Schröder Welcomes French Investment in Defense Firms

The German government has said it will reserve the right to hinder the sale of defense firms to foreigners, despite criticism from business circles. But it's not opposed to French investment in the Germany industry. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said French-German cooperation in the defense sector would be "very, very welcome," after meeting with French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday. Schröder pronounced his support for a fusion of the German submarine producer HDW shipyard and the French state shipyard DCN. The government recently indicated disapproval when U.S. firms showed interest in buying DaimlerChrysler's subsidiary MTU Aero engines. HDW was bought by a U.S. firm in 2002 and is up for sale again.