“Given the nature of the companies’ activities the government will clearly have some involvement and we need to ensure that the UK’s public interest is properly protected,” Cameron’s spokesman told reporters at a briefing on Monday.

“We are talking to the companies to ensure that that is the case,” the spokesman said. “The prime minister spoke to Chancellor (Angela) Merkel on Friday night and has spoken to President (Francois) Hollande this morning.”

Cameron’s spokesman added that Cameron had yet to raise the issue with U.S. President Barack Obama.

The government is in talks with the British defence contractor and the European aerospace group about its plans for UK jobs should the deal go through. BAE’s UK workforce currently stands at 35,000, while EADS has around 15,000 employees in the UK.

EADS and BAE Systems announced earlier this month that they were in advanced talks over a mega-merger to create an industry giant, in what would be the biggest shake-up in Europe’s aerospace and defence sector in more than a decade.

ARTICLE: UK Defence Committee Launches BAE-EADS Merger Inquiry

Britain’s cross-party parliamentary defence committee on Monday launched an inquiry into the possible merger of UK defence group BAE Systems and European aerospace company EADS.

The influential committee said it would take evidence during October and November, to establish the impact any merger would have on the protection of British sovereign capabilities, defence exports, relationships with the United States and European alies and the likely consequence on jobs and trade.