The German government said on Friday it would consider offers from regional states to play a role in helping EADS, parent of troubled planemaker Airbus, recover from a crisis caused by superjumbo delays, according to Reuters. As fears mount in Berlin and Paris that an Airbus revamp will mean heavy job cuts, Lower Saxony's governor said Germany's 16 states could buy shares in the European aerospace firm. "We can stand by the company, behind the military branch, too, with big public orders," Lower Saxony Premier Christian Wulff told German broadcaster ARD. "Neither do we rule out that under some circumstances we are ready to take a stake. Through the federal government via the state-owned development bank KfW, through the individual states. And not just the affected states, but all of them with their public institutions," he said. The idea sparked criticism from several German politicians, and analysts said such a move might prove difficult. The federal government has said, however, it may buy a holding in EADS through KfW, and a government spokesman said on Friday the states' suggestions should not be ignored. "The statement by German states that they are prepared, in the interests of the production plants and employment, to get involved is something that must play a role in any considerations," spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters. EADS shares closed down 0.6 percent at 21.24 euros in Paris and have slumped more than 30 percent this year. The leaders of France and Germany on Thursday pledged to share the burden of an Airbus restructuring after repeated delays to its flagship A380 superjumbo project but said no decision on the company's future ownership had been made. German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed Berlin was considering buying shares in EADS, and three German states -- Bavaria, Hamburg and Lower Saxony -- have said they are not ruling out taking a stake. Berlin wants to protect German interests as Airbus lurches from one problem to another amid talk Germany's DaimlerChrysler will cut its 22.5 percent stake in EADS. Production problems with Airbus's A380 have led to delivery delays and a 4.8 billion euro future profit shortfall. Airbus Chief Executive Christian Streiff quit on Monday. La Tribune newspaper in France said on its website that Air France alone had demanded 100 million euros in compensation for its 10 delayed superjumbos on order. The airline was not immediately available for comment. Germany also wants to stop Russia from becoming too powerful. Merkel has said it cannot be a core shareholder, although Moscow has said it wants to boost its 5 percent stake. Russian state bank Vneshtorgbank declined to comment on a report in France's Les Echos that it had raised its stake to 6 to 7 percent. Germany, Russia and EADS also declined to comment. DaimlerChrysler has said it would be prepared to reduce its EADS holding to 15 percent but would sell only in agreement with the German government and in cooperation with the French. The French government owns 15 percent of EADS, and French media group Lagardere has a further 7.5 percent. A spokeswoman for the Spanish government said Spain would only raise its 5.4 percent holding if it won a bigger management say and a greater share of jobs. No decisions have been taken on how Spain would lift its stake, through public money or private capital, she said. State holding company SEPI, which holds Spain's shares, has said it has no plans to boost its holding. An enhanced German government role is far from easy, say analysts, and unpopular among some of Merkel's conservatives. It is unclear how the federal government, let alone some of Germany's debt-laden states, would pay for the roughly 1.3 billion euros needed for a 7.5 percent stake. Some analysts say the comments from local politicians may be designed mainly to show support for plants facing job cuts. Otto Bernhardt, finance spokesman for Merkel's conservatives in parliament, said he favoured free market rules. "In principal, competition must decide, not politicians," Bernhardt told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. Any stake purchased by KfW would have to be subject to a time limit of two years, "until the crisis is over", he said.
