BERLIN, Aug 27 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich

Merz has agreed with French President Emmanuel Macron to take a

decision on the future of the Franco-German fighter jet

programme FCAS by the end of the year, Merz said on Wednesday.

"This will not be discussed at the upcoming government

consultations (on Thursday and Friday in the south of France),"

Merz told reporters in Berlin.

"I hope we will find a solution because we need to develop a

new fighter jet in Europe," he added.

Berlin blames French industry for blocking the next phase in

the development of the FCAS programme, estimated to cost more

than 100 billion euros ($117 billion), by demanding sole

leadership of the project, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

France's Dassault Aviation, which is responsible for

the core crewed fighter part of the project, declined to

comment.

Airbus and Indra are also involved in the

scheme to start replacing French Rafale and German and Spanish

Eurofighters with a sixth-generation fighter jet from 2040.

But Berlin and Paris are at odds over the composition of the

consortium. France has told Germany it wants a work-share of

some 80% in FCAS, a defence industry source told Reuters in

July.

The differences jeopardise the launch of the second phase of

the programme, targetted by the end of the year: the development

of airworthy demonstrators, defence sources said.

At the end of July, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier said FCAS

needed clearer leadership and organisation as partners move

towards the second phase, and that in practice, decisions over

key parts of the current design phase were having to be cleared

with Airbus, adding complexity and contributing to delays.

On Thursday, Macron is set to receive Merz for dinner at his

Bregancon residence on the Mediterranean coast, with ministers

joining the talks on Friday in nearby Toulon.

A French presidency official told reporters in a briefing on

Monday that the talks would touch upon the "slight" differences

surrounding the fighter jet, adding there was a strong resolve

by both sides to make the project work.

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