The World from Berlin: 'Europeans Shouldn't Be Pointing Their Fingers at Washington'

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The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:

"If the conditions for the bidding process remain and the Europeans do abandon the project, it will doubtlessly be a setback for trans-Atlantic competition. But the Europeans are also guilty. The procurement and, especially, the ordering of defense goods has in Europe, as in America, more to do with political and regional considerations than with price or performance. Europe's A400M military transporter is an ugly example -- especially given its sheer expense. Because the losses on this project have been so great, EADS was only too happy to divert attention to America. With this long-predicted defeat in America, EADS is hoping people will pay less attention to its own bad results."

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"From the American perspective, this tug-of-war over the tanker bidding process had less to do with a dispute with the Europeans and more to do with a conflict between the northern and southern American states. Traditional major US companies like General Motors, Boeing and General Electric have all settled in the north. This is the base of what remains of the unions in America, which are closely connected to Obama's Democratic Party. In the South, where Republicans govern, new industry centers are being created. States like Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana have been intensively courting foreign investors and, by doing so, are starting to compete with the North." (Editor's note: Airbus had planned to establish an assembly plant in the south if it won the contract.)

"Of course industrial-political intrigues will influence the procurement of the tanker. Boeing was a monopolist when it came to providing Air Force equipment for decades. And in this time it built up a very tight network in Washington. It's extremely difficult to cut through such structures quickly. Besides, America gives a strong domestic defense industry the highest priority, just as Europe does. Why else would Germany, France and other EU countries have moved recently to give EADS a massive contract to build its own A400M military transporter?"

"As long as the Americans and Europeans fail to recognize how backwards their thinking is in a globalized world, there will be no fair military bidding processes. In the meantime, both sides should shy away from instumentalizing the issue. The still weak global economy could hardly cope with a trans-Atlantic trade war."

Business daily Handelsblatt concludes:

"One thing is certain: The common trans-Atlantic defense market is little more than an illusion. In fact, Europe doesn't even really have an open defense market. The planned European defense procurement agency EDA is little more than a paper tiger. The Germans, Brits and French guard their domestic defense industries very closely, hindering public bidding processes and mergers. But it's an expensive luxury in these times of tight budgets."

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• Part 1: 'Europeans Shouldn't Be Pointing Their Fingers at Washington'
• Part 2: 'Long-Predicted Defeat in America'