergen Kerner said in a letter to German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil

Kerner urged Berlin not to compromise with Dassault, accusing the company of insisting on sole leadership of the programme. “Dassault has completely disqualified itself as a reliable partner within Europe in times of acute threat,” he wrote. “A line has been crossed. We no longer trust Dassault.”