Rapid Fire September 20, 2012: Euro Scrambling

• Swedish general Hakan Syren, the Chairman of the European Union Military Committee, tells it like it is:

“The military capabilities of the EU member states are on a steady downward slope. [...] Looking a few years into the future, it is simple mathematics to predict that many member states will be unable to sustain essential parts of their national forces, air forces being the prime example.”

• The French and German governments have started talks among advisors about the BAE/EADS merger plans, in preparation of a meeting between President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel this weekend. EADS CEO Tom Enders has argued in a letter seen by AFP [in French] that broader access to international defense markets was vital to EADS, given its current reliance on shrinking European budgets. The primary concern, whether in Berlin or Paris, is preserving jobs and maintaining influence: Der Spiegel [in English] | L’Usine Nouvelle [in French] | Le Monde [in French].